5-7 minutes
In furtherance to the placing of the patient of the Coronavirus
disease, a 44-year-old Italian, in a quarantine centre, Lagos and Ogun
state governments have identified at least 100 persons who had contact
with the index case of the disease in the country.
Subsequently, the contacts are being followed up as a precautionary
measure against the spread of the virus in the states and the country at
large.
Nigeria had been spared of the coronavirus outbreak, which was first
recorded in Wuhan, China, until it was detected on Thursday on an
Italian businessman aboard a Turkish Airlines flight arrived at the
Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos from Milan, Italy, having
transited through Istanbul, Turkey.
The victim arrived in Lagos on Monday night and was said to have spent
the night in a hotel around the airport area before leaving for business
in Ogun State on Tuesday morning.
He was said to have fallen ill, after which he tested positive for the
virus. He was thereafter taken to the Infectious Disease Hospital in
Yaba, Lagos.
However, authorities said the patient was clinically stable.
Speaking on Saturday, the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin
Abayomi, said the patient was clinically stable and had no signs of
respiratory symptoms which could make his infection contagious.
Abayomi also said over 100 contacts with the Coronavirus index case had been identified and followed up.
In an interview with
Channels TV, which was monitored by one of
our correspondents, the commissioner stated this at the Emergency
Operation Centre at the Mainland Hospital in Yaba, where the patient was
being quarantined.
“By Saturday, his symptoms had subsided. He hasn’t developed any
respiratory symptoms and we are quite happy about that because if he has
respiratory symptoms like coughing and sneezing, which makes the
disease more contagious,” Abayomi said, adding that the 100 persons the
Italian had contact with were being jointly monitored by Lagos and Ogun
states.
Earlier in an interview with
Arise TV, which was monitored by
NigerianEye, Abayomi said the authorities had identified the hotel room where the Italian patient lodged on Monday night.
“We’re going there this morning (Saturday) to decontaminate the room and
the entire hotel. We will identify all the people who had contact with
him in the hotel,” he said.
Plateau quarantines three Chinese nationals
As part of measures to stop the spread of the disease in Plateau State,
the state government said on Saturday that it had quarantined three
Chinese citizens.
It said that the Chinese were quarantined in Wase town for suspected case of the virus.
The state Commissioner for Information, Dan Manjang, disclosed this to Channels Television.
The report noted that the Chinese, who are workers in a mining site in Wase, flew into Abuja on Wednesday.
Manhang said, “The situation right now is that they have been isolated.
The three of them came in through Abuja and once we heard that, the
Commissioner for Health had to take a proactive measure to send a
medical team to Wase to investigate.”
The commissioner was also quoted to have said that the quarantined
Chinese nationals made their way to Jos, the Plateau State capital, on
Thursday, adding that they were being clinically examined by a medical
expert deployed by the state Ministry of Health.
However, he said there was no confirmed case of the virus in the state, and that people should remain calm.
He said, “The problem that we have is that there is a tendency for
people to think that investigation or quarantine, as the case may be,
means that there is an outbreak of the virus.
“As far as Plateau case is concerned, there has been no known case of
this virus on the Plateau; we just took proactive measures to make sure
that we place them (the Chinese nationals) under investigation and that
will take 14 days.”
The government, according to the commissioner, awaits the report of the team that was sent to Wase before taking the next step.
Cross River monitors five foreigners
Also, five foreigners who arrived at Margaret Ekpo International Airport
in Calabar, Cross River State, on Friday have been placed under
observation following the detection of a carrier of the virus in Lagos.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Beta Edu, on Saturday said, “We
profiled five foreigners who came in from locations that have recorded
the virus and they came in through Lagos that morning (Friday).
“We got their biodata and asked them to self-isolate. And of course we
gave them the thermometer and got their contacts. We have been following
up with them. None of them has shown any symptom so far. Two of the
foreigners are from Europe, one from India and two from China.”
She said sensitisation was being carried out and all entry points into
the state were being manned by health workers to detect and prevent the
spread of the virus in the state.
She added, “Our isolation centre is ready and protocols have been sent to all health workers.
“Special protective equipment have been sent to all health workers, the
army, paramilitary agencies and private practitioners across the state,”
she said.
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