The Oyo State COVID-19 Task Force, on Friday, discharged 11 persons after they tested negative for COVID-19 twice.
The deputy chairman of the state task force, Prof. Temitope Alonge, said following the discharge of the 11 cases, the Infectious Disease Centre, Olodo, now had 32 patients.
Alonge, former Chief Medical Director of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, said that of the 32 patients, all but one were in stable condition.
He added that three of the 11 discharged persons were females while eight were males.
Eight of the discharged persons were said to be northerners from Sokoto State.
Alonge said, “We all must have behind our minds that this novel coronavirus is not in any way similar to the HIV virus, meaning that it does not reside in you forever as it were. It has a span of time that it stays and your body’s immune system is built up enough to be able to get rid of it and you come back to normal.
“But, if at the time you have a high load of the virus, you happen to have some other co-morbidities or you are under some treatment that reduces your immunity, then you can have a full flare. So, it is not like the HIV virus that you have to use medications to suppress or reduce their effects.
“When patients come down and they are tested as positive, it means the load of the virus is enough to make them feel sickly. When they are in isolation, what we do is to boost their immunity. There are so many regimens in the world that are being tried and used but here, our patients have stuck to a very simple regimen. They all have 500mg of azithromycin daily for three days. They also have zinc on a daily basis. 2gram of Vitamin C, Chloroquine 500mg and 250mg for another three days.
“We are privileged to have linked up with our colleagues in UCH, who have been exceptionally wonderful. So, we are not only looking at their symptoms but also the viral load and their CT. But, the value of the CT is also in correlation with the value of the viral load. The higher the viral load, the lower the CT value.
“We have 32 patients. All of them are very stable. We only have one of them who has a comorbid issue and, as I speak, one of our senior consultants from the University College Hospital is attending to him. Also, another consultant in the Psychiatry Department will come and counsel this particular client on the use of medications, because we found out that he was using too many medications that can be injurious to his health.
“Apart from that, everybody is fine. We even have a family here; father, mother, and children and they are doing exceptionally well.
One of the discharged persons (names withheld), while giving her experience, said, “I did not show any symptoms. I just went for the test voluntarily. So, after nine days, they called me that the test came out positive and I was asked to come to the isolation centre to quarantine myself.
“The test was conducted on me on April the 22 at Etiosa Local Government, but I was already in Ibadan when they told me the result and I was asked to go into isolation in Ibadan.”
Packaged by Kunle Gazali
