Health Commissioner says many people run away after testing positive for coronavirus in Lagos

Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi said many people who tested positive for coronavirus in the state ran away to avoid being taken to isolation centres for treatment.

Abayomi disclosed this on Friday, May 8, 2020, while responding to the question on the difference between the occupancy of the isolation centres and the number of active cases in the state.

He said the absconding patients are the reasons why Lagos still has unoccupied bed spaces at its isolation centres despite recording more cases than its bed-capacity, Premium Times reports.

He said, “There is also a situation that we experience, when we test people, sometimes they find it difficult to find them. The ambulances will go into community, people will flee their homes, and they make it difficult for us to find them.”

The isolation centre in Gbagada recently commissioned by Lagos State Government. (LASG) AFP

Abayomi also said that some patients sometimes shut their doors or leave their environment to avoid being admitted, adding that some of them don’t answer their phones as well.

He further explained that the patients run because they are afraid of coming to the isolation centres, adding that they have nothing to be afraid of.

He said, “If you have tested positive, we expect you to cooperate with us and make yourself available so that you can be admitted and accessed.

“Our isolation facilities are really comfortable, it is not like the Ebola days, we have made a lot of improvements.

“Members of the executive and senior people in government have been admitted into those facilities. If I test positive, I will go to one of those facilities.

Abayomi maintained that Lagos has about 307 unoccupied beds out of the 569 total bed spaces available in the state.

He added that most patients are yet to be admitted, while most are on the run after testing positive for the virus.

According to him, out of the 569 beds at Lagos isolation centres, 307 bed spaces remain unoccupied.

Below are isolation centres in Lagos and their bed capacity as of Friday, May 8, 2020.

Gbagada Hospital- 118

– Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) – 60

– Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba -115

– Onikan Stadium Centre – 100

– Landmark Centre- 70

– Lekki Centre- 45

– Agidingbi Centre – 34

– First Cardiology Hospital – 5 (Critical case).