A health worker at the Mainland Hospital, Yaba, Lagos (formerly, Infectious Diseases Hospital), who prefers to remain anonymous has noted that despite
A health worker at the Mainland Hospital, Yaba, Lagos (formerly, Infectious Diseases Hospital), who prefers to remain anonymous has noted that despite the fact that the state government had been able to track some persons that had had contact with the Italian coronavirus patient on the Turkish airline he arrived Nigeria on, they cannot be quarantined, allegedly because the state lacks requisite facility, The Punch is reporting.
“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 save us in the coming months because we are not ready for the danger posed by the coronavirus.”
Even the 28 workers whom the Italian patient came in contact with at Lafarge factory, Ogun State are all being quarantined in the factory
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.
