First Coronavirus patient in Nigeria attempts to escape isolation centre

On the backdrop of the first documented case of the dreaded Coronavirus in Nigeria, and the isolated patient in quarantine at the Mainland Hospital, Yaba, a health worker at the hospital on Friday said the patient was angry and had attempted to escape.

According to the source who spoke on the condition of anonymity while speaking with EkoHotBlog said, the patient had complained about the state of the isolation centre. The patient, a 44-year-old Italian decried the ‘very poor quality’ of the isolation centre derogatively, saying “the authorities have not matched words with action.”

However, the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Obafemi Hamzat, claimed the state government had built a facility to handle the situation, adding that the patient was getting better.

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Hamzat had said, “It is a lab that can accommodate 100 for now, but it is only one bed that is occupied today. Hopefully, it wouldn’t spread. We are ready and we are well equipped. He (the patient) is there and he is getting better. He is steady. The doctors say he is going to be fine.’’

But the health worker told our correspondent that the Coronavirus index case had been “very upset about the surrounding,” adding that the patient “complained of excessive heat and mosquitoes.”

During the interaction with the health worker, it was observed that he did not wear any personal protective gear required of workers in such an environment and he said 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.”
Speaking further, the source said the level of preparedness in Lagos State for infectious diseases such as coronavirus and Lassa fever “is zero.”

The anonymous source also alleged that 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 is fully functional.

Meanwhile, the Medical Director of the Mainland Hospital, Dr. Abimbola Bowale, has assured that the patient “is stable and responding to treatment.”

He said the patient, “is clinically stable, with no serious symptoms, and is being managed and quarantined in accordance with health safety standard.”

“We are doing trace-monitoring, and, for now, we cannot say how many people he must have come in contact with.

“We are on top of the situation and all necessary precautions are being put in place,” he added.