Deceased patient’s children beat up a doctor for alleged false COVID-19 diagnosis

A doctor in Douala has missed being lynched to death by the angry kids of a deceased patient.

They had taken their mother who was a high blood patient from Mamfe- South West Region to a hospital in Bonaberi, Douala where the doctor said she was sick of the coronavirus.A close source to the family says the deceased was also an asthmatic patient but showed no symptoms of the virus till death.It is worthy of note however, that the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidance on COVID-19 confirms that “Some people become infected but only have very mild symptoms”. It has also been confirmed that many people who tested positive for COVID-19 were asymptomatic.This is particularly important given that the source questions that “They (children) had been living in the same house with their mother, how come they did not notice it? Can coronavirus kill somebody in the space of four days?”While these are legitimate questions, it is however, worthy of note that the WHO has further indicated that “”The time between exposure to COVID-19 and the moment when symptoms start is commonly around five to six days but can range from 1 – 14 days.” Hence it is safe to assume that a person who catches COVID-19 can manifest symptoms within one day or could be asymptomatic, despite being positive with the virus.The dead lady’s children beat up the doctor accusing him of falsely diagnosing their mother. Security agents at the hospital had to intervene to save the doctor from the hands of the men. While MMI has been unable to ascertain whether the family’s claims are true, it has been able to confirm from the WHO that “older people, and those with underlying medical problems like high blood pressure, heart and lung problems, diabetes, or cancer , are at higher risk of developing serious illness”.She says rumors have it that “after the burial, the children dug up the corpse from where it was buried in Bonaberi and took it to the village”Since the outbreak of the virus in Cameroon, several families have disputed reports by medical practitioners and government stating that their relatives had contracted the coronavirus.Official figures of positive cases in the Country are almost at 2,000.MMI