“Only curtain separates Covid-19 patients from others in Jos hospital” – revolting Nurses

Nurses in Central Nigeria’s Plateau State say poor safety conditions putting them at risk of Covid-19 are unfair.

Nurses in Jos University Teaching Hospital are forced to mingle with covid-19 patients, and still not provided special accommodation to avoid infecting their family members in case of exposure, said Mrs. Mercy Lengka, the Chairperson, National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwieves (NANNM), Jos University Teaching Hospital chapter, Monday.

“There is no special room for suspected cases at the hospital but only a screen demarcation with a clothing material for suspected cases at the casualty unit.

“A patient was managed in the ward as suspected case but he turned out to be positive for COVID-19. A nurse working at the centre also tested positive afterwards,” Lenka told Journalists.

The Union leader ordered a sit at home for its members working in the center over “welfare negligence”.

Nurses at the centre will only return to duty when provided “accommodation, incentives and hazard allowances,” Lengka said.

Failure to provide a special room for suspected cases awaiting results, the Union official said may warrant a total strike of nurses in the hospital.

“Nurses at the centre must be tested before they resume as some may be positive and still going back to risk their families which is in irony of our advocacy against community transmission. Even if the federal governmemt have not implemented the hazard provisions, the state task force should handle this matter,” she said.