Over thirty medical doctors across public and private hospitals in Kano have been infected with coronavirus, according to the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA.
The Chairman of the state chapter of NMA, Dr Sanusi Mohammed Bala confirmed that the state had already lost one of the medical doctors to the disease.
He explained that most of the affected doctors contracted the virus in medical wards while attending to unsuspecting patients who presented with different complications that later turned to be COVID-19 related.
Daily Trust learnt that ten out of the affected doctors were from Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH).
The President Association of Resident Doctors AKTH, Dr Abubakar Nagoma Usman blamed the situation on lack of PPE and deliberate withholding of critical information by the patients from the health workers about their health conditions.
“This is more than the Lassa fever because some of the patients came without a classical symptom of the disease. Some of them even present no symptoms while sometimes, they will present with other symptoms of different disease but when you get to see them, or when you start managing them, you will realize that they are already positive for COVID-19 disease. By then, it is already late because they had already exposed themselves.
“That is why we are calling on all those that have hands in the supply of protective equipment to give us priority because we are in need of these protective kits to protect ourselves and patients from exposure,” he said.
Speaking about current situation of the affected doctors, Nagoma said some of them are clinically stable while others are having some mild-moderate symptoms, adding that quite a number of them have already been moved to state isolation centres for management.
Daily Trust gathered that apart from the doctors, about six members of Kano state task force committee on COVID-19 had also been infected with the virus and are currently receiving treatment at isolation centres.
It could be recalled that both Dr Bala and Dr Nagoma had in the past raised concerns over lack of personal protective equipment for medical doctors attending to patients in the hospitals across the state.
As at Monday, Kano has 365 active cases of coronavirus with 8 deaths.
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