Dr Bella Nifemi has slammed her colleagues who are risking their lives to secretly treat wealthy Covid-19 patients.
Nifemi who is one of the doctors on the frontlines of Nigeria’s coronavirus response, alleged that some doctors allow themselves to be lured into the private homes of hidden Covid-19 patients where they are promised huge pay for secrete treatment.
She made the allegation while reacting to the death of Dr. Chugbo Emeka who died on Wednesday after contracting the virus from the Covid-19 patient he was treating privately.
Dr. Nifemi, who has been tending to Covid-19 patients at the Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) in Yaba, Lagos, advised her colleagues to stop risking their lives by managing patients away from the government’s provided medical facilities.
She wrote: “Dear fellow colleagues, how much is your life worth? Why are you suddenly carried away with the offer these big men are offering you to come home and treat them for Covid-19 because they don’t want the public to know?
“A doctor who is a known asthmatic patient died because he was attending to a confirmed Covid-19 positive patient as a private client at home. Another one is on admission…the client he was attending to as a private practice died this morning.
“Encourage your clients to come to isolation centers for treatment when they approach you, don’t get carried away with the mouthwatering offer. We are fully equipped with PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and we have the SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) for Covid-19 at our isolation centers.
Lagos is the epicenter of Nigeria’s coronavirus outbreak with 232 of Nigeria’s currently confirmed 407 cases.
