Coronavirus: Suspected Case In Lagos Tests Negative

The state’s Commissioner for Health, Akin Abayomi, through a press statement today noted that the likelyhood of COVID-19 infection in this particular patient was very low and the conclusion of investigations and sophisticated testing confirms that there is no case of Corona Virus in Lagos State as of now.

“I would like to reassure Lagosians that our vigilance levels are very high and we are putting more measures in place to safe guard the State”, he said.

While giving details of the investigation, Abayomi explained that the Ministry of Health’s attention was drawn to a suspected case of Corona Virus at Reddington Hospital; a private health facility located at Ikeja.

“From our investigation, we gathered that a Chinese citizen who arrived in Nigeria from China 7 weeks ago presented at Reddington Hospital yesterday complaining about fever. The hospital in keeping with the advisory we earlier issued, correctly maintained a high index of suspicion, isolated the patient and reported the case to the Ministry”

“We took up the case, transferred the patient to the State Isolation Unit at the Mainland hospital which is our specialised infectious disease hospital. His blood samples were taken to the Virology laboratory for analysis and it came out negative”, the Commissioner said.

Abayomi appealed to citizens to refrain from posting unverified news that can cause unnecessary anxiety in community.

He urged citizens to disregard any information about the novel Coronavirus that does not emanate from official communication channels of the Ministry of Health or his office.

Similarly the Nigeria center for disease control (NCDC), also stated that as at 26th Feb 2020, 11 suspect cases of #COVID19 have been tested in Nigeria  and all turned negative

“We urge the public to disregard and discourage the spread of rumors, as the agency continues to monitor the outbreak globally and will inform the public if a case is reported in Nigeria,” Twitted@NCDC handle

Odunews.com had earlier reported that a Chinese man who reportedly just arrived from China about a week ago complained to Reddington Hospital that he had fever, which has been stated as one of the first symptom of the virus.