Medical personnel in Delta State have distressed by alleged scarcity of personal protective equipment (PPE) for them to work with at the Delta State University Teaching Hospital (DELSUTH) and the Isolation Centre at the Central Hospital, Warri.
But government officials dismissed the fears as unfounded.
A source said: “You can visit the triage there (DELSUTH). We know there is a global shortage of these things but if you don’t have them, you don’t go to the media and say you have. That is where we have challenges.
“You can check the Accident and Emergency and see if the people working there are fully kitted on PPE or not.
“The isolation centre is away from DELSUTH. It is an out station. The people working there have PPE to work with but the issue is about the triaging-the process of getting to know that a patient is COVID-19 positive.
“The greater risk is on the triage system. The doctors the nurses and cleaners that will work in the hospital generally, before the case is identified. And knowing that these patients have varying presentations, by way of non-practical symptoms, you do not know who walks in.
“The patient that died didn’t exhibit symptoms of fever. Relatives shy away from giving a clear travel history.
“The point is that a patient may just show up without the classics features, and you will not even know. And these people that receive these patients that present are even the most important, like the Accident & Emergency need the PPE, more than the people in the isolation centre.”
The Association of Resident Doctors at DELSUTH, in a recent statement, demanded “adequate provision of PPEs, recommended face masks, alcohol-based hand sanitizers and infra-red thermometers at all patient entry points to the hospital.”
It also asked that all health workers enlisted for the management of this disease be granted life insurance package with adequate compensatory measures in the event of fatality.
However, the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Olisa Ifeajika denied the allegation.
He said: “I am telling you convincingly that what we have in Asaba is the same they, DELSUTH, Central Hospital Warri, have.”