An aid worker in an international humanitarian organisation, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Border, has died of coronavirus (COVID-19).
This was confirmed in a statement on Monday by the Head of Mission in Nigeria, Siham Hajaj.
“Our dear colleague died on 18 April, in Maiduguri, and post-mortem test results indicated that they were positive for COVID-19,” the statement read.
“Due to patient confidentiality, we cannot disclose the identity of this patient.”
The patient was the index case of COVID-19 in Borno State while the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control confirmed his death in an early morning tweet on Monday.
Until his death, he was working in Pulka, a district in Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State housing thousands of displaced persons.
The MSF, according to the statement, was supporting the Ministry of Health to identify the contacts of the patient.
The organisation revealed it has strengthened infection prevention measures, hygiene facilities, infection control and the establishment of isolation spaces, in its bid to protect its staff and patients.
