Two consultants, senior matron die in LASUTH as 200 health workers contract coronavirus

The management of Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, has revealed that out of the about 200 of its health workers that were infected with COVID-19, no less than four had died.

The tertiary hospital said among those killed by the global pandemic were two consultants and a senior matron. It didn’t state the category of the fourth worker who also died of the disease.

The hospital stated this in a series of tweets while responding to a chartered accountant, Kunle Enitan’s tweet about how his critically-ill mother was initially refused admission by LASUTH, until the Lagos State Commissioner of Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, intervened.

The incident happened on Sunday.

Mr. Enitan had narrated how his ailing mother was made to wait for four hours at the LASUTH, with no doctor or nurse to attend to her.

According to the tax expert in a tweet via his Twitter handle @kunleenitan on Sunday, his mother was referred to the tertiary hospital from Unita Hospital in Ikotun, a Lagos suburb, as an emergency case.

The aged woman was on oxygen, Enitan, who is also a political analyst, said.

He had tweeted, “My mother was referred to @LASUTH from Unita Hospital, Ikotun, Lagos, as emergency after stabilising her with oxygen. Its been 4 hours & she’s still left in the car at the medical emergency entrance with no doctor or nurse attending to her @LASUTH Ikeja.”

His tweet caught the attention of the Lagos State Commissioner of Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, who tweeted back: “Sorry for the delay in attending to your mother. I have sent you an important message, check your DM now.”

Enitan later tweeted back: “Dear all, I really appreciate your prayers, comment and concerns. The honorable commissioner of health Prof. Akin Abayomi, has intervened. My mother has also been taken in. God bless you all.”

However, responding to Enitan’s tweet, LASUTH, via its Twitter handle @LASUTHikeja, stated in a series of tweets the reasons it could not admit the elderly patient.

Among the reasons it gave for refusing Enitan’s mother an admission, despite the critical nature of her illness, was that some patients are deemed COVID-19 suspect until test proves otherwise.

“There is a covid pandemic. Suspected covid cases have to be carefully handled so as to reduce the chances of our health workers getting infected,” LASUTH said.

It stated that despite the tertiary hospital’s caution, almost 200 of its staff still got infected with the contagion, resulting in four fatalities that included a senior matron and two consultants.

LASUTH said, “Even with such caution applied, almost 200 LASUTH health workers had been infected with the covid virus so far. There had been four fatalities, including two consultants and a senior matron.”

It added that suspected COVID-19 cases need to be immediately investigated before admission, even if there is a vacant bed.

“They are temporarily admitted to the Covid Holding Bay until their test results are available. These are some of the reasons why there may appear to be some delay in certain cases,” it explained.

Meanwhile, LASUTH eventually admitted Enitan’s mother after the Lagos State Commissioner of Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, stepped in.