Medical Dr caught in secret web of COVID-19 VIP treatment dies of infection, fellow medics panic

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A medical doctor has died in Lagos after contracting the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from a patient he treated in a private hospital.

Emeka Chugbo, 51,  though, wasn’t on the frontline, passed away on Wednesday morning at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH).

He was taken to the facility on Monday after attempting to treat a COVID-19 patient in a private hospital in Lagos.

Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee of LUTH, Prof Wasiu Adeyemo, said the doctor was trained in LUTH many years ago but left for private practice.

“The doctor is not a LUTH staff; he was a private practitioner, though he trained in LUTH some 18, 20 years ago. I remember I met him, I know him, he left LUTH around 2002. One of his classmates called me that he has some issues in his private hospital, so I asked that he should be brought to LUTH,” he said.

“He was COVID-19 positive, we started him on drugs but unfortunately, he died this morning (Wednesday).”

The Chief Medical Director, LUTH, Prof Chris Bode, also confirmed the incident, saying the doctor was rushed to the facility after he showed severe signs of the virus.

The Nigerian Medical Association, in a statement on Wednesday, commiserated with the deceased’s family and the entire medical community.

“Until his death, he was a private medical practitioner, who was exposed to a confirmed case of COVID-19,” the statement read.

“We condole with his immediate family and members of the medical community for this painful loss.”

Dr Chugbo is highly regarded by peers in the profession for his dedication, selflessness and passion. He is also the pride of his alma mater, Government College Ojo, Lagos.

His family and friends share the same sentiment. “Words can’t express man. This was sudden, this feel illegal. Known you since I was a kid. You were the first person to ever express and give me confidence in my intellectual abilities. RIP uncle,” a Twitter user, simply known as Tamanji wrote.

Chugbo’s painful demise could have been avoided. Recall that KAFTANPost had raised an alarm over some higly-placed individuals who after testing positive for the virus resorted to private care instead the government facilities.

Sources told our correspondent that most of these rich patients contracted the virus in London, the United Kingdom, after attending the infamous 80th birthday celebrations of the Nigerian High Commissioner to Britain, Justice George Oguntade.

On their return to Nigeria via Virgin Atlantic flight in the 3rd week of March , they felt unwell and secretly took a Coronavirus test and the result was positive.

It was gathered that instead of reporting their conditions to the health authorities in the state for them to be taken to the isolation/treatment Centre at Yaba, they approached this popular hospital (name withheld) on the Island where they were treated and discharged.

Subsequently, they told their equally infected friends about the hospital.

If anything, Dr Chugbo may just be the first of many private medical practitioners to go down if this trend isn’t checked.

Observers say that time has now come for the government of Lagos State to force out COVID-19 patients from private clinics and warn the general public that private clinics cannot manage the virus for now.

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