The Lagos State Government has announced that it has exited the fifth wave of COVID-19, citing that severe complications from the disease had ended.
This was disclosed by the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, at the weekend during the launch of a Lithotripsy Machine donated to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) in Lagos.
Abayomi also said that many residents have developed immunity against the disease from natural infection or vaccination.
He said “Now that we’ve weaned ourselves out of the fifth COVID-19 wave, it’s still rumbling around, but most residents have enough immunity either from natural infection or vaccination./
“We are not seeing the severe complications of COVID-19 infection anymore.”
The Commissioner added that the Lithotripsy Machine, donated by Mr Idowu Obasa, would assist many patients who would have otherwise gone through painful and dangerous medical procedures, as it is the first recipient of Lithotripsy Machine in public health facilities in Nigeria.
According to him, Lithotripsy is a noninvasive (the skin is not pierced) procedure that uses shock waves or lasers to break down stones in the kidneys, bladder or ureters.
Kidney stones, he explained occur when minerals and other substances in the urine crystallise in one’s kidneys, forming solid masses or stones that are too large to pass through the urinary tract.
He commended the donor, noting that the machine would further assist LASUTH in raising the standard of healthcare in the state and also the country./
On 8 July, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in a public health advisory, warned of the onset of the fifth COVID-19 wave arising from increasing daily infections.