Breaking: Enugu Woman Who Tested Negative of COVID-19 Dies; Family Blames Gov., Hospital

By Charles Igbo

In a shocking development, a 70-year old woman, suspected on arrival to Nigeria, a few days ago from London, of having the Coronavirus, but was later given a clean bill, has died.

The uptill-now unnamed woman, after a five-month stay in London, visiting her children, had returned to her country, Nigeria. She boarded an Airpeace flight from Lagos to the Imo Airport, and proceeded to her state, Enugu.

In Enugu, she developed symptoms suspected to be those of Coronavirus, and was immediately isolated in a hospital facility. Her blood sample was taken.

But here’s the irony.

Enugu took the whole of three days to confirm from her blood sample that she was negative of the deadly virus – something that took Lagos only four hours to confirm in Nigeria’s index case – an Italian.

For the three days she was isolated,  the family alleged she was kept in hell on earth, and was treated like a scum. Not only does the family reveal that Enugu’s isolation facility is worse than a pig’s stye, it accuses the medical personnel who attended to her of unprofessionalism. Her family says she was stigmatized and given the worst  treatment ever.

Worse, the family alleged, Enugu is not prepared for such a case.

Proof: Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu state announced the release of the sum of N20 million only after the woman was kept in isolation on suspicion of having the virus.

Meaning : Until the suspected case, aside from the N20m being inadequate, Enugu had made no arrangements for a dreaded virus  which has been ravaging the world since December of 2019.

In an angry, heart-rending, letter to Governor Ugwuanyi, the family holds him and the hospital responsible for her death,  insisting  that the environment she was kept in, and her stigmatization by medical  personnel, and the delay in confirming her status killed her.

Even in death, the family alleged, she was not decently treated, as there was no stretcher to move her body.

Following is her family’s letter to the Governor. It is the story of the shameful health system in Nigeria. The letter was signed by “a very heartbroken daughter,” who did  not identify herself by her name.

“Dear RT. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi,

“I am writing on behalf of myself and family in regards to the 70 year old woman suspected of the Covid -19 in Enugu published on Saturday 14th March 2020. The patient who is my mother, unfortunately, passed away on Sunday 15th March 2020 having tested negative to the aforementioned virus. She returned to Nigeria on Wednesday 11th March, 2020,  after five months trip to the UK to visit her children.

“Whilst the health workers/officials at ESUTH Colliery Parklane had to take the necessary precautions to protect themselves against  this virus, the manner and state at which they treated my mother was inhumane.

“My mother was isolated in a dilapidated environment that seems to have been left uninhabitable over a long period of time. The isolation centre in Enugu is an abandoned old section of the hospital, where the grass and debris were being cleared whilst my mother was there.

“The staff at the hospital were unprofessional in the way they handled my mother. She was stigmatized and this made her feel worthless. My mother arrived at the hospital on Friday 13th March, 2020, blood samples were collected on Saturday 14th March, 2020, with results expected on Monday 16th March, 2020.

“As declared by the World Health Organisation (WHO) that this is a global pandemic, one would expect a faster testing time. My mother had to spend three days in a dire situation, without adequate health care and unsure of what is happening around her. If the result for Covid-19 was ascertained on time, my mother would still be here with us, as she would have been moved to a better equipped hospital with the right experts to deal with her underlying illnesses.

“My mother died due to the negligence and unpreparedness of the state in putting adequate facilities including staff training in place. The new strand of the corona virus was detected back in December 2019 and it is absolutely disappointing that there is no appropriate isolation centre in Enugu State.

“After the death of my mother, finding a workable stretcher to move her body was impossible! You would expect any hospital to provide basic facilities such as a stretcher – my mother’s body was carried into the ambulance on a wretched tool.

“Considering that the Covid-19 result proved negative, we can conclude that my mother died due to the following reasons:

.The state of the said ‘isolation centre

.Wrong treatment

• Staff stigmatisation due to lack of training in dealing with such cases.

“Furthermore, shortly after the news of a suspected Covid-19 patient was published, the Enugu state government responded by releasing 20 Million Naira for the management of the state isolation centre. In my opinion, that is a little too late as strategies for dealing with the Corona Virus pandemic should have been put in place before now. It should not have taken my mother’s suspected case to prompt an action from the government. The government should have anticipated this and appropriate measures and facilities put in place.

“As l write this, l am sure that no plans have been made for any future case of Covid-19 despite the promised allocated funds.

“In conclusion, l would like to reiterate that the environment of the isolation centre, staff behaviour and the unpreparedness of the Enugu state government resulted to my mother’s unexpected death.

“The objective of this letter is to make sure that no other person will have to go through what my mother went through. I am, therefore, appealing to the governor of Enugu state to ensure that the funds allocated to the isolation centre is rightly used for the purpose for which it was meant for.

I urge the Enugu state government to ensure accountability to this respect.

“Sincerely,

A very heartbroken daughter.”

MAY HER SOUL REST IN PEACE!!