A former presidential aide, Dr. Doyin Okupe, on Monday narrated what he went through as a coronavirus (COVID-19) patient at the isolation centre.

Following his recovery from the disease, Okupe said with his health condition, he had few chances of surviving COVID-19.

“I am a doctor and when I was going to the isolation centre, I knew what I was going into. I had virtually all the risk factors that are against the survival,” he revealed during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.

He added, “I am 68-year-old (which is not the correct bracket for COVID-19), I am hypertensive, I was recently diagnosed with diabetics; I had issues with me that naturally will complicate my situation.”

Okupe, who was once a Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs to former President Goodluck Jonathan, said he did not show any symptoms before going into isolation.

He, however, said he developed a fever but was treated by medical personnel at the centre and recovered after about six days.

 

A New Life

The former presidential aide explained that he must have developed the fever due to his mood and emotion which apparently weakened his defence system.

He, therefore, urged Nigerians to take the COVID-19 warnings seriously and comply with the directives issued by the relevant authorities to curb the spread of the disease.

Okupe also noted that some of the cases at the isolation were malaria-related and not COVID-19, but it was better for the government to be proactive in its efforts.

On the lessons learned, he said, “As far as I am concerned, the Doyin Okupe before April 23 had died; God has given me a new life, I am a brand new person.

“In order to show gratitude to God for sparing my life, I want to forgive anybody who has offended me and I want anybody who I have offended or wronged in any way whatsoever to please forgive me.”

“For me now, it is the only service to God and to the nation; I have no personal ambition to pursue because if I had died, that is the end of it,” Okupe added.