A doctor working with a private clinic was, on Tuesday, reported to have contracted Coronavirus while treating a pregnant woman in the state.
With this patient, Ekiti now has the fourth index case of Coronavirus pandemic with two of them already treated and discharged.
The doctor was said to have contracted the disease while treating a woman victim during pregnancy.
The 29-year-old woman, who is a health
official with the Lagos State Government, was announced as the third
index case in Ekiti last Saturday.
Confirming this to journalists in Ado
Ekiti Tuesday, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Mojisola Yaya-Kolade,
said only one doctor tested positive with 15 turning out to be negative
among the blood samples taken to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control .
“Yes, we have one doctor who tested
positive and he is being treated at the isolation centre, but others
were negative,” she said.
However, the Nigerian Medical
Association , Ekiti chapter has called for adequate protection of
medical workers through provision of life insurance and other measures
as a doctor reportedly tested positive for Covid-19 .
The association also expressed happiness
over the news that 15 doctors working with the Federal Teaching
Hospital, Ido Ekiti, tested negative, describing this as a cheering news
to members of the profession.
Speaking with journalists in Ado Ekiti,
on Tuesday, the Nigerian Medical
Association (NMA) state Chairman, Dr. Tunji Omotayo, said there was
need for government to increase the welfare of medical workers as a
doctor contracted the disease while trying to save life.
Omotayo added that it was imperative for
government to pay adequate attention to the increment of the hazard
allowance being paid to medical workers, which he described as
ridiculous and disgusting as of now.
“We are very happy that 15 doctors from
FETHI were tested negative. This is a cheering news to us and it
confirmed the level of professionalism and precautionary measures being
taken by our men.
“We learnt that the colleague found to
have tested positive had been taken to the isolation centre for proper
treatment and the hope is high that he would soon recover.
“But there are some salient issues that
government must tackle. As of now, doctors are being paid N5,000 hazard
allowance monthly while our colleagues in the universities take
N30,0000. You can see how ridiculous the situation is.
“The government said only workers
working at the isolation centres will have their hazard allowances
increased, but they must know that the patients will first come to the
hospitals where they have contacts with our members and our colleagues
are more at risk, because that is where the disease is discovered before
the patient is taken to isolation.
“Having done the necessary risk
assessment under Covid-19 situation, we are demanding that our
colleagues should be put on life insurance and the government must
increase hazard allowance to all categories of medical workers during
this Covid-19 period.
“Added to that is the need to provide
adequate safety kits like apron, booths, goggles, gloves and other
safety kits that can make us less predisposed to this deadly disease.
“We quite appreciate the fact that what
happened to our colleague who tested positive to the disease was part of
the hazards of the job, but necessary things must be done to provide
the safety net for medical practitioners,” he said.
Omotayo appealed to doctors and other
medical practitioners to take proper precautions and be professional to
reduce the number of victims among medical officials testing positive
for Coronavirus pandemic.
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