COVID-19: UITH suspends senior consultant over outbreak of pandemic in Kwara
By Mumini AbdulKareem
The management of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) on Monday suspended a senior consultant, Prof A.K Salami over his role in the handling of a suspected Covid-19 patient who died at the hospital on Thursday.
Salami who has been at the centre of the Kwara State Covid-19 outbreak was accused of unethical conduct over alleged attempt to hide the status of the deceased from doctors and medical personnel that attended to him when he was brought in at the hospital thereby exposing them and several other people who came in contact with the corpse on admission and during the burial to danger.
The deceased, Alhaji Muideen Obanimomo died after suffering from covid-19 related symptoms few days after returning from the UK, one of the epicentres of the pandemic.
However, following the outrage that trailed the conduct of Prof Salami and UITH management, a sample of the deceased wife was taken for a test at Ibadan which was confirmed positive by the Kwara State government on Monday together with that of another British returnee.
The university management had come under several attacks from Kwarans many of who accused them of negligence following their handling of the issue.
In a statement by the David Osaibo, the Director of Administration for the Chief Medical Director, Prof Yussuf Abdullahi, the embattled Prof was accused of unethical conduct.
”The Management of University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital here by suspend Prof A K Salami as a Senior Consultant in the hospital.
”This is as a result of his unethical conduct in the admission, management and eventual release of the corpse of a suspected Covid -19 patient who died in the hospital on the 3rd of April, 2020”, the statement added.
