Tori yarn say the 44-year-old Italian man wey dem diagnose with Coronavirus for Lagos, wan run from the Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba, Lagos of Friday February 28th.
Tori from Punch say Health workers for the Mainland Hospital, Yaba, say the Italian man threaten say im wan Commot the Isolation center.
A senior staff say the Italian man complain bad-bad about the heat and mosquitoes wey full the room where dem isolate am.
Make Una read wetin dem yarn
“The patient wanted to run away yesterday (Friday). The Italian man, who seems to be an engineer, was very angry that the room where he was kept was very hot. There is nothing there (inside the isolation ward) aside from bed and hospital locker. He almost ran away and is still threatening to do that”the Health worker who did not wear any personal protective equipment required of workers in such an environment said
The anonymous health worker stated that the level of preparedness in Lagos State for infectious diseases such as Coronavirus and Lassa fever “is zero.” According to the staff, Lagos State does not have the facility to accommodate individuals who might have come in contact with the Italian, adding that the facility that is meant to accommodate both suspected and confirmed Coronavirus cases is still undergoing renovation “and might take a while” before it can function fully.
The worker also revealed that the isolation area was a room in one of the wards, and that it was quickly vacated to accommodate the index case.
“The only thing demarcating the room from other rooms in the ward is a red and white barricade tape. That is where the Italian man that tested positive to Coronavirus is kept. There is no single equipment inside that place. It is just like any other regular hospital room with a bed. That building you see that is being repainted is the original place meant to quarantine Coronavirus patients.
As you can see, the place is not ready. The state government is just renovating it, despite the fact that the virus started spreading since December 2019. It is really sad that a country like Nigeria is never ready to medically contain infectious disease outbreak. This is why most health workers leave because they are predisposed to danger of infection.”
“The place meant for Lassa fever patient has been under construction in the past one month. It is not yet completed. As you can see, they are makeshift structures, hurriedly put together with white tarpaulin. They are not permanent structures and I don’t know how this place can actually accommodate humans that have a highly infectious disease like Lassa fever,”
“The standard medical operational procedure is to track all contacts and have them quarantined to avoid further spread of the virus. But we cannot do that here because we lack such facility, which is why there is emphasis on self quarantine.
“Even where the Italian man is presently being isolated was a room vacated by a patient. I pray God saves us in the coming months because we are not ready for the danger posed by the Coronavirus.”
