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Introduction: The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID 19) pandemic has a significant impact on global health systems, not only in terms of the number of people infected with the disease, but also in terms of patients with other diseases. The COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the measures taken to combat it, such as complete lockdown, has a significant impact on health seeking behaviour and the health care-delivery system. Studies have shown that while COVID-19 confirmed cases have gradually increased, visits to hospitals for non-COVID infections have steadily decreased. Concerns are arising about the potential harmful impact of COVID-19 response strategies on the management of other medical disorders. Objective: To assess the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on admissions into the Department of Paediatrics Bingham University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Plateau State. Methodology: We retrospectively analyzed the hospital out-patients and admission records into the Paediatrics department of Bingham University Teaching Hospital from April 2019 to March 2021. The records from one year pre-COVID and one year COVID period were compared. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 22. Results: The total number of pediatric patients seen at the Paediatrics department (POPD/EPU/SCBU/PMW) decreased by 28 percent, from 5657 in 2019/2020 to 4079 in 2020/2021 (P |
