Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello
By Our Reporter
The Association of Resident Doctors, Federal Medical Center, Lokoja, Kogi State, has advised Governor Yahaya Bello to rescind his decision in preventing patients with COVID-19 symptoms from carrying out test.
A statement by Dr Nnanna Agwu, president of the association, on Tuesday, urged the Federal Ministry of Health and Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 to rally all relevant stakeholders in Kogi State to ensure that tests are being done.
He said, “Many patients with symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 have been seen severally in the hospital but efforts to get them tested were frustrated by the state government authorities.
“There is palpable fear at the Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja, as medical doctors and other health workers raise alarm of imminent danger posed by the COVID-19 pandemic to their lives.
“This was against the backdrop of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control report issued on 17th May 2020 that only a single COVID-19 test has been conducted in Kogi State since the disease was recorded in the country about three months ago.
“The doctors fear that they are at a high risk of contracting the disease and transmitting same to their families and other unsuspecting patients. It is a known fact that without COVID-19 tests, physicians cannot properly categorize and treat the patients coming into the hospital in accordance with the management protocols.
“One cannot underestimate the impact of this disease on the lives of the families who have lost loved ones to it. As at today across the country 603 doctors have been exposed, 149 confirmed positive and seven deaths recorded. We in FMC Lokoja do not wish to be joined in these statistics.”
The NCDC in its May 18 situation report revealed that Kogi and Cross River states have the lowest figures of samples tested since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country in February, 2020.
According to the report, Kogi submitted only one sample while Cross Rivers submitted seven
