After
six weeks of forced closure, First Consultants Medical Centre, the hospital in
Lagos which treated the index case, Patrick Sawyer, who imported the Ebola
virus into the country from Liberia, has finally been issued a Certification of
Decontamination by the federal government and given the green light to reopen
for business.
Concerns
have also mounted over the decision by the federal government to review the
resumption date for private and public schools in the country to September 22,
with a group, Africa Health, Human & Social Development Information Service
(Afri-Dev. Info), warning that the reope
ning of schools, involving 80 million children, adolescents, students and teachers is a high-risk strategy.
In two letters from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) through its Ebola Emergency Operations Centre in Lagos and the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, which were exclusively obtained by THISDAY, both parties notified First Consultants that it had been cleared to reopen for business, having undergone three rounds of state-certified decontamination processes.
The Lagos State Government also commiserated with the hospital over the loss of its medical personnel, “who died in the line of duty” and expressed its appreciation for the altruistic role it played in containing and managing the Ebola virus, “thus preventing an epidemic”.
ning of schools, involving 80 million children, adolescents, students and teachers is a high-risk strategy.
In two letters from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) through its Ebola Emergency Operations Centre in Lagos and the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, which were exclusively obtained by THISDAY, both parties notified First Consultants that it had been cleared to reopen for business, having undergone three rounds of state-certified decontamination processes.
The Lagos State Government also commiserated with the hospital over the loss of its medical personnel, “who died in the line of duty” and expressed its appreciation for the altruistic role it played in containing and managing the Ebola virus, “thus preventing an epidemic”.
In
the first letter dated August 29, 2014, which was addressed to the Lagos State
Commissioner for Health and signed by Dr. Faisal Shuaib, Incident Manager at
the Ebola EOC, NCDC stated: “On behalf of the Honourable Minister of Health,
Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, I write to inform you that First Consultants Hospital
has now had three rounds of state-certified decontamination process and as a
result, the hospital is now cleared to reopen for business.”
Having been informed of the state-certified decontamination, Idris, in his letter dated September 3, 2014, wrote to the Managing Director, First Consultants Hospital, Mr. Benjamin Ohiaeri, stating: “The Ministry is in receipt of a letter dated August 29, 2014, from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Ebola Emergency Centre, Lagos, informing that your facility has had three rounds of state-certified decontamination process.
Having been informed of the state-certified decontamination, Idris, in his letter dated September 3, 2014, wrote to the Managing Director, First Consultants Hospital, Mr. Benjamin Ohiaeri, stating: “The Ministry is in receipt of a letter dated August 29, 2014, from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Ebola Emergency Centre, Lagos, informing that your facility has had three rounds of state-certified decontamination process.
“The
Ministry acknowledges the role your facility played in alerting the State
Government of the index case of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) and appreciates
your altruistic gestures in containing and managing this dealy virus, thus
preventing an epidemic.
“We
also commiserate with you on your members of staff who died in the line of
duty.
“First Consultants has now been cleared to reopen for business. We hope that with this reopening, your facility will continue to maintain its high quality of standards.”
“First Consultants has now been cleared to reopen for business. We hope that with this reopening, your facility will continue to maintain its high quality of standards.”
First
Consultants was shut down and quarantined by the federal government on July 26
in line with the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) protocol on the virus, following
the death of Sawyer at the hospital on July 25.
The
hospital, which lost a number of its health care workers to the Ebola outbreak,
including its Senior Consultant Physician and Endocrinologist, Dr. A. S.
Adadevoh, had responded rapidly to Sawyer’s case when he was taken to the
hospital for medical care after he arrived sick at the Murtala Muhammed
International Airport in Lagos on July 20.
Sawyer
had arrived in Lagos for an ECOWAS conference as a senior-level diplomat, but
denied that he had the Ebola virus when he was questioned by the medical
workers who attended to him at First Consultants.
Having
been treated for malaria with no significant improvement, the management
carried out tests for possible infectious haemorrhagic diseases, especially
Ebola, based on the fact that he had flown in from Liberia, which was already
reeling from the impact of the disease.
Once the hospital established that Sawyer was indeed Ebola-positive, it immediately notified the Lagos State Ministry of Health, which in conjunction with the federal government, swung into action to contain the spread of the disease.
Once the hospital established that Sawyer was indeed Ebola-positive, it immediately notified the Lagos State Ministry of Health, which in conjunction with the federal government, swung into action to contain the spread of the disease.
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