Bayelsa suspected COVID-19 positive patients lament delay in confirming status
Patients suspected to be COVID-19 positive in Bayelsa state have bemoaned the delay in getting results from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) laboratories Edo and Rivers states.
The t worst affected are medical personnel who had contacts with confirmed patients, who thereafter went into self- isolation for two weeks and are awaiting their test results in suspense.
Some respondents who spoke on the development on Thursday in Yenagoa, urged the relevant stakeholders to cooperate and improve the turn-around time between sample submission and confirmation of results.
A medical practitioner, who spoke on the development, said that the delay had caused some stress on the manpower at the Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa and the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital (NDUTH), Okolobiri.
The doctor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said more than 10 of them who had completed the two -week isolation, cannot go back to work until the results are out.
“As it stands, a lot of us who have been involved with managing patients who are confirmed COVID-19 positive according to the protocols will go into self-isolation for two weeks.
“After the period, we cannot still have results of our samples sent for tests at Irua Specialist Hospital in Edo state and University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital in Rivers state; we do not know what is causing the delay,’’ the source said.
Chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee, NDUTH, which is the leading COVID-19 management centre in Bayelsa, Dr. Johnbull Jumbo, confirmed that there are so many suspected COVID-19 cases awaiting test results from the NCDC.
However, in a reaction, Co-Chairman of the state COVID-19 task force, Dr. Nathaniel Apoku, acknowledged the delays and explained that it was due to scarcity of reagents at the NCDC laboratories in Edo and Rivers states.
Apoku said that the state in the last two weeks had over 300 pending samples of suspected COVID-19 cases at the laboratories, adding that the laboratories were having issues with reagents and supplies, hence the delay in returning the results.
“Yesterday, we received results from 76 samples; 54 returned positive for COVID-19. This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 86 in the state. We are expecting more test results from today as well.
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“11 of these positive cases are contacts of previously confirmed cases; eight are healthcare professionals,” Apoku said.
He dismissed speculations that the delay was caused by the task force and said that the COVID-19 team chaired by Gov. Douye Diri was working hard to establish a world class molecular laboratory to carry out testing in the state.
“We are leaving no stone unturned to ensure that we have our own molecular laboratory in the state, following the donation of a new RT-PCR machine by Shell Joint Venture partners to the state,” Apoku said.
