The Federal Government has confirmed the death of another nurse who had primary contact with the late American- Liberian, Patrick Sawyer, on Thursday.
A statement issued by the Minister of Health, Prof.Chukwu Onyebuchi, in Abuja on Thursday, noted that the nurse is the fourth person to have died of the Ebola Virus Disease in the country.
Chukwu noted that she was one of the health workers that had primary contact with Sawyer at the First Consultants Hospital in Obalende, Lagos.
He said, “The fourth death recorded today was a Nigerian nurse who participated in the initial management of the index case. We have now recorded 10 confirmed cases of Ebola Virus Disease. Out of these, four have died and eight are currently under treatment.”
The minister also apologised for the error in the number of confirmed cases given to journalists at a press briefing organised by the Federal Ministry of Health in Abuja earlier in the day.
Chukwu noted, “It is important to note that the number of confirmed cases remains 10 as at today and not 11 as earlier announced this morning. We regret the error which arose from double counting in the process of communicating the additional death from the operational centre in Lagos to the Federal Ministry of Health.”
One of the doctors on the team of experts managing confirmed cases at the Ebola Ward of the Mainland hospital, Lagos, had earlier confirmed that the nurse had died due to the exposure she had with Sawyer when he was admitted at the private hospital in Lagos.
The reliable source said, “We lost her in the early hours of today after much effort. She was one of the people that helped him when he was vomiting and stooling. That was when she contracted it.”
The doctor also disclosed that two other health workers that have now been quarantined are in critical condition.
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