Dokpesi had said he needed convincing on the difference between covid-19 and malaria.
Raymond Dokpesi recently recovered from covid-19.There has been a bit of hysteria, sceptism, and reservations over claims of covid-19 in the country despite reported cases of the contagion hitting 5000, with over a thousand recoveries and nearly 200 deaths. But would you blame a population whose trust in its leaders is almost equal to zero?
The existence of covid-19 has been a debatable issue since the first case was reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan, last November. But the facetious response from world leaders who had undermine the severity of the virus, had led to one of the world’s worst health crisis in history.
But, even with a global count of over 4.5 million cases, 300,000 deaths, and 1.7 million recoveries, there are still people who think covid-19 is not as serious as it is being portrayed in the media. So, it comes as no surprise that Nigerians who arguably have decent reasons to not trust what the government says, have their doubts.
A recent report on Nigeria Media mogul, Raymond Dokpesi, said his experiences while receiving covid-19 treatment, has raised doubts in his mind on whether covid-19 cases in the country are actually genuine.
Dokpesi, who is the founder of DAAR Communications, owners of African Independent Television (AIT) and RayPower FM, said he is confused and would need clarification on the difference between covid-19 and Malaria.
He said: “I still have doubts in my mind and I need to be educated. What’s the difference between COVID-19 and malaria? Every drug we were given were malaria medications.
“A number of persons who tested positive were checked in reputable labs, hospitals in Abuja and were found to have malaria parasites in their blood streams. When did malaria become synonymous with COVID-19?”
But Isa Musa, an analyst, said he is disappointed in Dokpesi for making such statements which according to him, undermines efforts by government and health workers in the frontline, to combat the the deadly disease.
He said, “Raymond Dokpesi, disappoints me with this statements. First off, he should have known that not all positive cases turn out to be syptomatic.
“Patients that are Covid 19 positive are treated for malaria because malaria is endemic in this country. And to help remove any stress from the immune system, which allows the immune system to be able fight Covid 19.
“This same principle is the reason why patients with underlying health conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and other chronic ailments are more prone to becoming syptomatic or dying from Covid 19.”
