COVID-19: UBTH vaccinates 2,200 members of staff

The University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) says it has vaccinated 2,200 of its staff since it commenced COVID-19 vaccination on Mach 23.

Prof. Darlington Obaseki, the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the hospital, disclosed this on Tuesday in Benin, while receiving the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Mr Clem Agba, who was on assessment visit to the institution.

Obaseki noted that a total test of 7,369 had been conducted since March 28, 2020, that the first case of COVID-19 was reported in the hospital.

According to him, 1,080 of these tests were confirmed positive and subsequently attended to by the medical personnel in the hospital.

He said that 210 of these confirmed cases were members of staff of the health institution, while 109 doctors were also infected with the deadly virus.

“There are 175 recorded cases of death from COVID-19 in this hospital, 107 were males and 68 females.

“However, 75 per cent of those that died had underlying ailments such as hypertension and diabetes, among others,” he said.

The CMD commended the Federal Government for its intervention in the health sector that had led to the expansion of the testing capacity of the university teaching hospital as well as improvement in handling the pandemic

“When this virus broke out on March 28, 2020, we had no laboratory, no isolation ward, no MPR machine and so many other things that were needed to tackle it.

“With the support from federal government we have been able to achieve a great deal, we now have a laboratory that has expanded our testing capacity,” he said.