COVID-19 patient writes WASSCE at Kwara isolation centre

A 16-year-old female COVID-19 patient wrote her West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) at the Kwara state COVID-19/infectious disease centre in Ilorin, the state capital, on Wednesday. 

Kudirat Oladeji-Lambe, manager, case management team, Kwara COVID-19/infectious diseases centre, disclosed this on Wednesday.

Oladeji-Lambe said the female candidate, whose name and school were withheld to avoid stigmatisation, is asymptomatic, stable, and fit to write the examination.

She added that the student missed a paper on Tuesday but wrote her Agricultural Science paper on Wednesday under close supervision by an official of the West African Examination Council (WAEC).

“The person in question is one of the final year Senior Secondary School students that have enrolled for the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination and she’s right here writing her exam. She is asymptomatic, which means she does not show any symptoms, and she’s stable. She is just here to observe her two weeks isolation process,” Oladiji-Lambe said.

“We have certified that she’s both mentally and physically fit to write her exams. She was a close contact with a close relative of her that tested positive. It was through contact tracing that she happened to be tested positive.

“The candidate was admitted yesterday (Tuesday). She missed a paper yesterday and we informed the authorities because as child advocates, once she had enrolled for WAEC, the government felt she has the right to write her papers. That’s why the state government thought it wise to arrange for her in order not to miss other papers.

“The state government deemed it fit to arrange for her to have safe place for her to write the exam without fear of stigmatisation or risk to other students.”

Kwara state currently has a total of 906 confirmed cases of COVID-19, out of which 186 are active while 687 have been managed and discharged. 23 persons have died of the pandemic in the state.

A student of Government Science Secondary School (GSSS), Gombe state, wrote his first paper at the state’s isolation centre on Monday.