Mr. Raymond Dokpesi Jnr, Chairman, DAAR Communications Plc, who was discharged from nearly three weeks of isolation after he recovered from COVID-19, early Friday morning gave
hints of the drugs he was treated with.
Dokpesi Junior was treated at the COVID-19 isolation centre at University of Abuja Teaching Hospital.
“With praise and glory to Almighty God, I started feeling immediate improvement in my wellbeing once the combination of azithromycin, chloroquine and zinc were administered to me by Wednesday, 29th April, 2020.
“My senses of smell and taste which were lost since the time I arrived at the facility were restored by Friday, 1st May, 2020.
“All my vital signs including temperature, blood pressure, pulse and oxygen saturation improved and have consistently shown excellent readings since.
“The oxygen machine which was brought to my room became redundant,” Dokpesi Junior who expressed his gratitude to the medical team that took care of him.
He however said while his sojourn at the Gwagwalada isolation centre was an eye-opening experience which imbued him with confidence in the unabated enthusiasm and commitment of Nigerian public health workers to serve and ensure the welfare of each of their patients.
But he said the experience was also an exposé into the practical limitations of the system in ensuring even with best intentions that public health objectives in the face of COVID-19 are achieved and sustained.
For one, he said no documentary evidence was given to him to indicate that he was COVID-19 positive by the NCDC.
“Whilst I can attest to my improvement in physical health and wellbeing, I regret to say that since my initial test to date, I have never seen any documentary evidence of any test result,” he stated.
“I take it in trust and good faith that the NCDC pronounced me COVID-19 positive and that they have now also pronounced me COVID-negative.
“I will appreciate it if the documentary records of the various tests on me and members of my family are made available for our medical records.
“Unless a spotlight is beamed on our testing facilities, capacity and documentation there is an immediate risk that patients will lose confidence in the statements of public healthcare providers, but more significantly, we will fail to move the needle forward in the battle against COVID-19 itself.”
It will be recalled that three days after Dokpesi Jnr tested positive, his father who was the founder of DAAR Communications and seven members of his family had also tested positive for coronavirus.
According to ait.live, a test conducted by the NCDC on the Dokpesi family came out positive for eight members of the family.
The DAAR Communications founder and the other affected family members were taken to the NCDC to the isolation centre at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, where his son received treatment.
Dokpesi Junior was released some hours after his father and two other members of the family were also declared cured of the virus and allowed to go home.
-thenews
