A senior medical officer at the hospital, who spoke with SaharaReporters on Tuesday, said the confirmed cases became infected after attending to patients without protective gear and unknown to them that the patients were carriers of the virus.
There is currently panic among health workers at National Orthopaedic Hospital, Dala, Kano State, after three of them died from Coronavirus complications.
SaharaReporters gathered that 24 others have also tested positive for the virus.
A senior medical officer at the hospital, who spoke with SaharaReporters on Tuesday, said the confirmed cases became infected after attending to patients without protective gear and unknown to them that the patients were carriers of the virus.
The source said all workers in the hospital were primary contact of the confirmed cases and wondered why the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control is yet to close the hospital and tell other staff to self-isolate.
He said that they were still being made to treat orthopaedic patients on admission, thereby putting their lives and that of their family members at risk.
“I don’t know why the NCDC is yet to close down National Orthopaedic Hospital, Dala, Kano. I work there, about three medical staff have died from COVID-19 out of the 27 of those who presently tested positive for the virus.
“Imagine, only 47 samples were obtained by the NCDC and 27 already came out positive. All of us that are working now are primary contact of these people.
“No official statement from the NCDC for us to self isolate, as I’m talking to you we are still treating orthopaedic patients on admission thereby putting their lives and that of our family members at risk.
“As things stand now, the rest of us don't know our status. There is community transmission in the hospital and orthopaedic patients on admission presently need to be evacuated if we are to follow the NCDC guideline,” the senior health worker said.
Kano currently has 342 confirmed Coronavirus cases and six recorded deaths.
However, observers believe the number of fatalities could be far higher especially after a string of strange deaths swept across the city in recent days.