Over 20 Health Workers Test Positive For COVID-19 In Kano

Over 20 health workers have tested positive for the COVID-19 in Kano State.

According to the Chairman, Association of Resident Doctors at the Aminu Kanu Teaching Hospital, Abubakar Nagoma, 12 health workers at the hospital, including doctors, nurses and lab scientists tested positive for the COVID-19.

Nagoma confirmed this to Channels Television on Tuesday.

Also, at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Dala, 15 workers were reported to have tested positive after treating a patient who had the virus.

The chairman of the hospital’s branch of Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), Aliyu Kabara, confirmed this to Channels TV.

Mr Kabara said the 15 infected health personnel include three consultant doctors, nine resident doctors and three nurses that treated asymptomatic COVID-19 patients, who came to the hospital for orthopaedic treatment.

“We were the first hospital in Kano to record infected COVID-19 doctors. During the first screening, 15 persons out of 25 samples were found to be positive for COVID-19.

“All the infected doctors are now in self-isolation in their respective homes, pending the availability of beds in state isolation centres because presently there is a shortage of beds space in state isolation centres,” he said.

Kabara, however, noted that more spaces will be available as more recovered patients get discharged.

According to him, the hospital has scaled-down operation, and restricted services to emergency cases and in-patients.

Giving details of how the doctors got infected, Mr Kabara said they contracted the disease from a female patient who had just undergone a surgery.

“When she came back for follow-up, she exhibited some COVID-19 symptoms. Most of the infected doctors are from that unit where this woman was treated.

“We are not always using Personal Protective Equipment, because we don’t have enough. We rarely use them when attending to patients suspected to be COVID-19 positive.

“Otherwise, we use surgical masks and hand gloves for routine clinical services,” he said.

“No one will refuse to attend to a patient with a life-threatening illness and send him back because of lack of Personal Protective Equipment but some of these patients have COVID-19 beside their known clinical challenges,” Mr Kabara added.

Meanwhile, the coordinator of the technical subcommittee, Kano State Task Force on COVID-19, Dr Tijjani Hussaini, has confirmed that three COVID-19 patients have been discharged after testing negative to the virus twice.

Mr Tijjani said all three patients were male, adding that more patients would be discharged from isolation centres this week.

“We are on contact tracing of over 400 persons. We still have a challenge of resistance and non-disclosure of status from our contacts.

“We are presently working on the instruction of governor (Abdullahi Ganduje) to establish sample collection centres across the 44 local government areas of the state,” he said.

After, Lagos, Kano State, has the second-highest number of COVID-19 cases in Nigeria.

On Monday, the NCDC announced an additional 23 new cases, bringing the total number of cases in the state to 365.

Eight persons have also died from the virus in the state.