Medical doctors in Lagos State, Nigeria, have expressed their concern over the government’s decision to relax the state-wide lockdown directive amid the Covid-19 crisis. The Medical Guild Lagos (MGL) stated that 16 members of the guild were already infected with the virus and that they are determined to prevent more cases of infections.

The Chairman of MGL, Dr Sodipo Oluwajimi, said the doctors infected with the virus were in stable conditions and that the guild has adopted a slogan that says, ‘No Personal Protective Equipment, No work’, in the bid to enforce protection for its members.

In urging the government to bolster its efforts for providing personal protective equipment in hospitals for all workers at all levels, Oluwajimi said, ‘Issues around the use of social distancing, use of face mask, having adequate handwashing and hand sanitisers in place with appropriate measures to [check] defaulters are yet to be resolved’.

‘We do not support the use of gloves, if they are not changed regularly and hand hygiene practised, it could lead to increased spread’.

Oluwajimi warns that the Covid-19 crisis will worsen if testing and contact tracing are not at maximum capacity to allow early identification of cases and the enforcement of quarantine and isolation as appropriate, among others.

In his recommendation for setting up a multi-stakeholder committee that would incorporate health workers groups to regularly discuss and update clinical guidelines for fighting Covid-19, Oluwajimi said, ‘The Lagos State government should start the process of dialogue and negotiation between health workers and the government with a mandate for implementation of health workers agreement, with special emphasis on health insurance, hazard allowance, Covid-19 allowance and other benefits’.

Source: Vanguard

Photo source: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control