As the battle against the spread of Novel Coronavirus intensifies, the Lagos State government’s primary concern has been how to handle the return of Chinese citizens to the state in a few days’ time after their holidays, Akin Abayomi, Commissioner of health, has said.
Abayomi disclosed this on Wednesday, January 29, while giving an update on the State government’s level of preparedness to prevent or contain any possible entry of the disease as well as other infectious diseases into Lagos.
He disclosed that the Chinese government through its embassy in Nigeria had been working with Lagos State Government to prevent the entry of Corona Virus into the State.
According to him, the areas of cooperation includes the issuing of advisory on travel between China and Lagos and self-quarantine of persons coming in from China and other endemic countries especially from South-East Asia to Lagos.
“The Chinese government has sent notification to her citizens to remain in China until there is clarity about the spread of the infection, adding that the Chinese government has also instructed that their citizens who choose to return to Nigeria should be self-quarantined for 10 to 14 days,” he said.
Many of China’s citizens living outside the country returned home to celebrate its New Year 2020, a seven-day event that fell on Saturday, January 25. Such citizens are now caught in the web spun by Coronavirus, which has left over 170 dead, and more than 7,700 infected, mostly in China where it originated from.
Abayomi outlined strategies and plans that have been put in place by the State government to prevent or contain possible outbreak. He declared that that Lagos is particularly vulnerable and susceptible to an entry of the virus because of the large volume of trade between Nigeria and China, large number of Nigerians travelling back and forth on the Lagos-China trading route and the large number of Chinese citizens living in Lagos or using the State as a point of entry.
He noted also that the peculiar nature of the State due to its very high dense population, many high-density residential locations and a significant number of slums also make it become particularly vulnerable to the outbreak and spread of infectious diseases.
“Lagos is also particularly vulnerable because of its peculiar nature; it is the largest megacity in Africa. It has a very high dense population and it has many high- density residential locations and a significant number of slums,” he said.
Abayomi explained that the State government recently activated an Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) which is the command and control center to coordinate operational information and resources for the strategic management of emergencies in preparation against infectious diseases.
He disclosed also that citizens were being sensitised on precautionary measures against the spread of the infection as well as other infectious diseases through circulation of various messages for behavioural modification.
Abayomi revealed that the Biosafety laboratory located at the Lagos Mainland Hospital, built to ensure effective management of infectious diseases, had fully commenced operations. He added that surveillance activities were being intensified across the state to fast- track the diagnosis and management of infectious diseases whenever they occur.
“We are also ramping up security in our biosecurity unit at the Mainland Hospital designed to cater for a large number of patients with highly infectious diseases, but in case there is an overflow of patients, we have in place contingency plans,” the Commissioner said.
