3 suspected Coronavirus patients discharged in Lagos …Italian to be discharged soon (Read Exclusive report)

…Govt following up contacts

…Nigeria has one positive case out of 21

…Two Chinese barred from Kaduna-Abuja train

Nigeria has only one confirmed case of coronavirus as at yesterday, as the three suspects quarantined in Lagos have tested negative to the disease, Lagos Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, said yesterday.

One of the suspects quarantined was a Nigerian who travelled to France eight days ago and arrived the country four days ago. He developed headache and respiratory problems which led to his isolation.

Two other travelers from England and China were also quarantined after they developed certain symptoms.

According to Abayomi, their samples were collected for tests to ascertain if they have been affected by Coronavirus. However, the commissioner tweeted that the three suspects had tested negative and discharged after they were certified free of the virus.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation, African region has said Cameroon has announced the country’s first confirmed case of COVID-19. The patient is a 58-year-old French citizen who arrived in Yaoundé on February 24. The patient is now in isolation at the Central Hospital of Yaoundé for appropriate care.” Egypt has detected 12 fresh positive cases. The Vatican, Serbia, Slovakia, Peru and Togo have reported their first cases.

The Italian who became the first person to test positive to Coronavirus in Nigeria has fully recovered and will soon be discharged from the isolation centre, Ogun State Governor Prince Dapo Abiodun, said yesterday.

The governor disclosed this when the management team of Lafarge PLC, led by its Country Chief Executive Officer, Khaleed El Dokani, visited him in his office in Abeokuta.

His Chief Press Secretary, Kunle Somorin, quoted him in a statement: “He (the patient) is in good condition and will be discharged soon.” The governor described the virus as a serious threat to the status of Ogun as the nation’s industrial hub.

He vowed that the government would not lower its guard towards curtailing spread of the virus.

“For us, the virus is a serious one and an issue in the front burner. We will not lower our guard, particularly due to the fact that we have a large number of industries and expatriates here. We are enjoying a lot of support from the World Health Organization and the National Centre for Disease Control. We are going ahead to prepare for the worst and hope for the best”, he said.

He applauded the company for its prompt response by quarantining the first index case and the first set of contacts, urging the company to sustain the level of attention given to the issue.

He, however, lamented the deplorable condition of some roads due to use of heavy duty trucks owned by major companies, urging the company to find ways of collaborating with the state government to maintain the roads.

The Italian flew into Lagos from Milan, a city badly hit by the coronavirus outbreak on February 25.

A consultant to Lafarge Africa PLC, he had visited Lafarge Cement Factory in Ewekoro, Ogun State, but developed a fever and was treated at a clinic within the factory.

Ogun State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Tomi Coker, had told newsmen that he was stable with no serious symptoms and was being treated at a hospital in the city, but was later transferred to Lagos.

The patient was screened when he arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on Tuesday and did not show any symptom of the virus, according to Nigerian health authorities.

They later obtained the passenger manifest from the airline and started tracking people who had contact with him, according to Health Minister, Osagie Ehanire.

At least 60 doctors were deployed to the Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos to support screening effort.

Last week, Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Akin Abayomi, told journalists that government had moved the Italian to a new facility to continue his treatment. He said the patient’s condition had improved and he would be continuously monitored.

“The patient is now comfortable and his condition has improved, his condition has improved, he hasn’t developed any new symptoms, but he still got fever,” the commissioner said last week, adding that after being confirmed to be free of the virus, he would be released.

Since the confirmation of the index case, the government has been trying to trace everyone who shared a flight with him and who he had physical contact with in Lagos and Ogun, leading to the isolation of several people in Ogun.

The Lagos State government has isolated more people over suspicion of being infected, including one from France, one from England and one from China.

“Their samples have been taken and results are being expected,” the state Commissioner for Health, Akin Abayomi, said.

Coronavirus is reported to have killed more than 3,300 people around the world, mainly in mainland China, with more than 95,000 cases worldwide, and infections in more than 80 countries.

…Nigeria has one positive case out of 21–Minister

There is only one confirmed case of coronavirus disease out of the 21 suspected cases in the country between January 7 and March 5, the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, said yesterday.

The 21 suspected cases were identified in Lagos, Ogun, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Kano, he told newsmen in Abuja.

“There is still only one confirmed case of COVID-19 in Nigeria, which is the index case and no death,” he said.

The minister said there were three new suspected cases between Wednesday and Friday, and two of the cases were negative while one result was still pending.

Osagie said the index case was stable and being managed at the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Yaba, Lagos.

He said the federal government was following up with 61 contacts of the index case, 21 contacts in Lagos and 40 in Ogun.

He said 55 persons out of the 148 passengers on the manifest of the flight of the index case were actively being followed up, adding that the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and Port Health Services were in touch with them to monitor their temperatures and possible appearance of COVID-19.

The minister advised any passenger on the Turkish Airlines flight to Lagos on February 24 to contact this number: 08009700001-10.

He said government had strengthened surveillance at the country’s points of entry and was in touch with the Nigerian Navy and Customs to monitor suspected cases at land and sea borders.

While urging Nigerians to remain calm and not panic, he enjoined them to maintain a high level of hygiene to protect themselves against the disease.

The Director General, National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD), Dr. Obi Adigwe, said one of the global fallout of the COVID-19 outbreak was the supply chain disruption of various commodities that were relevant to controlling the outbreak.

He said following government’s directives to relevant agencies to put in place activities to address shortages and supply chain disruption, the agency undertook research and development of commodities.

….Two Chinese barred from Kaduna-Abuja train

Two Chinese passengers were stopped from boarding an Abuja bound train from Kaduna over fears of the virus.

NAIJA LIVE TV gathered that the two Chinese men arrived the Rigassa Train Station in Kaduna Tuesday to board the 2: pm train to Abuja when one of them started vomiting.

A witness said the two men were quickly asked to stay aside and prevented from entering the train.

“I saw when they arrived the station around 1:00pm to board the 2:00pm train to Abuja, suddenly, one of them started vomiting and people started running away before the railway staff came and asked them to stay away because they would not be allowed into the train,” he said.

Our reporter also gathered that an ambulance took them to an undisclosed hospital. The state epidemiologist, Dr. Jeremiah Daikwo, said it was not a suspected case of Coronavirus. He explained that the man who works in Funtua, Katsina State, had a high fever after an operation.

According to him, the Chinese was operated on February 5, and because he had not recovered fully, he developed high fever and started vomiting at the station.

“We went and interviewed him. He has not travelled out of the country since May last year and nobody has visited him since last year.

“He has been discharged and we didn’t quarantine him because it was not a suspected case of coronavirus,” he said.

He added that the state is fully prepared because the emergency operation centre has been activated, and rapid response team activated with consumables positioned in case of any eventuality.

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