Kwara state has recorded first case and death of a Coronavirus patient.
Reacting to the development, the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) said the deceased actually concealed his travel history.
Reports over the weekend claimed that UITH concealed information regarding the death of a patient who is a returnee from the United Kingdom(UK).
But, a statement signed by UITH Chairman Medical Advisory Committee Dr. A. O. Saka said the deceased, a 57-year-old man was labeled suspected ‘coronavirus case’.
The hospital said the patient was admitted and reported a case of ‘food poisoning’ without revealing details of his travel history.
However, after his death on April 2, the hospital received calls notifying it that the deceased was a returnee from the UK.
According to UITH, a professor who brought him to the hospital concealed the information from medical personnel when the deceased was brought to the hospital.
“A 57-year-old, male, Muslim patient was brought into the UITH’s Accident & Emergency Department on the night of Wednesday, April 1st, 2020 in the company of one of the hospital’s Professor of Internal Medicine (a specialist in infectious diseases); with history of abdominal discomfort/stooling, following ingestion of rotten pineapples. He was then admitted and managed as a case of ‘food poisoning’.
“The patient later died in the early hours of the following day, 2nd, April 2020. Following the patient’s death and release of his corpse to the managing Professor (who happens to be his relative) for an immediate burial (in accordance with Islamic rites), the hospital management received several anonymous calls disclosing information of recent travels by the patient and his wife to UK and having been on self-isolation on arrival to Ilorin prior to presentation at A&E (on the advice of the Professor who brought him)- Information that was concealed from the frontline medical personnel at first contact in the A&E; an act that the hospital’s management considered HIGHLY UNETHICAL!
