Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi, has revealed that the first person to die of the coronavirus in the state did not disclose his full travel history to help doctors who examined his case.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) had on Friday night revealed that two persons recently died of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Lagos and Edo States.
Giving an update on the victim who died in Lagos, Abayomi said on Saturday that the patient did not disclose his full travel and medical history.
He said: “I regret to announce the first COVID-19 related death in Lagos State.
“The deceased was 55-year-old Nigerian; male who lived in Holland but returned to Lagos two weeks ago.
“He had a kidney transplant 7 years ago and also diabetic.
“He was on strong immune suppression drugs for the kidney transplant.
“He was admitted on the night of April 2, 2020 on presumption of complications from the kidney transplant.
“He did not provide full account of his travel history or medical circumstances to the attending doctors in keeping with global trend and to enable guided treatment for COVID-19 related vulnerability due to severe underlying ill health.
“He, however, demonstrated some signs of an upper respiratory chest infection.
“He later tested positive for COVID-19 but died early hours of April 3, 2020 from a cardiac arrest.”
The commissioner did not comment on reports suggesting the man was admitted at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, and died at the facility.
The reports say the man was admitted at the hospital’s emergency unit on Thursday night with “malaise, tremors, and fever.”
He was reportedly taken to the “spillover unit” because the hospital had run out of bed spaces.
His case was said to have been reviewed when he developed complications following close monitoring by a junior doctor.
The incident has raised fear among medics who might have come in contact with the man.
