The Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire has described as ‘untrue report that it was detaining the Benue State first COVID-19 patient, Susan Okpe.
Mrs Okpe had in a video gone viral claimed that she was being detained by the Federal Governement.
She had accused the Federal Government of keeping her for treatment against her will.
She had said, “Hi, everybody, this is Susan Idoko Okpe, née Lawani. I am pleading with everybody to please tell Nigerian government to let me go.
“This is my 16th day of incarceration. What have I done, what have I done? Benue state lied on me that I have COVID-19. I just got the result yesterday after 15 days and the result is a stage play with different date birthdays, different recordings which they themselves know and trying to put right.”
But, reacting, Ehanire at a press briefing in Abuja on Tuesday said that Okpe tested positive twice for Covid 19.
According to him, she has refused to accept the results.
He explained that she claimed the result was fake because she was not showing any symptom of the disease.
He, however, added that “efforts are being made to carry out a third test on her and if the test comes back negative, she would be discharged.”
The Minister was quoted as saying, “This is a person who came from aboard and was headinf to Benue and was feeling unwell. She was taken to a hospital and tested positive and placed in isolation in Benue State.
“I had said before that some people who are infected with coronavirus can have no symptoms, mild or very serious symptoms but even without symptoms they can be infetious.
“This person recovered from the symptoms and began to doubt the test she had undergone. Something led the authorities there to call me and the first complain was that she was not comfortable were she was kept so we now arranged for her trabsfer to a more comfortable facilty and requested a second test and it came back positive.
“But in the mean time she feels very well, we are planing a third test. This is a case where people feel they are very well and wonder why you are keeping them in isolation, so we tried to engage this individual through her family and her pastor. The bottom line is she is positive but doubts the result and said it is fake.”
