95-year-old survives COVID-19 in Oyo

The Oyo State Task Force on COVID-19, said on Monday, that Isolation Centres run by the state has recorded zero fatality since the outbreak of COVID-19 in the state, in March 2020.

This feat, the Task Force noted, is due to the holistic approach adopted by medical personnel managing the COVID-19 situation.

The Task Force added that medical personnel at the state’s isolation centres regularly embark on comprehensive assessment of patients, proper management of any underlying ailment and a robust nutrition and exercise regimen.

A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Seyi Makinde, who doubles as one of the Risk Communication Coordinators of the Oyo State COVID-19 Task Force, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, indicated that though 31 deaths have been recorded in the state since the index case of the virus was discovered in March, none of the fatalities took place in the isolation centres set up by the state government.

The statement added that all of the 31 COVID-19 deaths recorded in the state have been due to comorbidities or underlying ailments in the deceased.

All of the fatalities occurred at some private and other medical facilities outside those run by the state government, the statement said.

The statement also quoted the State’s Incident Manager and coordinator of the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), Dr. Taiwo Ladipo, and the Coordinator, Oyo State Isolation Centres, Professor Temitope Alonge, as confirming the development.

Oyo State’s isolation centres include those at the Infectious Disease Centre, Olodo, Ibadan; Chest Hospital, Agbami, Ibadan; Igbo-Ora in Ibarapa; Saki, in Oke-Ogun; Aawe, near Oyo; and the LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso.

“Yes, I can confirm to you that Oyo State has not recorded any fatality in any of its isolation centres since the outbreak of COVID-19 in the state. That’s a fact and it is a landmark achievement,” Dr. Ladipo said.

He said that, though, 31 deaths have so far been recorded among COVID-19 patients in the state, none of the deaths happened at the state’s isolation centres.

He also stated that the state has tested 14,356 samples, recording 2,860 positive cases, 1,420 recovered cases and 31 deaths.

Prof. Alonge also confirmed the development, declaring that medical personnel at the centres adopted a holistic approach to COVID-19 management since inception.

While speaking on what he believes could be responsible for the feat, Prof Alonge said: “Well, many things. There is always the God factor. God has been good to us. Then our treatments actually commence very urgently and we pay attention to every complaint of the patients. Our health care workers have been very prudent and meticulous, because, most times, when these patients come in and claim they have no symptoms, we take time to clerk them and ask detailed questions.

“So, we found out that in clerking them, many of them that claim they do not have symptoms actually have. So, we address those symptoms and we have added all manners of care to address their symptoms.

“The symptoms they think they don’t have or they think can be ignored, when they present them to us, we pay attention and deal with them. Of course, if we deal with that along with Coronavirus, we capture virtually all their complaints.”

He added: “Again, their nutrition has been very good. They have been on a high protein diet. The environment is conducive. They do exercise.  Twice a week, they do aerobics and dance. Health care workers dance across the barrier and the patients are dancing across the other side of the barrier. There is a very good relationship with them. They are very open and they tell us how they feel, because they know we are concerned about every part of their livelihood.

“We have gone beyond just saying a patient is positive. We do baseline investigations to check their liver functions, we check their kidney functions. We check their blood for malaria parasites. We do comprehensive assessment both in clerking and blood tests. So, at the end of the day, some infections in their system that they are not even aware of, which Coronavirus will worsen, are taken care of. We pick them up early and begin to work on them.

“Sincerely, it has been a wonderful experience. We have had a 2-year-old. We have had a 95-year-old, who recovered. We have a wide range of patients. The average range is 34. We have taken a (child) delivery there (at the Olodo Infectious Disease Centre) before and the baby is COVID-19 free. The mother too has tested negative.

“As I speak, there are two pregnant women and one nursing mother there. We have every category of patients; millionaires, the poor, bank managers, directors, deputy directors of parastatals, government agencies. So, it is a mixed thing.

“Patients spend an average range of 10 days or, at most, three weeks. Any patient that is spending more than three weeks has other problems that we are coping with.”