Administration of St. Joseph’s Hospital Adazi-Nnukwu, issues statement on index case in Anambra State

Mon, Apr 13, 2020
By publisher
4 MIN READ

Coronavirus Pandemic

THE Administration of St. Hospital Adazi-Nnukwu says that it has decided to put the record straight on the index case in Anambra State after several stories and reports on the issue and that it will respect the privacy of the patient by not disclosing his name.

A statement by Rev. Fr. Jerome N. Okafor, Hospital Administrator, said that the patient was admitted at the Dr. Joe Nwiloh Heart Center of St. Joseph’s Hospital for heart problem on Tuesday April 7, 2020 and that the medical officer, who went attend to him noticed that he was coughing our blood, and was shivering.

The doctor suspected that the patient was showing symptoms of COVID-19 and informed the Cardiologist, who admitted him. He did not think that the symptoms indicated were strong enough to suggest the virus infection.

However, he authorized the staff of the center to call the office of the National Center for Disease Control, NCDC, which they did several times. And each time the office assured them that their staff was coming. After 16 hours of waiting, the authority of the center decided to send a delegation to the office of the CMD of Amaku Universtity Teaching Hospital, Awka.

The team was able to persuade the CMD to send people to come and take the man’s sample for testing and to transfer him to the designated isolation centers of the government.

“It is supposed that he consulted with the Commissioner for Health and the Governor and eventually a team of medical personnel was sent to collect the man’s sample. The team said the result would be ready within 48 hours.

“After 48 hours; the medical team delegated to follow up the case began to call the NCDC office. All they could get after several phone calls was a verbal report that the index patient was positive. Uptill now, the hospital administration has not received any official report of the result of the test. What we have today all over the media is that St. Joseph’s Hospital has a patient with COVID-19 virus. What is the motive behind this? It is certainly not in the interest of the common people that the hospital serves nor that of the patient. The staff of the Center was very professional in their approach to the issue,” the statement said.

According to the statement, since the office responsible for taking up the matter was duly informed, the sample was taken, but the result was not forthcoming; the staff continued to treat the patient for the symptom of heart disease which he presented.

“He got better and was discharged because he insisted on going back to his house. The patient did not run away from the hospital. He paid his medical bill. The Center discharged because the major reason why he was suspected of the virus was that he was not forthcoming with the information about his travel history.

“I wish, therefore to state that St. Joseph’s has not been officially communicated that the patient whose sample the NCDC collected from one its units tested positive of COVID-19. The Hospital Administration is reading this story from the internet and hearing from other media outlets, like everyone else. It is a surprise.

“The blackmail of the Hospital seems calculated. The Administration cannot at the moment pin down the source of the information. But it is clear that the hospital has been hurt. The psychological trauma of the patient, whose medical information the hospital staff is duty-bound to protect, is incalculable. This will further wear out the confidence our people have in the medical profession. There are things which should never be treated as a matter for entertainment and means of making money. Personal integrity of people should always be respected and should never be exploited. St. Joseph’s will continue its investigation of find out the source this wicked rumour,” the statement added.

– Apr. 13, 2020 @ 13:49 GMT |

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