COVID-19: Abia health workers attending to patients without full protection, says commissioner

John Okiyi Kalu, Abia commissioner for information, says many health workers in the state might have been infected with COVID-19 as a result of unknowingly attending to patients without full protection.

Kalu disclosed this on Monday while responding to questions on the COVID-19 situation in the state.

The state recorded 15 new cases of the disease on Sunday, and is now the 16th state with the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the country.

A total of 166 COVID-19 cases have been recorded in the state.

“The rate of infection of medical workers in Aba is very high, which means that a lot of COVID-19 patients are presenting themselves to hospitals and our medics are attending to them without full protection,” he said.

According to the commissioner, the increasing number of cases has “compounded Abia’s case with very few spaces left for confirmed cases”.

Kalu decried residents’ nonchalant attitude to the pandemic, saying they “vehemently” refuse to obey government’s directives on COVID-19 including wearing of face masks and observing of physical distancing, NAN reported.

He said such attitude has thrown the city into “a grave danger”.

The commissioner cited reports from Aba central mosque on hospital road, which he described as “very dangerous and worrisome for everyone in the COVID-19 era”.

He added that the state inter-ministerial committee on COVID-19 has directed the Aba south local government transition committee chairman to enforce regulations at the mosque on Friday and during other prayer sessions.

“At the moment, Abia is having more samples than any other state in the south-east which is good, because unless we identify where this problem is coming from, we may not be able to deal with it,” he said.

“We’ve done our mapping by local government and one thing is clear, majority of the new cases are coming from the Aba area and it’s alarming.

“It looks like all the sensitisation, all the efforts made by the media, have not worked because Aba people continue to violate the regulations with regard to face masks’ wearing, and social distancing.

“The churches are part of the problem. It looks like Aba is a red location for COVID-19 infection and all hands should be on deck now to stop the spread there.”