The Lagos State government has said it will not disclose the
identity of an Italian national who tested positive to coronavirus
disease (COVID-19), insisting it is against the ethics of medical
practice to give out information about the identity of the patient.
Many
Nigerians have been calling on government to disclose the identity of
the Italian since he was announced as the first person with the virus in
the country.
In a press parley with reporters at the Lagos
Ministry of health on Wednesday, the Commissioner for health, Prof Akin
Abayomi said the rules of engagement regarding patient-doctor
confidentiality had compelled him not to disclose the name and other
personal information of the Italian. He disclosed that the Italian man
was responding to treatment, adding that a new treatment had commenced
for the index case in the isolation ward at the Mainland hospital in
Lagos.
In his explanation, Abayomi said: “We started a new
treatment for him two days ago which he is responding fine to. He is
comfortable but bored. At the moment, we are trying to make him
comfortable because he is the only person in the isolation room with 14
beds, he has nothing to do all day long, nobody wants to come and visit
him. We’ve made provisions for him to have wifi to connect to the
outside world.”
“We are testing him everyday. What we are
looking forward to is to see if there is still evidence of the virus in
his secretion. The moment we stop seeing the footprint of the virus,
then we wait for an extra two to three days to make sure he is okay.
“Sometimes, when you clear the virus, there is an element of rebound
before it goes away. If there is a rebound and we release him, there are
chances of infecting people around him.”
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