15 doctors test positive for COVID-19 in Nasarawa Specialist hospital

15 medical doctors have tested positive to the dreaded COVID-19 at the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital (DASH), Lafia, Nasarawa State.

The Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the hospital, Dr. Ikrama Hassan, disclosed this in Lafia while addressing journalists in reaction to claims by the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) that 35 doctors were infected in the hospital.

ARD, while making the claim at a press briefing in Lafia on Thursday, also called for services at all the departments in the hospital to be downscaled citing the high rate of COVID-19 infections among health workers in the hospital.

The CMD however said that only 15 doctors out of the 139 in the services of the hospital were infected, appealing to the resident doctors to rather employ dialogue in dealing with their call for a shutdown of the hospital.

Read also: Nasarawa records seven fresh COVID-19 cases

Giving reasons why downsizing of services in all departments is not an option, Dr. Hassan insisted that the new wave of COVID-19 is much more infectious and requiring concerted efforts to handle it.

He also argued that shutting down the hospital will lead to high mortality in the state.

According to him, closing the hospital in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic does not have any rational or scientific basis, therefore unacceptable. He also insisted that personal protective equipment have been provided by the hospital to ensure the safety of health workers.

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