Ebola: Rivers Govt Provides Preventive Equipment For Public Schools

IGNATIUS OKPARA, Port Harcourt

As part of measure to protect school children, from the deadly Ebola Virus Disease EVD, Rivers state Government on Wednesday flagged-off the distribution of protective materials in primary and secondary schools in the area.

The programme, which is being jointly implemented by the Ministries of Health and Education, commenced from Township State School, on Moscow Road in Old GRA, Port Harcourt, the state capital.

The State Commissioner for Health, Sampson Parker, had during the exercise charged teachers of the schools to properly utilize the provided materials.

He stressed that it was important to sustain the cleanliness of every individual in the state, including school pupils.

“We must emphasize that what we have provided for you here is a leverage, the most important thing is that Ebola is still out there.

“We also need to inculcate in ourselves and the students, the knowledge of hygiene. That is all we want.

“If the teachers suspect any fever from the pupils, please contact the health expert immediately”, Parker stated.

On her part, the Commissioner for Education in the State, Dame Alice Lawrence-Nemi commended Parker for being proactive in the fight against the Ebola Virus Disease.

She said: “because of the kind of Governor we have and the proactive commissioner for health, who has always been hard working, it is possible today that we have these materials that are meant to keep our children and teachers safe.”

The distribution exercise cut across other schools in the state.

Pupils of some private schools in the city were subjected to hand-washing as they resumed after the long holiday, before being allowed into their classes.

African Examiner reports that Rivers State recorded Ebola outbreak leading to the death of Dr. Ikechukwu Enemuo, alleged to have secretly administered treatment to an ECOWAS diplomat, who escaped quarantine center in Lagos.

Over one hundred people, including primary and secondary contacts of late Doctor Enemuo, were isolated and later certified Ebola-free after undergoing observation for twenty-one days.