…As PAMO Clinic Denies Having Victim As Patient
Controversies are trailing the third confirmed coronavirus infected person who is a 61-year-old manager of Mingi Hotels and his late boss and owner of the hotel, Chief Kelvin Allagoa in Port Harcourt.
The Mingi Hotels Manager was said to have contracted coronavirus from the proprietor of the hotel, Late Chief Kelvin Alagoa, whom he attended to at the time he (Allagoa) took ill.
Since the revelation, there have been speculations in the state capital that some of the hotel staff may have been infected also by their late boss, Chief Kelvin Allagoa.
The first controversy was that the late Allagoa was said to have sought medical help from Pamo Clinics and Hospital Limited, owned by former Governor, Sir (Dr.) Peter Odili.
However, in a swift reaction, the management of the hospital denied ever treating the late Alagoa and that he was never a patient of the hospital.
According to a press statement by the management of the said hospital, “Chief Allagoa presented in our facility for the first time at about 8.00 pm on 27 the March 2020 and for COVID-19 test which alerted the staff on duty for full implementation of precautionary measures.
That Chief Allagoa was told we do not conduct such test and was immediately referred to University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, (UPTH). The phone numbers of NCDC and the Rivers Covid-19 Response Team were given to him to contact.”
However, the family of Allagoa are alleging foul play in the death of the hotel owner. They claim that he may have been murdered.
The elder sister of the late Allagoa, Mrs. Jennifer Allagoa-Amaehule said the man died on April 5 and deposited in mortuary April 7 stating that the hotel staff are not speaking the truth of what happened to the proprietor of Mingi Hotels because the statements made by some of the staff to the police are conflicting and contradictory. They are insisting on autopsy conducted on the body to ascertain the cause of the death. And until that is done, the family will not accept that he died of coronavirus.
But Pamo Hospital in a statement, clarified that after referring him to UPTH, it was said that the next day when the hospital contacted him and he said he had contacted NCDC and Rivers Covid-19 Response Team who merely asked to isolate himself.
Pamo Clinics and Hospitals said it put out the information to correct the misinformation in the public domain.
However, speculations are rife that due to the death of the owner of the Mingi Hotel and the positive result of the test conducted on the manager, that entire Rumuomasi-Elekahia axis in Port Harcourt is a very high-risk area.
There are claims that the test conducted on the staff of the hotel showed that five of them are already symptomatic and there is the fear of community spread.
The manager who is now positive allegedly visited a side laboratory, “Mercyland Clinic” and also has a nurse who visited his house to provide health services
Meanwhile, the Commissioner for State Ministry of Health, Prof. Princewill Chike, has dismissed reports that Rumuomasi and Elekahia Communities in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area is infected by coronavirus due to the confirmed case of a 61-year-old hotel manager in the area.
Professor Princewill Chike made this known to journalists during a fumigation exercise at bus-stops carried out by a private firm, Bob Truck, as part of its contribution to curtail the spread of coronavirus in Port Harcourt.
Professor Chike said samples have been taken from the corpse of the hotel owner for test.
He maintained that despite a confirmed case in the area, it does not mean that the community is infected.
He warned against rumours that were not verified that can scare people of the state.
Professor Chike added that people are been evasive in volunteering for testing, noting that the ministry has embarked on targeted and facility search, not waiting for people to call and inform of a suspected case.
