COVID-19:OOUTH Shuts Medical Lab, as 14 Staff Test Positive

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COVID-19:OOUTH Shuts Medical Lab, as 14 Staff Test Positive

The Medical Laboratory unit of the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH) Sagamu, has been closed on Thursday for two weeks, following the confirmation of 14 workers who tested positive for Coronavirus.

This is coming barely a week when 20 staff of the same institution were confirmed positive for the deadly respiratory disease, bringing the total number of infected workers to 34.

With the information from the laboratory indicating that one of the infected staff had infected three of his family members, the management of the institution, ordered the closure of the laboratory for two weeks.

The anonymous sources within the university disclosed that 14 out of 16 staff in the laboratory tested positive, which is described as second wave of mass infection at the health facility.

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Speaking with our correspondent, the Ogun State Commissioner for Health Dr Tomi Coker who confirmed the closure of the laboratory for two weeks, however declined in giving details of affected staff, saying its remains a private affairs of the institution.

Pharmanewsonline garnered that the spike in infection at the laboratory unit of the institution may not be unconnected with lack of protective equipment for the workers at the main laboratory.

According to a staff of the laboratory who preferred to speak on anonymity, blamed the incident on insensitivity of the management of the teaching hospital to the plights of staff dealing with COVID-19 patients.

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He hinted journalists on how staff had been going for COVID-19 test since last Friday, following the death of a staff while some were already ill and manifesting symptoms associated with COVID-19.

He said: “The OOUTH management under Dr Peter Adefuye should be blamed for whatever happened to the laboratory staff because of their refusal to provide us with sufficient Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) that we needed to have as health workers having direct dealing with the samples of COVID-19 patients”.

Meanwhile, Nigerians have been blamed by the Presidential Taskforce PTF for the continued non-compliance with COVID-19 safety protocols, saying it would have flattened the curve by now, but for the lackadaisical attitude of Nigerians towards containing the pandemic.

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The taskforce further decried the increasing COVID-19 case fatalities in the country, disclosing that of the 985 deaths recorded so far, 14 of them were medical doctors who contracted the virus in the line of duty.

 

 

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