The Italian who was yesterday quarantined at the Mainland Hospital, Yaba, Lagos (formerly, Infectious Diseases Hospital), after being diagnosed with t
The Italian who was yesterday quarantined at the Mainland Hospital, Yaba, Lagos (formerly, Infectious Diseases Hospital), after being diagnosed with the deadly coronavirus, made attempts to escape the facility where he was quarantined, The Punch is reporting.
According to an anonymous health worker at the hospital, who did not wear any personal protective equipment required of workers in such an environment, the 44-year-old, an engineer was angry about the poor state of the isolation centre. lamenting that the authorities have not matched words with action. Besides the surroundings, the patient complained of excessive heat and mosquitoes and wanted to run away.
The deputy governor of Lagos State, Obafemi Hamzat, had said on Friday that the state government had built a facility, a 100 bed laboratory to handle the situation, adding that the Italian patient was getting better. He had said that the state was fully ready and well equipped.
“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 level of preparedness in Lagos State for infectious diseases such as coronavirus and Lassa fever is zero,” the anonymous health worker said.
Ironically, an online entry describes the Mainland Hospital, where the Italian is being quarantined, as ‘an ultra-modern multi-drug resistant tuberculosis treatment centre, with a 40-bed admission facility.’ Not only does Lagos State not have the facility to accommodate individuals who might have come in contact with the Italian, 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 health worker 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.”
