Nigerian doctor infected with coronavirus while treating patient

A Nigerian doctor treating a coronavirus patient at the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital in Nigeria’s Edo State has contracted the disease.

The President of Nigeria’s National Association of Resident Doctors, Dr Aliyu Sokomba, the incident would not prevent the doctors from wearing gloves to box the disease, The PUNCH reported.

“Just yesterday again, one of our doctors in ISTH, Irrua, had tested positive for the COVID-19 disease. What that means is that these doctors that are testing positive to various diseases are being left alone to take care of themselves,” he said.

Dr Sokomba said six doctors had died of Lassa fever while one unnamed doctor had been infected with COVID-19.

“At the moment, as health workers continue to play their part in containing the spread of the disease, the health workers are not protected. One of our colleagues died just yesterday from Lassa fever. This is the state of our health care institutions, and that is the fate of most health care workers in the country.

“Dr. Philp Dzuana is the sixth doctor to have died of Lassa fever in the country and very little is being done to getting this kind of situation under control.

Although working in a fragile health system, the doctor said they had no form of insurance.

“There is no form of life insurance for them. There is no form of compensation. To say the least, what these doctors benefit at the end of every month as hazard allowance is N5,000. So, we are worried that if victory against COVID-19, Lassa fever outbreak in the country is to be achieved, the welfare and wellbeing of doctors and other health workers who are on the frontline must be secured.”

Experts fear the continent’s fragile healthcare systems can be overrun by the spread in coronavirus as happening elsewhere.