By Ovie Okpare
The Delta State Government and a COVID-19 patient who was reportedly released to reunite with his family from the isolation centre at the Federal Medical Centre in Asaba, the state capital, is now generating controversy
The patient, Michael Nwachukwu Mordi, whom the state government claimed tested positive to the coronavirus on May 23, 2020, was admitted at the FMC Asaba for medication attention.
It claimed that Mordi, a 53-year-old Nurse Officer at the Central Hospital, Agbor, was forceful removed from the isolation centre by members of his family against the wish of medical workers attending to her.
However, the suspected COVID-19 patient debunked the claim, saying doctors approved his discharge from the isolation.
A statement by the state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Mordi Ononye, who confirmed the alleged forceful removal of the patient by relatives from the centre, also condemned the attitude of the 53-year-old nurse.
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He particularly expressed displeasure over the uncooperative stance of the suspected case since his admission at the centre.
Dr. Ononye said the patient has been very aggressive and continually threatened the caregivers and also rejected his medications.
The statement revealed that at 6pm June 1st, 2020, against all medical advice, Mr. Michael Nwachukwu Mordi, obviously consenting, was forcefully removed from the treatment centre by 7 men who claimed to be his relatives and they did not wear any protective coverings.
The commissioner therefore alerted the general public about the public health danger of associating with the patient and with those who have exposed themselves to him.
The statement strongly advised that the said patient be returned to the treatment center for proper care and that those who have already been exposed to him should immediately go into supervised self-quarantine for the next 14 days.
Dr. Ononye reiterated that the COVID-19 pandemic is real and enjoined the general public to continue to observe all published preventive protocols such as frequent handwashing with soap and water, use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer and use of face masks in public places.
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But the patient, while reacting to the state government claims, said he was approved to go home and he had since returned home where he is hale and hearty.
Mordi, who spoke in a telephone interview, said, “They asked me to go, and my relatives came to take me home. Nobody forced me out of the place.”
He said he never exhibited symptoms of the disease, alleging that he was over drugged during his stay at the centre.
“They were over drugging me at the centre, and there were no symptoms of the disease. They were just drugging me which was now weighing me down, and having adverse effect on me.
“They were giving me ten tablets each every morning and evening for the past ten days,” he added.
