LUTH Sends Away Man Who Tested Positive For COVID-19 Over Lack Of Bed Space?

A man named Emmanuel Benson, who had close contact with two persons that recently arrived Lagos from the United Kingdom, has been told to go home by medical personnel at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, after testing positive for Coronavirus.

Benson, who had hoped to be quarantined and treated at LUTH after being tested at the government-owned hospital on March 21, was asked to go back home over lack of bed space to admit him at the facility.

SaharaReporters gathered that since the refusal of LUTH to admit Benson, he had returned home and continued his normal life.

“He moved to and from LUTH through public transportation.

“He has been mingling freely with people,” a friend to the young man told SaharaReporters on Thursday.

When contacted by SaharaReporters on Thursday night after his mobile number was supplied to one of our correspondents, Benson indeed confirmed that he tested positive for the virus and was not admitted to LUTH for treatment by medical personnel.

He disclosed that he went for the test after coming in contact with the two UK returnees at a dinner party in Lagos last week.

When asked if money was demanded from him before the test was conducted, Benson refused to open up, instead saying that he does not want unnecessary attention.

While chatting with one of our correspondents on social networking platform, Whatsapp, Benson, who expressed fear of being stigmatised should his story be published, quickly deleted his display photo on his profile.

He was standing with an unidentified person in the photo where both men were wearing tags over their necks.

He said, “I am at home on self-isolation now.

"I had the test at LUTH even though the queue was too long.

“Some of the medical staff I spoke with later advised me to go home and self-isolate.

"They said I should get back to them after 14 days or that in seven days they might call to check my progress.

"I was infected at a dinner party organised for the two men who returned to Nigeria from the UK.

"I went for the test on March 21."

When asked if he had attempted to contact the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control to notify them of his situation and probably seek help, Benson said, “I have called the NCDC lines several times but they are not picking up the call.”

To further give credence to Benson's situation, the NCDC on Thursday night announced 12 new confirmed cases of Coronavirus in Lagos out of the total 14 detected in the country.

Nigeria now has 65 confirmed cases of the virus and one recorded death.

Testing kits for the virus are being used for politicians and their families while ordinary Nigerians with symptoms of the pandemic are being left to their fates.

Till date, less than 200 persons have been tested for the virus in Nigeria despite Lagos alone having a population of over 20 million persons.

An official of the Nigerian Medical Association told SaharaReporters that the number of confirmed cases declared by NCDC was far below the real figure, adding that there were already hundreds of citizens infected with Coronavirus walking and freely mixing up with others thus increasing the risk of a further spread.