As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and its contribution towards addressing the health hazards caused by the outbreak of the coronavirus disease in Nigeria, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) Plc has said that it is building a 100-bed intensive care centre.
This was disclosed in a statement, which was issued by the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive of the bank, Mr Segun Agbaje.
The medical facility is going to be fully-equipped with modern facilities for the treatment of Nigerians who may be infected with the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic which is currently ravaging the entire globe.
The medical facility, which will be sited at Onikan, Lagos, is being set up in collaboration with the Lagos State Government and is expected to be completed as early as this weekend.
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The GTB Chief Executive Officer said, “As an organization, beyond the safety measures we have put in place across our offices and branches, we are also lending ourselves to doing more to beat this outbreak.’’
The statement also stated, “We are setting up a fully equipped 100- bed Intensive Care Centre at Onikan for the Nigerian people.”
According to him, “The centre will be fully equipped with all the necessary equipment including respirators and personnel to treat and care for those that may become affected. We are fully committed to having the Centre fully set up by the end of this week.”
Why this matters: This news comes as a welcome development because there has been serious concern about the state of our health facilities nationwide and the country’s preparedness for the containment of this dreaded coronavirus disease. There is a huge gap in the number of facilities required for the testing and treatment of the disease.
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In fact, it was widely reported that as at last week, it was only Lagos State that had the medical facility for the COVID-19 disease, which is the one in Yaba.
However, Lagos State, which has the highest number of cases of the coronavirus in the country, has taken further steps to curtail the spread of the disease.
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