Enugu state health workers have responded after a woman took to social media to accuse them of negligence and claim that the 70-year-old woman who tested negative to coronavirus in Enugu later died due to this negligence.
The open letter to Enugu state governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, which began with ” I am writing on behalf of myself and family regarding the 70-year-old woman suspected of the Covid-19 in Enugu,” was shared on Twitter by a family friend @UcheNgwu7
The deceased’s daughter accused the state’s health workers of neglecting the 70-year-old woman while she was in quarantine. She said the manner and state in which the woman was treated was “inhumane” and that she was kept in an “abandoned old section of the hospital” that is not habitable.
“The staffs at the hospital were unprofessional in the way they handled my mother. She was stigmatized and this made her feel worthless,” she wrote.
The health workers gave now responded, telling their side of the story.
They shared photos of the hospital and of health workers wearing the protective covering to deny the claims that the late patient was kept in uninhabitable conditions and abandoned by health personnel.
They added that when the woman was brought to the hospital, health workers did their best to take care of her.
The statement signed by a number of health workers reads: “The 70-year old woman was promptly received and interviewed by doctors without any form of stigmatization from them or other health workers.”
The health workers denied that negligence was the cause of the woman’s death.
Revealing her cause of death, they wrote: “She had hypertension, sugar issues and kidney disease which were poorly managed before her admission at the isolation centre. Her personal doctor, a specialist at the ESUTH Parklane, was also contacted and later went to the Isolation Centre with two other specialists to see this woman.
“Some important tests were done which showed the woman’s blood level was very low, hence needing transfusion.”
They added that even the woman’s son refused to donate blood for her and they had to source for it outside.
They referred to the daughter’s allegations as “mischievous”
The statement continues: “We therefore state categorically that this allegation is false, mischievous and a clear case of ingratitude.”
They added: “Where was the daughter all this while the mother was sick and being managed. It will be candid of us to know that where the woman was managed was clean and not the picture that is circulating as seen above. May her soul rest in peace.”
