JUST IN:Kwara Confirms 2 COVID-19 Cases

Kwara State Technical Committee on COVID-19 on Monday confirmed two separate cases of COVID-19 in the state.

According to a statement issued by Chief Press Secretary to the Governor/ Spokesman of the Technical Committee on COVID-19 Rafiu Ajakaye and obtained by Solacebase said one is the wife of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) patient, a UK returnee, who died last Thursday and the other is another UK returnee.

The statement was issued a few minutes after the government received official confirmation of test results from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Test Centre in Ibadan on Monday evening.

Solacebase had reported on Saturday that the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) said the deceased and the person that brought him to the hospital concealed the patient travel history.

The newspaper gathered that the patient is a returnee from the United Kingdom(UK) and died a day after been admitted at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH)

A source told Solacebase that the patient after returning from the UK went into self-isolation and on the 13th day was feeling uncomfortable and was subsequently taken to UITH without informing the hospital of the patient travel history.

But, a statement signed by UITH Chairman Medical Advisory Committee Dr A. O. Saka said the deceased, a 57-year-old man was tagged suspected ‘coronavirus case’.

According to the hospital, the patient was admitted and reported a case of ‘food poisoning’ without revealing details of his travel history.

Subsequently, after his death on April 2, the hospital received calls informing it that the deceased was a returnee from the UK.

A source informed this newspaper that, a professor who brought the patient to the hospital concealed the information from medical personnel when the deceased was brought to the hospital.

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According to UITH,  “A 57-year-old, male, Muslim patient was brought into the UITH’s Accident & Emergency Department on the night of Wednesday, April 1st, 2020 in the company of one of the hospital’s Professor of Internal Medicine (a specialist in infectious diseases); with history of abdominal discomfort/stooling, following ingestion of rotten pineapples. He was then admitted and managed as a case of ‘food poisoning’.

“The patient later died in the early hours of the following day, 2nd, April 2020. Following the patient’s death and release of his corpse to the managing Professor (who happens to be his relative) for an immediate burial (in accordance with Islamic rites), the hospital management received several anonymous calls disclosing information of recent travels by the patient and his wife to UK and having been on self-isolation on arrival to Ilorin prior to presentation at A&E (on the advice of the Professor who brought him)- Information that was concealed from the frontline medical personnel at first contact in the A&E.’’

The statement, however, added that the government will address a news briefing tomorrow morning at 11 am to give details and further measures now being taken to tackle the development.