Good afternoon everyone.

I'm sharing my personal experience with our failed healthcare system especially on its inability to respond promptly to this COVID-19 epidemic.

#TheAverageNigerian #FailedHealthCare #FailedHealthCareSystem

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A week ago, I came down with some symptoms similar to that of COVID-19. I tried the @NCDCgov hotlines several times for about 2 days before I got a response stating that since I have not started showing ALL signs & symptoms plus I have no recent international travel history—

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—or contact with a confirmed COVID-19 patient I wouldn't be attended to.

I took to Twitter later that day expressing my displeasure for the response I got and most people including the @NCDCgov dismissed it as a skit or probably an attention seeking video.

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My symptoms continued to persist and I reached out to the @LSMOH through the hotlines all to no avail before contacting them on Twitter via @08000CORONA where I got a call the following morning.

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I was told to get a cough syrup and mix lemon in hot water and take these liquids every morning and evening.

I carried out these practices for 2 days with a little relief or so I thought, up until yesterday where I had serious difficulty breathing.

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I was rushed to a private hospital where I was rejected because of my symptoms, and was referred to the Mainland Hospital (Formerly Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba, Lagos).

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Upon my arrival at the Mainland Hospital, the doctors on ground reluctantly attended to the case after questioning me.

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Some of the doctors dismissed it almost immediately stating that the signs and symptoms plus possible confirmed contact did not fit the profile of a COVID 19 case.

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A sample was eventually collected for testing after we insisted on NOT leaving without a test being carried out. While the test was ongoing 2 persons were immediately admitted into the Isolation Ward based on the fact that they had possible contact with a confirmed case.

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We were later referred again from the Mainland Hospital to Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) for medical examination. 

On getting to LUTH we were halted at the entrance of the Accident & Emergency Ward and told to wait outside.

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We were questioned from a distance on the symptoms I was experiencing.

After questioning, the doctor said this was a possible case of COVID 19 and referred us back to Mainland Hospital Yaba stating that they do not have adequate gear and facilities to handle such a case.

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All these took place within the hours of 11pm and 5am while I was still having difficulty breathing, dry cough and my hands and feet were numb.

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We eventually decided to head back home as there was no HOPE in sight of being attended to. We placed a call across to a Nigerian trained Consultant based in the US who prescribed some medications to subdue the symptoms and instructed us to carry out certain tests.

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I’ll be going live on Instagram tomorrow morning by 9:00 am to give a proper account of everything that happened yesterday night.

#TheAverageNigerian
#FailedHealthCareSystem #FailedHealthCare

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You can follow @sydney_talker.
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