Putting many lives at risk.
On March 18th, a pregnant woman and her husband arrived at Monla Hospital in Tripoli to deliver their baby. Upon leaving the hospital, it became known that the husband was infected with the coronavirus.
At that, Monla Hospital telephoned the couple to confirm the news and brought in the wife to test her for the virus. The result came up positive.
As things unfold, it turns out that the couple had already known that they may have been infected, yet said nothing.
A version of this story is circulating the internet which says that the couple was initially denied service at a different hospital in North Lebanon because the husband was showing symptoms of the coronavirus (a fever).
They were advised to seek immediate help at Rafik Hariri University Hospital (RHUH) in Beirut, which has been the center for coronavirus patients. In fact, a baby was recently born in the RHUH Corona ER.
Unfortunately, the couple went against medical advice. Instead, they arrived at Monla Hospital and casually decided not to mention the fact that they’re suspected to have one of the worst viruses in history, as to not get rejected.
Whatever their true intentions were, this couple’s silence has put the entire hospital staff and patients at risk of contracting the virus.
Hence, Monla Hospital issued a press release and this is it:
Luckily, the hospital had already been taking preventative measures against the coronavirus since the first reported case in Lebanon. It held awareness sessions for its staff and installed a separate cabin outside the hospital for coronavirus patients.
After finding out about the slip up with the coronavirus couple, they disinfected the entire hospital with Boecker.
Monla Hospital also ran tests on its staff and urged them to be truthful about any symptoms or suspicions of having the virus.
The doctor who delivered the baby tested negative twice so far and remains under observation.
It is of utmost importance that, at this dangerous stage of the spread, Lebanese citizens and residents of Lebanon don’t shrug off their symptoms or try to hide them from the health professionals at hospitals. They are there to help the patients and in the containment of the spread.
