COVID-19: PDP, APC Biker over State Of Isolation Centres In Delta

Sylvester Idowu in Warri

The ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and opposition’s All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta State recently bickered over the state of isolation centres designated for suspected cases of COVID-19 in parts of the state.

While Delta State chapter of the APC)
said 80 per cent of the isolation centres designated for suspected cases in the state were without any facility or manpower to combat possible outbreak of the disease, the ruling PDP warned the party to stop playing politics with the lives of the people of the state.

The APC, in a statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Sylvester Imonina, lambasted the Governor Ifeanyi Okowa-led administration for the poor arrangement, noting that the isolation centres were urgently put together to deceive people of the state that the government was ready for any outbreak.

The party maintained that aside the centre at the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba, the state capital, which has semblance of isolation centre, other designated centres are without space, facilities or what is needed to tackle the dreaded global virus.

“Information available to us reveals that apart from the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba, which has some semblance of an Isolation centre for COVID-19 likely patients, all other hospitals do not have Isolation centres and/or facilities to tackle COVID-19 related ailments.

“There is nothing on ground to suggest seriousness on the part of government. A visit to more than 80 per cent of the said hospitals where isolation centres are purportedly located showed that they are home to darkness and torchlights when it is dusk.

“Lack of drugs, understaffing and dearth of competent medical personnel are synonymous with the hospitals,” it added.

But reacting to the allegations, the Delta State PDP cautioned the opposition for its “subjective criticism” of the state government’s effort to curb the outbreak of COVID-19 in the state.

According to a statement by former governorship aspirant and Chieftain of the PDP in Delta State, Chief Sunny Onuesoke, all that is expected of the opposition APC is cooperation with the state government, at this point in time to prevent the spread of the virus into the state instead of playing politics with it.

“PDP imagines a situation where all hands were supposed to be on deck in fighting against the spread of the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic like it is in order parts of the world but Delta APC is busy finding fault in the lofty programmes and projects set up by Governor Okowa to fight the scourge and save the lives of our people.

“It is quite unfortunate that a situation where people had put partisan politics aside in contributing ideas and solution towards finding solution to the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic , Imonina and his co-APC travelers in Delta state are busy playing politics of subjective criticism in order to create confusion in the system and the state government to lose concentration in executing sound and viable health projects in fighting the pandemic and as such save lives not only in Delta state, but equally in Nigeria”, he said.

The PDP leader therefore urged the APC leaders in the state to contribute towards what the government had put in place in curtailing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic into the state noting that their contributions would boost the morale of health workers and give confidence to the people of the state.

“We in PDP are hereby appealing to Delta APC to put politics aside at this critical period in the country and assist governor Okowa by contributing meaningfully on how we can prevent COVID-19 from spreading into the state instead of finding faults and creating unnecessary confusion in the polity,” he added.