COVID-19 kills 20 Nigerian doctors in one week

The Nigerian Medical Association has said at least 20 doctors have died of coronavirus complications in the past seven days.

This came just as the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Friday night confirmed four new deaths and 712 fresh coronavirus infections.

Chairman of the NMA in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Enema Amodu, gave the number of medical doctor victims at a media briefing on Friday, adding that medical personnel were in need of personal protective equipment (PPEs).

Commenting on the recent increase in cases across the country, Amodu said the second wave of infections had been “catastrophic”.

“We are skilled, trained personnel to handle emergency conditions, and we need things to work with. We need ICUs; we need drugs; we need face masks; we need PPEs; we need hand sanitisers,” he said.

He added, “This second wave is so overwhelming. This second wave is more catastrophic and this probably will be because a lot of people have gone back to the way of doing things. They thought the virus is over; it has come and it is gone and they’ve let their guards down.

 “For those of us in the health sector, we’ve lost quite a number of colleagues in the last one week alone. Across the country, we have lost not less than 20 doctors in the last one week.”

He urged patients to be sincere with medical personnel, especially on underlying conditions that may increase the risk of infection.

“We are not in any way demeaning anybody or insulting anybody. When you sit before a doctor, ensure the safe distance and comply. And when the doctor asks if there is any other problem, please be gracious enough to let them know if you’ve either just survived COVID-19, you’re on treatment for COVID-19, or your family member is on treatment for COVID-19. Please be honest,” he said.

He also called for an upward review of hazard allowance for health workers, and urged Nigerians to endeavour to comply with all safety protocols.

The NCDC said the new positive samples were recorded in 19 states and the FCT and Lagos had the most cases with 388 infections.

The FCT had the second highest number of infections with 77 cases, followed by Kwara with 39, and Katsina with 35.

Meanwhile, the daily count of patients who have recovered from coronavirus infections increased on Friday with 588 persons discharged across the country.

According to the NCDC, the new patients discharged on Friday included “248 community recoveries in Lagos State and 136 community recoveries in Kaduna State managed in line with guidelines”.

Although the figure is lower than the number of new cases, the recent increase is the highest daily count in over two months.