22 FCT patients in critical condition after COVID-19 killed 20 doctors in one week — NMA
The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has blamed what it described as the second wave of COVID-19 on international travellers who refuse to follow health protocol.
The NMA also endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to enforce tighter coronavirus rules on travellers.
The development comes as experts report a new strain of the coronavirus which they fear has the capacity to spread faster than previous variants. But there is no evidence suggesting the new strain is more deadly or even as deadly as its predecessors.
The NMA, however, insists there was no point in leaving anything to chance.
On Friday, the Chairman of the NMA in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Dr Enema Amodu, told journalists that the coronavirus killed 20 doctors across the country. He said the deaths occured in one week.
“Let me just say that even if it is one doctor, that died of COVID-19 in the process of providing service to the nation to prevent death, to us it is sad,” NMA President, Professor Innocent Ujah, said in an interview with Punch on Sunday.
“No doctor should die providing services for the nation.”
Ujah said the association would write the federal government in January to help train doctors on how to protect themselves in the line of duty.
Also on Sunday, the team lead, the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada treatment centre, Dr Yunusa Thairu, said 86 people were being treated for the virus across the FCT. He said 22 of these were in critical condition and has been placed on ventilators.
The NMA says Nigeria can beat the “second wave” if everyone followed health guidelines issued by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
