Lagos State has confirmed that the Italian national responsibility for the first recorded case of the deadly Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Nigeria, arrived the Lagos international airport onboard a Turkish Airline on Monday, February 24, before making his way to Ogun State on short business trip.
The state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who is the chief incident commander in the efforts to contain the disease, while briefing the press this morning alongside the commissioner for health, Akin Abayomi, noted that the patient, who is now in strict isolation, is in stable condition and not developed any respiratory symptoms for now.
Efforts, the governor said, are ongoing in collaboration with the federal ministry of health and WHO to identify all persons who may have come in contact with the patient.
These include the airline management, other passengers who were on board the same flight, the company which the patient had business to transact, as well as health facility in Ogun State, which first suspected the patient before contacting and transferring the case to Lagos State.
The case, which was confirmed on February 27, 2020, is the first case to be reported in Nigeria since the outbreak in China in January 2020.
The Italian citizen was said to have fell ill on the February 26 and was transferred to Lagos State Biosecurity Facilities for isolation and testing from a health facility in Ogun.
The COVID-19 infection was confirmed by the Virology Laboratory of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, part of the Laboratory Network of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. The patient is clinically stable, with no serious symptoms, and is being managed at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba, Lagos.
The government of Lagos State under the governor as the COVID-19 incident commander, through the Lagos State ministry of health, is strengthening measures to ensure that any outbreak in Lagos is controlled and contained quickly in collaboration with the multi-sectoral Coronavirus Preparedness Group, led by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). We have immediately activated the State Emergency Operations Centre to respond to this case and implement firm control measures.
Joshua Bassey
