70-Year-Old Man With Stroke And Diabetes Beats COVID-19 In Abia

A 70-year-old man who had underlying health conditions of diabetes and stroke, has beaten  COVID-19 in Abia State.

Nursed at the isolation centre of the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia, the septuagenarian was first admitted to the hospital to undergo therapy for hypertension and stroke.

“When we administered drugs on him.he was not responding as expected, then one of the doctors said,’ let’s test him for COVID-19′, samples were taken from him and tested and the result returned positive,” one of the medical officers who treated him told THE WHISTLER.

It was gathered that it took the 70-year-old man 11 days to beat the disease that has been taking thousands of lives of far younger men worldwide.

The man(name withheld), had as a companion in the isolation centre, a 72-year old woman, who suffers from hypertension and heart failure and who was also later diagnosed with COVID-19.

Feelers from  the hospital showed that she was in a stable condition, as of Friday and there are strong hopes that she would also.pull through.

A top medical officer in the hospital told THE WHISTLER on Friday,, “she’s fine, so far so good. Her condition is stable as of today..”

On Friday, the Medical Director of the FMC, Umuahia, Dr.Azubuike Onyebuchi, issued a statement on the discharge of the patient and it reads:”As you are aware on the 20th of April, 2020 we reported two confirmed cases of COVID 19 in the  state both of which were patients being treated in our facility for other co-morbid conditions. 

“Since then both patients have been receiving treatment in our Isolation Ward for COVID 19 
alongside other co-morbidities they presented with. 

“I am glad to inform you that today we will be discharging our first successfully treated COVID 19 case from the isolation facility. 

He has shown marked clinical improvement and has met the national criteria for the discharge of Covid patients from isolation centers which is testing negative two consecutive times to the coronavirus from the NCDC reference laboratory.

“It is heartwarming to note that efforts are being made in collaboration with thevNCDC and the state to test all the high risk contacts of the index cases. All those so far tested including those with symptoms have tested negative. 

“To the glory of God, a good number of the contacts have exited self-isolation uneventfully and we hope that all other contacts will exit successfully by Monday.

“This incident is a wakeup call for us all to remain more vigilant by maintaining a high index of suspicion and practise infection prevention and control measures more than ever. 

“On our part as management we will continue to strengthen safety measures in the workplace through screening of patients at the entry points, enforcement of compulsory masking of all patients and provision of requisite personal protective wears to staff. I also wish to say that as a  management we will continue to respond accordingly to changes in the dynamics of the pandemic. 

“Leaders of various trade unions are therefore enjoined to support the management by disseminating right information to their members. 

“As healthcare providers we are enjoined to avoid stigmatization of COVID 19 patients and those managing them as it is a disease that can affect anyone irrespective of his or her social status. 
Such disposition will not augur well with our commitment to provide the best possible care to our clients. 

“Finally, I wish to thank all involved in the successful management of our first COVID 19 patient, particularly our case management team for their sacrifice which shall not go unrewarded. I am also grateful to the Abia State government for their xontacts of the index cases, we will continue to support you until all successfully exit self-isolation. By His grace we shall overcome.”