Thread by @fisayosoyombo

The true story of the doctor who died in Lagos after exposure to a COVID-19 patient is somewhere in between what was originally reported & the contents of ‘that LUTH press statement’ & the “forwarded as received” Whatsapp message in circulation.
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#Covid19SeriesFisayo

Contrary to what was first reported in the media, late Dr. Emeka Chugbo, a consultant obstetrician & gynecologist, didn’t know that the said patient, a pregnant woman, was COVID-19 +ve until he & another colleague had successfully performed a Caesarean Section (CS) on her.
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This was at The Point Hospital, Akerele, Surulere, a private facility where he practised.

The patient started exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms not long after the CS. She was tested.

By the time the test result arrived, positive, she had died.
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The doctor himself would later start feeling unwell.

Now, here’s the missing link — what nobody has told us so far: He didn’t go to LUTH straight.

Instead, he first went to Lord's Chosen Church Hospital, Ijesha, where he was also an employee.
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This was where he was initially managed until he was subsequently moved to LUTH where he gave up the ghost.

I should add, by the way, that the doctor who managed him at Chosen Church Hospital has now tested positive for COVID-19.
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The suspicion is that this second doctor likely contracted the virus while nebulizing his colleague.

I could not establish if Dr. Chugbo, who was asthmatic, knew he had the virus by the time he presented himself at Lord’s Chosen, but there are two theoretical possibilities.
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The first, which is quite unlikely, is that he knew.

However, if he did, he would never have allowed the doctor at Lord Chosen nebulize him, knowing the contagiousness of the virus.
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The second is that he didn’t.

This could have been the case because Dr. Chugbo was only invited to The Point Hospital to perform the CS.

It is POSSIBLE that when he left and the pregnant woman started exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms, the hospital didn’t inform him.
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However, what is clear is that the information flow and decision making that could have preserved Dr. Chugbo’s life happened between the completion of the CS at The Point and his presentation at Lord’s Chosen.

Only these two hospitals have the facts and can tell.
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Something not in doubt is that this death underscores the need for private hospitals to be transparent in their dealings with suspected COVID-19 cases.
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Of bigger importance, Dr. Chugbo’s death sounds a note of warning to the country’s decision-makers: every healthcare worker needs a PPE.

I cannot say this enough: every HCW needs a PPE!

It’s not just the HCWs on the frontline who need PPE, it’s all HCWs in general.
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I say this cos many more doctors are attending to pregnant women as we speak, if any of these women turns out COVID-19 +ve much later, the docs are exposed.

At the moment, pediatric wards of hospitals are open; they can’t be shut down cos children will always fall ill.
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Now, if one of these children gets the virus, the HCWs are endangered (and vice versa).

The doctor who managed Dr. Chugbo is now COVID-19-positive but he wasn’t on the frontline.
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Other doctors in the chain who also weren’t on the frontline but had contact with the second doctor are currently self-isolating.

Hospitals are easy prey for this virus. For that reason, all HCWs need PPE. Doesn’t matter whether they’re on the frontline or not!
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