The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi, has said that the Chinese citizen suspected to have coronavirus has tested negative to the infection.
Abayomi said in a statement on Thursday, a day after the patient presented himself at a hospital in Ikeja, Lagos, that the possibility of the infection of the virus, also known as COVID-19, in this particular patient was very low.
The report by Nigeria’s Channels Television on Thursday said that Professor Abayomi stated that the conclusion of investigations and sophisticated testing confirmed that there was no case of coronavirus 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 safeguard the state,” he said.
The commissioner explained that the Ministry of Health’s attention was drawn to a suspected case of coronavirus at a private health facility located at Ikeja.
“From our investigation, we gathered that a Chinese citizen who arrived in Nigeria from China seven weeks ago presented at Reddington Hospital yesterday (Wednesday) 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,” he said.
He, therefore, appealed to Lagos residents to refrain from posting unverified news that could cause unnecessary anxiety in the community.
GIK/APA