Following a media report exposing the poor state of the Mainland Hospital, Yaba, Lagos (formerly Infectious Diseases Hospital), the state government, on Saturday, moved the Coronavirus patient to a better facility to make him comfortable.
The report, published on Saturday, pointed out that the patient was angry and had attempted to escape due to the state of the isolation centre.
A health worker at the hospital told Saturday PUNCH on the condition of anonymity on Friday that the patient had been very upset about the surroundings as he “complained of excessive heat and mosquitoes.”
The source decried the “very poor quality” of the isolation centre, lamenting that “the authorities have not matched words with action.”
“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,” adding that the level of preparedness in Lagos State for infectious diseases such as Coronavirus and Lassa fever “is zero.”
The report was in contrast to the earlier claim by the Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, who said on Friday on a programme on Television Continental that the state government had built a facility to handle the situation and that the patient was getting better.
Hamzat had said, “It is a lab that can accommodate 100 for now, but it is only one bed that is occupied today. Hopefully, it wouldn’t spread. We are ready and we are well equipped. He (the patient) is there and he is getting better. He is steady. The doctors say he is going to be fine.’’
But, following the Saturday PUNCH report that showed the true state of the facility against government’s claims, the state Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi, who had in a tweet on his page earlier in the day referred to the Saturday PUNCH report as fake news, admitted on Arise TV when he appeared as a guest on a programme that the patient indeed complained about discomfort but that he had been moved to a better facility.
Abayomi said, “I saw him at about 6pm yesterday. He was explaining his condition and we were taking some new data from him.
“He’s in an isolation room all by himself and we had moved him into a particular room because we were doing a general overhaul of the whole facility because we want to be ready.
“There were some discomfort in terms of heat, but about 9pm we moved him over to the renovated facility which has lots of air conditioners, fans and it’s a 28-bed brand new facility, and he’s there on his own in the whole ward, and as of 6am this morning I’m told he’s comfortable.”
Renovation still ongoing at hospital
Our correspondent also observed during a visit to the isolation centre that ongoing renovation was ongoing.
The commissioner, however, said the renovation was to improve the internal facilities at the centre, adding that, “Work has been completed in one ward, it can hold 14 patients; the tents are complete, they can hold another 20 patients each; another ward will be completed in another two days and that will hold another 14 patients.
“If we get another 10 patients tonight, we are still okay. It’s not a construction in its entirety; we are just refurbishing the facilities to make sure anybody we bring is in a comfortable position.”
