Nigeriens with COVID-19 attempted to ‘escape’ from hospital – Medical Director

It has emerged that the two COVID-19 positive Nigeriens who refused to undergo care at the Ga East Municipal Hospital on Monday, attempted to leave the facility without authorization.

The two also threatened staff with a sharp object, stressing that they will not stay at the facility.

According to the medical superintendent of the hospital, Dr. Ebenezer Oduro Mensah, it took security personnel about three hours to subdue the two persons and have them returned to police custody where they were brought from.

Narrating the development on Eyewitness News, Dr. Oduro Mensah said the hospital, which is the national treatment centre for COVID-19 received the two Nigeriens on Monday morning and gave them a place to stay but later in the day, they managed to leave their holding area to the car park on the compound in an attempt to leave the facility.

“We received them as we receive all other clients and gave them a bed to make them comfortable where they were…[But] somewhere around 3 pm, I was informed by my staff that they had picked up their luggage and were attempting to leave,” he said.

“Eventually, they left the holding area and moved to the staff car park threatening to leave [the hospital]… We called on the onsite police officers to intervene but hey indicated that we had to call for further help… It took about 3 hours or more for them to be subdued and sent to police custody,” he added.

Dr. Oduro Mensah said the behaviour of the two Nigeriens show that they will be a threat to other patients and medical facility if kept there hence the decision to have them kept in police custody.

“We realized by the nature of their behaviour that they were going to pose a threat to both patients and staff on duty… One of them kept insisting that he wanted to leave and that he wasn’t prepared to stay there. He kept saying he was well and he didn’t think he is sick and so doesn’t see why he should stay there,” he noted.

The two Nigeriens who are asymptomatic and were only to be observed for a period at the hospital are now in the custody of the Accra Regional Police.

Meanwhile, the Regional Director of Police Operations, ACP Kwesi Ofori says the Police Hospital is working with the Ministry of Health to take full responsibility of the two persons.

Arrest of Nigeriens

The two Nigeriens were arrested on April 5, 2020 when a taxi they were in was stopped by police enforcing the lockdown directive.

The two could not give tangible reasons for their movement, sparking suspicion hence their arrest.

Further investigations by police triggered a medical test on them at the Ridge Hospital whose result came back on April 13, 2020.

Citi News‘ Umaru Sanda Amadu reported that, “On April 5, they [Police] found them moving with a taxi driver. The police noticed that there were inconsistencies in their answers. When asked where they were coming from, they said they came from Niger and had their luggage on them. The police took them into custody and then to the Police hospital and eventually to the Ridge Hospital where they had their samples taken.”

National outlook

A total of 636 novel coronavirus cases as of noon on April 14, 2020 have been recorded in Ghana with eight deaths and 17 recoveries.

The Greater Accra Region has the most number of cases – 509.

The Ashanti Region has 53; Eastern Region, 41; Northern Region, 10; Volta Region, nine; Upper West Region, seven; Upper East Region, four; North East Region, one; Western Region, one and the Central Region with one.

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