Prof. Victor Adetiloye, Chief Medical Director (CMD), Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex (OAUTHC), Ile-Ife, says the hospital has successfully managed a 101-year-old woman with COVID-19.

Adetiloye made the disclosure during an interview on Thursday, in Ile-Ife.

The CMD, who described the feat as unprecedented in Nigeria, said that COVID-19 had been a major challenge presently confronting the world.

He said that aged people, particularly with different underlining ailments, were prone to the deadly virus.

According to him even adults with diseases, such as cancer, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Down syndrome, heart condition like heart failure and coronary artery disease are also at increased risk of contracting COVID-19.

“God has been so kind to us that we didn’t record any casualty throughout the first wave of COVID-19, that is, from April 2020 to November 2020 during which 120 patients were treated for the virus,” he said.

The CMD added that no fewer than 125 patients had also been treated, without any casualty, during the current second wave of coronavirus, which he described as more severe all over the world than the first.

“What gladden our heart are the successes so far recorded by the COVID-19 section of OAUTHC. They have been so wonderful in all the cases they have handled,” he said.

Adetiloye further explained that the 101-year-old woman was first admitted and treated for malaria at a private hospital.

He said that when her condition got worsened, she was then screened for COVID-19, with the result coming out positive, adding that she was, thereafter, moved to the OAUTC isolation centre.

“She was in a state of comma and was placed on oxygen when she was admitted here, but we thank God for our medical experts who successfully revived her.

“The woman was admitted on Jan. 30 and discharged on Feb, 10, which means that she spent 11days at the hospital and went back home alive,” he said.

Adetiloye further stated that the aged woman was so excited when she was discharged from the hospital, singing, dancing and praying for members of staff, along with her children “as all hopes had been lost on her.”

While reiterating that contracting COVID-19 was not a death sentence, he expressed the confidence that medical experts in the country were capable of treating coronavirus patients successfully.

He commended the Federal Government, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the Federal Ministry of Health for providing all the necessary facilities and drugs needed to treat the patients.

“At OAUTHC here, we don’t stigmatise. So COVID-19 should not be seen as a death sentence. We pledge to perform better, especially with the equipment we have on ground,” the CMD said. (NAN