Sad with the poor state of facilities and lack of protective equipment for work in this period of the dreaded COVID 19 pandemic, the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) at the Enugu State University Teaching Hospital (ESUTH) staged a peaceful protest, demanding government urgent intervention.
The protesting nurses were seen chanting anti-government songs asking governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, to provide Personal Protective Equipment, including hand sanitizers, face masks and hand gloves in the hospital to fight the pandemic.
The medical workers, vowed not to continue work until government provided the equipment for them, thereby leaving patients in the hospital at their mercy.
Reacting to the development, the hospital management disclosed that the State Multi-Sectoral Rapid Response Team including the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC), WHO, UNICEF and other development partners had provided enough materials for the hospital.
The reaction which was jointly issued via a statement signed by the Chief Medical Director of ESUTH, Professor Hyacinth Onah, Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee (CMAC) and state Chairman NANNM, Comrade Innocent Ezema, dismissed the claims of the protesters.
Others that signed the statement are the Head Nursing Services (HNS) at the hospital, Mrs Fidelia Chinawa and the state Chairman, Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Ben Asogwa.
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The statement alleged that the protesting Nurses were a few who were apprehensive of their frontline status in the management of COVID-19 pandemic, assuring the public that the hospital would continue to render health services at the best of its ability.
Anaedoonline.com reported that the Enugu State Government ordered the closure of all land borders and inter-state transportation in the state till further notice, with effect from 6 pm on Tuesday, March 31, 2020, except those on medical emergency services.
In a statement by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Simon Uchenna Ortuanya, the state government also ordered the closure of all markets in the state, “no matter the size, till further notice, with effect from 6 pm on Tuesday, the 31st day of March 2020”.
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