A host of isolated patients confirmed to have the deadly coronavirus took to the streets in Gombe State over the poor state of their isolation centre.
The patients who had been isolated at the infectious disease hospital in Kwada, Gombe State, alleged that for over two weeks since being confined in the place, they have not received any form of medications from the medical team assigned to take care of them by the government.
Among them were those who said they stayed for days without getting to see a single doctor, while some others alleged they had also been given substandard food to eat.
“Since wey i come here, nothing them give me,” said a man among the protesting crowd who spoke in pidgin, meaning that since he had been isolated, no medication was given to him.
Another person, a woman, said that nothing like drugs had been given to them. “Even if we have a headache, we give them money from our pockets for them to buy drugs for us. They don’t have any drugs here. No doctors, only the main guard and us,” she said.
The patients took to the streets in the early hours of Wednesday, blocking the highway that links Gombe State to Borno and Adamawa states.
The protestants who went out in their numbers mingled with members of the communities, who also joined them in the protest.
There are fears that the protesters who are confirmed carriers of the virus could have transmitted the virus to other members in the community in the process.
BusinessDay gathered that the protesters portrayed a high level of ignorance to the virus, as they claimed the virus is “fake”, and was only an avenue used by the government to make money.
MICHAEL ANI
