Osagie Ehanire, minister of health, says some patients
infected with COVID-19 “disappear” after testing positive to avoid going into
isolation.
The minister disclosed this during the presidential task
force briefing in Abuja on Thursday.
He said the attitude is common among asymptomatic patients.
Ehanire said some patients dispute the test results which
leads to the retaking of tests on some occasions.
The minister added that such patients have made it difficult
for contact tracing to be effective.
“It has been said that 80% of those who have COVID-19 would
have no symptoms. And those who have no symptoms will not believe you that they
are positive because they look at TV and see people collapsing, they see
intensive care, and there is nothing wrong with them,” he said.
“So you have a problem trying to convince them that they are
positive. And you’re going to keep them in isolation not because they are sick
but because you want to keep them away from infecting others.
“So you do have that issue that people dispute their results
and in some cases, you have to do the result two or three times and they still
don’t believe you. Some people can be asymptomatic and they are working around
but you don’t know.
“Again, you also have the issue of people who test and they
are positive but they have no symptoms. They think you are going to look for
them, they run and go into hiding or they disappear.
“Those who think you’re going to trace them make it
difficult because they don’t want to go into isolation.”
As of Wednesday, Nigeria recorded 11,166 confirmed cases of
COVID-19, out of which 3,329 patients have recovered while 315 persons have
died.
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