Lagos State government places 1,300 people under surveillance for coronavirus symptoms

LAGOS State health officials are keeping a close watch on about 1,300 people to see if they show any signs of having the dreaded coronavirus as part of a programme to ensure that the virus does not spread across the country.

Nigeria has by and large been unaffected by the global pandemic, with only 11 cases noted so far and in every single case, the affected people have recovered. With Lagos being the main conduit through which the virus comes into the country, the state government is having to take extra measures to ensure that it monitors those who have come in contact with the 11 people affected so far.

Lagos State health commissioner Professor Akin Abayomi, said that the government is following up the huge number of possible infected people to find information about the state of their health. He added that the number of is growing everyday and appealed to those concerned to self-isolate and report themselves if they develop symptoms.

According to Professor Abayomi 19 people were tested for Covid 19 on Wednesday, with four out of them testing positive. He said the positive cases have been isolated for treatment at the Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba.

Professor Abayomi said one of the four new cases is a woman who had contact with the Nigerian woman who returned from UK and is currently receiving treatment for testing positive. He added that the second new case is a female who returned from France on March 14 on a Turkish Airline TK 1830.

Apparently,  the third case is a Nigerian male in his 50s who had not travelled anywhere but tested positive to the virus. Professor Abayomi added that the fourth new case is a Nigerian male who arrived in Lagos from Frankfurt on Lufthansa Airline flight number LH568 on March 13.

Assuring the public that more tests were ongoing with some suspected cases, Professor Abayomi appealed to passengers on the two flights to self-isolate themselves and contact the government. He urged citizens to remain calm and asked them to practice constant handwashing and good respiratory hygiene.

Professor Abayomi said: “It is clear that we have combination of imported cases and local transmission. The executive of Lagos State is meeting on the next stage on social distancing as the best way to slow the rate is to halt movement of the virus from person to person.”

He added that the first index case in Nigeria, an Italian male, has tested negative to Covid 19 and he would soon be discharged. So far, Nigeria has not had any fatality from the dreaded virus yet.