Owners of private health facilities in Oyo State have been warned against managing COVID-19 cases in their facilities, as this has been linked with the rising cases of the infection in the state.

The Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) and the state's COVID-19 Technical Task Force, on Saturday, gave this warning, noting that there are approved 30 Testing Centers including the University College Hospital, UCH, Ibadan, for the purpose of testing samples.

It added that those suspected to have symptoms of coronavirus infection should be referred to these centres for testing and that testing for symptomatic or suspected cases is free.

The Centre, in a statement signed by the chairman of the state's COVID-19 Technical Task Force, Professor Temitope Alonge, warned Chief Executive Officers, Chief Operating Officers and Managers of private health facilities in the state.

Alonge appealed to the health workers to comply strictly with the advisory, reiterating that the Oyo State Government could not afford any depletion in the healthcare workforce due to ill health arising from coronavirus infection.

According to him, the spread of the new wave of the coronavirus infection in Oyo State is increasing and the reports reaching the Emergency Operations Centre and the Technical Task Force is that some of the people infected had been managed for various ailments in some private health facilities.

He added that repeated breach of this protocol is worrisome and urged all health care providers that the state is not immune to this infection

Alonge disclosed that admitting suspected cases in private health facilities is unacceptable as no private health facility in Oyo State has been licensed to manage COVID-19 patients.