St Nicholas, Vevic Lifecare, others suspend operation over COVID-19 scare

Some top private hospitals, including St Nicholas Hospital and Vevic Lifecare have suspended operations due to fear of contaminations as people believed to have been infected by the coronavirus might have gone to private hospitals and inadvertently contaminated the environment.

Recall that the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control had strongly advised against the treatment of Coronavirus in private hospitals. Hospitals are required to refer any patient displaying symptoms of the virus to the NCDC.

On Monday, April 20th, 2020, Vevic Lifecare Hospital in Lekki, Lagos, informed the public that its management has decided to suspend operations for approximately ten days.

According to a statement that was made available by the hospital, the decision became necessary after a Covid-19 patient was inadvertently admitted at the facility, even as two hospital staff members ended up contracting the deadly virus.

In view of this, the hospital was closed so it can undergo a full decontamination exercise. In the meantime, the infected hospital staff members were handed over to the NCDC for proper monitoring and treatment.

Saint Nicholas Hospital also released a statement, yesterday, informing the general public that it has decided to temporarily suspend operations for two weeks. Again, the move became necessary after it was discovered that the hospital had been exposed to the contagious virus.

At least, six other hospitals in Lagos are believed to have made a similar decision to suspend operations in the meantime. There are strong indications that more hospitals might do so in the coming days.

It would be recalled that the late Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Abba Kyari died of the deadly virus over the weekend at a Lagos private hospital called First Cardiology Consultants.

Meanwhile, at least two of Nigeria’s biggest companies have advised their staff members to avoid certain private hospitals in Lagos, which are believed to have been contaminated by the Coronavirus.

In an internal memo that was sent out to all staff by the head of human capital of a tier-1 bank, staff members were advised to immediately contact the hotlines of the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) if they have recently visited any of the hospitals or been in contact with people who have.