Lagos lockdown: How one coronavirus testing centre dey operate
Lagos State, southwest Nigeria, na di epic centre for coronavirus inside di sub-Saharan nation wey get ova 200 million population and according to di centre for disease control (NCDC), more than half of di recorded cases for di kontri as of Tuesday evening dey Lagos State.
Health worker for Agege centre Some weeks ago, di Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Akin Abayomi, say community transfusion of Covid-19 don bi 80% of di total confam cases for di state. "Dem be more local transmission going on as importation of cases don dey decrease," Abayomi tok during one press briefing. On April 18, di state record three deaths, two inside be men wey no get travel history. In response to di number of community cases wey dey increase, di state on Tuesday, announce say dem dey open twenty sampling centres for all di Local Government Areas wey dey di state to increase numbers of pipo dem dey test for di disease. Oshodi-Isolo centre BBC Pidgin visit some centres wey dey Ikeja, Oshodi-Isolo and Agege and discover say dia preparedness level dey different. Di centre for Agege don begin to dey collect sample, but di one for Ikeja just dey prepare and di one for Oshodi-Isolo never even start anything. Sitting arrangement for di Ikeja centre "We hear di the informate too but we never see anyone," na so one of di medical officers wey dey 1 Ajibulu, Mafoluku Oshodi, di place where di sampling centre suppose dey tell BBC pidgin. Di Medical Officer of Health (MOH) for di Ikeja makeshift facility tell BBC say, sampling go commence fully tomorrow. "We train di officials wey go work today," di MOH wey no gree give her name tell BBC. Motorised sprayers for Ikeja centre as dem dey prepare Di Sampling centre - Wetin dey happun inside Di sampling centre for Agege be di most ready for di tasks but di capacity low. As of Monday, di centre don only collect nine samples. Akintayo hopes say di number go increase as di medical supervisors begin dey used to dia new role. "As dem continue to dey do am, dey go get better and faster," he tok. Di centre dey open at 8am but close wen di laboratorian don tire. "Di Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) na heat chamber and e dey very, very hot," Akintayo explain. Covid-19 dey transmissible through droplets wey infected person release. Experts say di virus fit stay active ontop surfaces wey di droplets land for days. Security officers dey di entrance di premises to separate the Covid-19 potential patients from di oda patients wey dey visit di hospital for other healthcare services. Covid-19 sampling centre wey dem barricade for Agege "DI route for those wey come for medical activities dey different from those wey come here for sample taking appointment," Akintayo tell BBC pidgin correspondent as im show her di path dem create with di red and white tape. Security officers dey di path to ensure say pipo no pass where dem no suppose pass. "Security men stay along di barricade to ensure pipo follow di right route," he tok. Once visitors for di Covid-19 test do dey dey identify, dey go give dem face mask immediately, according to Akintayo. Di sampling centre dey divided into sections wey go help dem easy to coordinate and help dem reduce crowd for ne place too. Di first point na where dem dey find appointment forms of di patents and give dem unique code to take protect dia identity. Dem dey fill di case investigation form for dis place too, Di form dey for both digitally and manually. DI sampling centres no dey attend to walk-in patients. Patient suppose don book appointment before through di call centre. Barricaded section for Agege centre When dem get di unique code dem go direct di patients to another section wia dem go take dia sample one by one. Di white plastic chairs dey adequate space to make sure for social distancing. Akintayo said dem no dey allow pass five or six person for di waiting area where dem go collect sample. Den one by one, dem go dey call di patients from where dem stay to dey come do test. Sitting arrangement for Agege centre "After dem don take di sample, di patient go comot through back of di building. Dem no go fit come back to di area again. We dey tell dem make dem no remove dia mask until dem reach house, di reason for dis na sake of say dem fit dey sneeze after di test. Di face mask go protect odas wey dey close to dem. We dey teach dem on how do throwey di mask too.." Wia dem dey collect di samples for Agege Back for inside di centre, dem go carry sample wey dem don collect go one of di four testing centres wey dey Lagos.. Di patients go get get dia result in three working days. Testing time dey different. E dey range from days to few hours. For Australia, results sometimes dey take up to four days before di patients go know dia status. But, for UK, di officials bin dey target to dey comot results within 24 hours so dat patients fit dey releive say dem no get covid-19 or dem go quick start treatment. "Environmental officer dey manage di waste we generate from di centre. We dey also decontaminate di environment before and after di procedure every day." Dis tori na as we take eye see am on Monday April 20, 2020