There was drama and palpable anxiety as front-line health workers visited the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research for COVID-19 test.

The health workers, comprising doctors, nurses, attendants and security men from different hospitals, are allowed to visit NIMR on Wednesdays and Saturdays to enable them undergo tests for the virus.

Investigation revealed that some health care workers failed to present a code or an official invitation letter as evidence of registration for the test; while others are afraid of the likely outcome of the COVID-19 test.

A resident doctor at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, disclosed his experience when he went for screening at the agency.

Narrating his experience, the doctor, who did not want to be named, said, “I was exposed to a patient who I operated on and later discovered that the patient turned out to be COVID-19-positive.

“Prior to that weekend, I noticed that I had a sore throat and poor appetite and I felt I might have contracted COVID-19.

“So, I went to the NIMR, Yaba, for testing. I was told that health workers were supposed to go there on Wednesdays and Saturdays around 2.00pm. On getting there, it was a disappointing experience. I felt really bad.

“It was so rowdy and unorganised. I met some of my colleagues outside the gate also waiting to be allowed in.

“We were many and everybody was struggling to go in. These are doctors, nurses, attendants and security men from different hospitals.

“I was there for about two hours before I was eventually allowed in after one of my senior colleagues had gone in to talk to them.

“What I expected was that since that time was meant for health workers, it would have been better managed.

“We could have been given numbers, made to sit somewhere and called in for testing one after the other, while maintaining social distancing, instead of being left outside the gate to struggle before being allowed in.

“The testing period was about 15 minutes, but the disorganisation made the situation so long and pathetic. I had my test on June 13 and got my result on June 17.”

Our Correspondent, who visited the facility last Saturday, discovered that though the protocol for testing did not take more than 15 minutes, visiting the COVID-19 testing centre without an invite or code created a little disturbance in the order of things.

Health workers who had no code or letter of invite were ordered to wait outside the gate, but after pleading, they were allowed inside.

“You can drive in now. Health workers like you are always giving us too much problems here. How can you come to a COVID-19 testing centre without your code or invite?” one of the officials said, while directing candidates for testing to where they were to be disinfected.

At the registration point, the invitation slip was demanded again. However, after scolding the exposed health workers once again, the registration process continued.

As this Correspondent observed the activities, an official led out a female health worker who was reportedly afraid of taking the test.

“She kept running to the back of the queue each time it got to her turn,” the NIMR official explained.

“She told us that she was exposed in the course of bringing in an infected patient. Rather than come for testing after the discovery, she pretended all was well until the patient developed complications and died some days ago.

“Despite coming in without any form of invitation, we granted her access. Now, she has been prancing up and down, creating a scene because she is afraid of the outcome.

“We have tried convincing her that some of us have been affected a couple of times, but she was not impressed.

“We have had enough of her drama here. Let her go to Mainland Hospital,” the official added.

Meanwhile, a man who claimed to be a physician working with the Lagos Island General Hospital drove into the centre with his daughter, but he was turned back.

Explaining the reason for his visit, the official said, “The test was for my daughter who wants to travel abroad. We were told to secure a COVID-19 test result along with other papers.”

He was advised by security officials at the agency to register online where a code or invitation would be generated before he could come to the testing centre.

The Director-General of the National Institute for Medical Research, Prof. Babatunde Lawal Salako, said, asking people to come to the centre when invited is in order.

“We need to control the crowd coming for the test, otherwise, we may be inundated by requests which may become rowdy.

“Lastly, it is to ensure that we test those who really need to be tested,” he said

(Punch Healthwise)