Dead coronavirus patient: Lagos begins manhunt for contacts
The race to trace the contacts of a man who died of coronavirus in Lagos on Friday began yesterday. His coronavirus status was unknown because his friend who took him to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) on Thursday unconscious didn’t disclose it.
The 55-year old victim just returned from Holland. He earlier performed a coronavirus test at Yaba, according to a statement by LUTH’s Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee, Prof. Wasiu Adeyemo, which turned positive.
The statement also revealed that the victim was a diabetic hypertensive patient who had a transplant for chronic kidney disease and was on immuno-suppressant drugs. Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi, described as unfortunate the news of the first COVID-19 death in Lagos but the fourth in the country. The other deaths were recorded in Edo (two) and Abuja (one).
As of yesterday, there were 209 confirmed cases in the country spread across 13 states and the FCT with 25 patients discharged. Lagos topped the list with 109 cases. The breakdown: FCT- 41 Osun- 20 Oyo- 9 Akwa Ibom- 5 Ogun- 4 Edo- 7 Kaduna- 4 Bauchi- 3 Enugu- 2 Ekiti- 2 Rivers-1 Benue- 1 Ondo- 1 No new cases were announced by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) yesterday.
The developments on the Lagos death came on a day the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, met with the leadership at the National Assembly on an executive proposal to establish a N500 billion COVID-19 Crisis Intervention Fund. Contact tracing The LUTH statement said its Department of Community Medicine had moved swiftly to trace, follow-up and assist gallant staff who managed the deceased patient. It further implored all LUTH staff to continue observing strict standard protocols while handling all patients as medical personnel are especially at increased risk from such undisclosed exposure.
Details Giving details about the incident in the statement, they said: “A man was brought unconscious to LUTH Emergency late in the evening of Thursday 02/04/2020 by his friend and although they denied any history of recent travel, his presentation strongly suggested Covid-19. “He was handled professionally by the Infectious Diseases Consultant and his team without unduly exposing LUTH staff to danger.
He died a few hours later. “Further investigations later revealed he had earlier performed a test at Yaba soon after he returned to Nigeria from Holland and the test was positive. He was a known Diabetic Hypertensive patient. He had also had a kidney transplant for chronic kidney disease and was on immuno-suppressant drugs. “The corpse has since been handed over to the appropriate unit of the Lagos State Ministry of Health for safe burial according to international best practices.” Vanguard
