A second wave of the coronavirus pandemic has led to the death of 20 doctors in Nigeria the last one week.
The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) confirmed the deaths, with Dr Enema Amodu, the chairman in Abuja, saying the doctors were infected by patients who had failed to disclose their true health status.
Patients visiting clinics and hospitals, he said, should be honest about their health to avoid exposing doctors and other health workers to risk.
“For those of us in the health sector, we have lost quite a number of colleagues in the last one week alone. Across the country, we have lost not less than 20 doctors in the last one week,” he said.
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“We also want to use this opportunity to talk to our patients; as you come to us in the hospitals, in the clinics, please oblige us. Wear your mask. Tell us the truth and don’t hold any information back,” he added.
Dr Amodu, a Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) surgeon, said: “I inadvertently saw a patient that I didn’t know had Covid-19 and she didn’t tell me. She knew. I was exposed, I contracted the virus, developed symptoms but by the grace of God, my colleagues rallied around me and I survived,” he revealed.
He advised the government to improve provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) in all medical facilities and called for supply of essential drugs in hospitals.
Dr Amodu also warned that the second wave of Covid-19 was more catastrophic because a lot of Nigerians have gone back to their old ways of life.
“They have thought that the virus is over, it has come, and it is gone, and they have let their guard down.”