Delta state closes hospital where senior pastor who died of COVID-19 was admitted

Ovedhe Hezekiah – Warri

Government officials on Friday 10th 2020 led security operatives to shut down the hospital where the patient who died of COVID-19 pandemic at the isolation centre of Delta State University Teaching Hospital (DELSUTH), Oghara, was first admitted.

The patient who was identified as a pastor (name withheld) was first admitted at Gifted Hands Clinic and Maternity, located at Ugbori Street around Ekurede Itsekiri area of Warri, and was shut down by the Chairman of Warri South Local Government Council, Dr. Michael Tidi, who led government official and security operatives on the shut down.

The deceased who died on Wednesday before his test result was released on Thursday was said to have contracted the virus from Lagos where he visited two week ago, and was a senior staff of Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) was a pastor with one of the popular churches in Warri.

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This reporter gathered that, officials of the State COVID-19 Rapid Response Team had already identified some persons including fellow pastors who last met with the deceased before he was transferred to the isolation centre at DELSUTH.

A source from the Warri South Local Government Council who pleaded anonymity when contacted said, “We understand that he (pastor) was hospitalized there before he was moved to Oghara. We are in a process of contact tracing.

“We have identified some persons who have volunteered to give us information on those he had direct contact with including his driver, fellow pastors. We are isolating all of them right away. We are still in the process of tracing church members.

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“You journalists should let our people know that COVID-19 is real. We are now talking of a senior pastor dying of the virus meaning that the Coronavirus is here with us. Nobody is making things up. Tell our people to stay at home.”

However, efforts to speak with Warri Council chairman, Dr. Tidi on the development proved abortive.