By Kemo Cham
A whole class of over 50 medical students are feared to have been exposed to the coronavirus disease (covid-19) after coming into contact with the latest confirmed case of the virus in the country, Politico learnt.
The student representative council of the College of Medicine and Allied Health Science raised the alarm in a letter seen by Politico on Thursday, appealing to the relevant authorities to take several measures to help the students and prevent possible further transmission of the virus into the general population.
According to the letter, the students took lectures from a female doctor on Monday March 30, a day before she would be tested and confirmed positive.
The lecture took place at the Cottage Hospital in Freetown, and the doctor is noted to have sneezed at least twice during the course of the period, according to letter.
The student council said as the body charged with the responsibility to speak on behalf of all the students of the college, it felt obliged to appeal for the authorities to act in order to prevent the spread of the virus to the family members of the students. The council also said this will hopefully relieve their fears and, by implication, serve as a complement to the effort of the government in containing the disease.
Among its demands are to isolate all the students who are in 5th year of medical school. The student body wants this done in the students hostel, since all students have gone home as a result of the break caused by the pandemic. It added that isolating them at home will increase the risk of transmitting the virus to the public and family members.
“Each student will occupy one room while they observe themselves and other preventive measures,” the letter reads.
The council also want test kits and all “necessary provisions” and facilities be provided the students while in isolation.
Dwight Nicolle, President of the COMAHS student Council, confirmed to Politico that the letter did come from them, but regretted that it was leaked to the public. He said it was strictly meant for administrative consumption.
Nicolle said the letter was tampered with by unscrupulous fake news peddlers so that the date was changed from April 2, as they wrote it, to March 31. He also condemned the fact that the name of Case 2 was mentioned, which he said they didn’t have in their letter.
“But our fear now is that some of students are with their families. So the earlier the authorities act the better,” he said in a telephone interview.
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