Covid-19: Delta NMA says efforts at contacts tracing in danger

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) Delta state on Thursday raised concerns over attempts by various governments in tracing contacts, saying that the process might not produce the desired results as patients were not forthcoming with required materials.

State Chairman of the association, Dr. Omo Ekenaem, who spoke to journalists in Asaba, said that the success of tracking down possible contacts of COVID-19 patients greatly depends on the patients’ ability to speak out.

He added that “part of the challenges of contact tracing is that it greatly depends on how cooperative the patients are.i

“This is because it’s with the information given by the patients that we are able to trace where they have been and who they have been in contact with.”

Ekenaem, who the head of Anaesthesia Unit, Federal Medical Center, Asaba, noted that “we have had instance where patients come in and deny having undergone foreign trips.

“It’s saddening that a lot of people still don’t fully understand nor fully appreciate the implications of these cases,” stating that in a bid to protect their family members, COVID-19 patients unknowingly put their loved ones at risk.

He added that “sometimes, it’s down the long line that some patients begin to open up, especially when those they have been in contact with have begun manifesting symptoms of the virus, making it quite difficult to treat them at that point.

“A patient who has tested positive to COVID-19 virus and claims to be living alone, when in actual sense he lives with his family, puts them at greatest risk.”

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Meanwhile, Dr. Ekenaem has lauded the efforts of the state government in helping to curb the spread of the pandemic, adding that Governor Ifeanyi Okowa had particularly shown visibly concern in helping the epidemiology department in-charge of contact tracing by providing the enablement, especially with regards to mobility.

Commenting on dusk to dawn curfew, Ekenaem described it as appropriate, adding that” the additional two weeks would help in tracing all the contact persons of positive patients so they can be duly isolated, while ensuring that they undergo needed treatment.”