By Martins Ifijeh
The Lagos State Government has stated that the recently quarantined family of four children and their teacher at the Infectious Disease Centre have tested negative to Coronavirus.
Sharing this on his Twitter page Thursday, the Commissioner for Health, Lagos State, Prof. Akin Abayomi, said the five cases came into Nigeria from the United States where they were presumed to have had contact with a suspected case of Coronavirus.
Abayomi was silent on the 6th person quarantined at the isolation centre, whose result was also being expected.
In a related development, the Director General, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu said the country was already feeling the impact of the Coronavirus outbreak as barrel of dollar has slumped from N58 per barrel to N30 per barrel.
Ihekweazu who spoke to the media during his visit to the NCDC Centre in Yaba Thursday, said China, which is the epicenter of the outbreak, was heavily depended on by many countries, including Nigeria, for goods and services, but that the country’s productivity has reduced significantly because of the disease and its impact.
He said: “One significant thing about this disease is that it does not respect status. It affects both the rich and the poor. We have heard of the Minister of Health in the United Kingdom coming down with the virus. Today we heard of a Hollywood super star. So it cuts across everyone.
“It is not yet time for us to be happy because we have had only two cases. The threats are still there. A lot of countries are experiencing large outbreaks, and this also makes us vulnerable. But we will continue to do our best to ensure the outbreak is contained.
“If you check the pattern of travel by Nigerians you will understand we travel more to Europe than Iran, South Korea, Japan and other countries where the outbreak spread earlier. With Europe experiencing large outbreaks of Coronavirus, we still have cause to be alert. We are not out of the woods yet,” he added.
The DG, who explained why China, South Korea, Iran, Japan and Italy had been put on watch list said passengers coming into Nigeria from these countries were given extra vetting during point of entry, adding that these passengers were also asked to self-quarantine themselves for 14 days before integrating into the country.
He also called on Nigerians to postpone none essential travels, and that it was every one’s duty to ensure basic hygiene behaviours were being followed.
