The Lagos State government has urged public and private school officials to guarantee students’ hygiene when they return from midterm and Eid-el Kabir breaks to help combat the cholera outbreak.
Akin Abayomi, the state Commissioner for Health, made the call during a press briefing at Lagos House in Marina.
Mr Abayomi stated that the government was working with education ministers to raise awareness of first aid among teachers and school clinics.
“We are still on high alert, we are not relaxing in anyway so that we protect our children.
”Don’t collect treatments on streets, don’t go and take antibiotics, you may not need to, you may just need rehydration,” he said.
Mr Abayomi disclosed that since the cholera outbreak in the state, about 15 persons had died because they started treatment late.
“We lost about 15 persons within five days, which is sad. Most of those people were brought in dead or died soon after arrival because they left it too late,” he said.
The commissioner also advised state residents to go to general hospitals and primary health centres for free treatment if they suspected the disease to avoid more fatal cases.
Mr Abayomi, however, said there had been a progressive decline in the number of cases.
“The numbers have come down. We actually have not recorded any case of cholera since yesterday,” Mr Abayomi said.
The commissioner said it was necessary to nip it in the bud by collecting environmental samples.
“We are working with the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources by collecting environmental samples.
”On the 10th of June, we saw about 140 cases on Lagos Island, Lekki and Kosofe.
“We realised that something was happening. We activated what we call emergency operation centre, which has multiple pillars, to investigate what was happening across the state,” he said.