Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, yesterday, explained why he was treated for COVID-19 infection in Abuja despite world-class isolation and treatment facilities available in the state to effectively manage the virus.
Ikpeazu, who spoke during a virtual interactive session with journalists in Umuahia under the platform of Abia Media Forum, said it was not until he arrived Abuja to seek further answers that a second COVID-19 test was conducted and the result proved positive.
He said his first test that returned negative was conducted in a Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) facility in another state, as Abia State was still putting together its own laboratories at the time.
“I started having symptoms of something that looked like malaria fever in the evening and then some slight headache. So, my physician gave me Lonart antimalarial and I had that for three days and after the third day the symptoms persisted and he now changed the course of treatment to Emal.
“He gave me shots of Emal and later Fansidar and as that was going on, he administered COVID-19 test on me and at that moment we were taking our samples to Irrua in Edo State.
“The samples returned to indicate that I was negative for COVID-19. So, I continued treating malaria, I took malaria tests and they said I had Residual One Plus left.
“But after taking Fansidar, I couldn’t make urine again and that shocked me, because I am a Biochemist and I understand the implications of not being able to move my waste through urine.
“So, we assembled four doctors from around Abia, who came to examine me and they recommended that I begin treatment at Mecure Hospital and had my first run of dialysis and as they diagnosed, I also did three scans and examined my organs,” he stated.
He said the COVID-19 test was conducted again in Abuja, and when the result came out positive, he had to commence treatment immediately considering the deteriorating state of his health instead of wasting time returning to Abia.
Commissioner for Health, Dr. Joe Osuji, pointed out that the state has so far recorded 644 confirmed cases of COVID-19, adding that 523 patients were discharged as at Saturday, August 8, 2020 with 99.9 per cent survival rate.
He added that the state was actively undertaking community case search across the 17 council areas with 4,436 suspected cases already tested.
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