As part of efforts to ensure public safety, the Plateau State Government has closed down a private hospital in Jos, the state capital for 2 weeks following the facility’s exposure to the dreaded Coronavirus disease. The affected hospital is the Rayfield Medical Centre.
State Commissioner for Health Nimkong Lar, who addressed newsmen in Jos said 2 patients who were being managed in the hospital had Covid-19.
Also Read: COVID-19: Plateau to enforce non-adherence to COVID-19 safety guidelines.
Lar says one of the 2 persons who were been treated at the hospital died, while screening of primary and secondary contacts revealed that 17 staff of the hospital have tested positive for the virus and are also being attended to by the State Ministry of Health officials.
He added, that as of June 17, Plateau State has 198 cases of the virus, with 29 health workers among those who have tested positive.
Meanwhile, the hospital management in a statement said the Covid-19 patient that was admitted had absconded from one of the state hospitals and came for treatment for an unrelated illness. The patient had denied any history of contact with a Covid-19 patient as well as any history of symptoms suggestive of the virus. The patient was subsequently managed for 2 days in the hospital before the management discovered the true state of affairs from the State Ministry of Health.
The statement explains that the patient was immediately evacuated by the Ministry of Health officials to the Covid-19 treatment facility and the hospital fumigated. The management expresses its readiness to resume normal services to the general public immediately after the expiration of the mandatory two weeks closure of the hospital.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
