Apprehension As Suspected COVID-19 Patient Dies In Ondo Hospital

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A man suspected to have contracted coronavirus disease died on Tuesday at a government hospital in Ipe Akoko in the Akoko North-East Local Government Area of the state, The PUNCH reports.

According to a source, the deceased was initially admitted to the State Specialist Hospital, Ikare Akoko and later transferred to the General Hospital, Oka and later moved to General Hospital, Ipe Akoko.

The source said family members of the deceased attempted to reach the officials of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control in Owo but allegedly claimed that there were no logistics to come down to Ipe General Hospital to pick the patient for test.

It was also gathered that some of the health workers at those hospitals could not ascertain the COVID-19 status of the deceased until he gave up the ghost, causing panic among the health workers and residents of the communities.

One of the health officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “The patient was brought in unconscious with fever of 40 degrees Celsius, and cough with grunting respiration.

“We called the NCDC (officials) in the Federal Medical Centre, Owo, who promised to come to collect sample but they told us later they could not come due to logistics and we should release the corpse to the relatives.

“Imagine that, even the relatives that brought the patient yesterday ( Monday) were on gloves and mask, meaning they even suspected something.”

He added, “We couldn’t ascertain the travel record of the patient. The suspicious thing was why did they bring the patient from Ikare to come to a remote area here?

In his reaction, however, the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Wahaab Adegbenro, who confirmed the incident, said the matter was not a case of coronavirus as being insinuated.

Adegbenro said the deceased died of an entirely different ailment, saying, “Proper diagnosis was carried out on the patient by the medical personnel while on admission in the hospital. The only patient who tested positive for COVID-19 at the FMC Owo is now receiving treatment at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Akure.”