The number of Coronavirus cases in Nigeria has risen to 12 following the confirmation of four new cases in Lagos on Thursday.
Prof. Akin Abayomi, the state Commissioner for Health, disclosed that one of the four new cases is a woman who had contact with the Nigerian woman who returned from the UK and currently receiving treatment for testing positive.
He said the new cases were detected after 19 people were tested for COVID-19 in the State on Wednesday.
He stressed that the State Government has started contact tracing of 1,300 people.
“The second new case is a female who returned from France on March 14 on a Turkish Airline TK 1830…while the third case is a Nigerian male in his 50s who had not travelled anywhere but tested positive to the virus. The fourth new case is a Nigerian male who arrived in Lagos from Frankfurt on Lufthansa Airline flight number LH568 on March 13.
“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. “The best way to slow the rate is to halt the movement of the virus from person to person,” Abayomi said.
First Index Now Negative
Latest test carried out on the first index case of COVID-19 in Nigeria has turned negative. Prof Akin Abayomi, the Commissioner for Health in Lagos State has confirmed.
The Italian citizen, who works in Nigeria, returned from Milan, Italy to Lagos on the 25th of February and was tested positive to the virus on 27th of February, 2020.
Schools Shutdown, Public Gathering Banned
As the spread of Covid-19 heightens in Nigeria, several States have decided to observe means of Preventing the Spread on its Citizens.
States like Lagos,Kwara, Kaduna,Jigawa,Katsina,Kebbi,Sokoto,Niger,Zamfara,Ogun have taken this initiative to prevent the spread of Covid-19 by announcing the closure of both public and private schools in the states.
Also, the Federal Capital Territory Administration( FCTA), on Thursday in Abuja directed that both public and private schools in the territory should be shut down until further notice.
The FCT Minister of State, Dr Ramatu Aliyu, gave the directive during a meeting with Heads of Secretariats, Departments and Agencies (SDAs) under her supervision.
Aliyu also directed that social gatherings and worship centres should be restricted to avoid large gatherings that could further endanger the health of others.
She warned that shop owners who fail to provide hand sanitisers and other preventive measures should be closed down indefinitely.
Aliyu said the FCT administration had put measures in place to intensified efforts to prevent the outbreak of the dreaded COVID-19, otherwise known as coronavirus in the territory.
” We should not endanger the lives of children for whatsoever reasons. You know, when these children are in schools, they pick up anything and put them in their mouths without taking precautions of washing their hands.
” Therefore, the best and safer thing to do is to close down the schools for a week, two or even a month pending on the outcome.
WHO Warns Africa
The World Health Organisation has urged Africa to “prepare for the worst” after a high-ranking politician in Burkina Faso became the first Coronavirus death in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“Africa should wake up,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference in Geneva, Switzerland, on Wednesday, pointing out that “in other countries, we have seen how the virus actually accelerates after a certain tipping point”.
Africa has lagged behind the global curve for Coronavirus infections and deaths but in the past few days has seen a significant rise in cases, according to the AFP.
Experts have repeatedly warned about the perils for the continent, given its weak health infrastructure, poverty, conflicts, poor sanitation and urban crowding.
