As Nigeria battles to prevent the spread of Coronavirus after it witnessed its first case, the Ogun state government in South West Nigeria has shut down a cement manufacturing firm that an Italian carrier of coronavirus visited.
The government has also quarantined 28 persons who had contacts with the Italian.
Lafarge Africa, a cement manufacturer, the Italian coronavirus carrier visited in Ewekoro, Ogun state near Lagos has been shut, Mrs. Folashade Ambrose-Medebem, a spokesperson of the company, reported.
She said all those who had direct contact with the Italian whose identity was not stated, have been identified.
“The Government has reported a first case of n-COVID19 (Coronavirus) in Nigeria. The individual concerned works for a vendor that provides services to Lafarge Africa Plc in Ogun State,” she stated.
“As a business, we have immediately identified the persons who had direct contact with the concerned individual. We have equally initiated isolation, quarantine and disinfection protocol.
“We thank the exemplary leadership of the federal ministry of health, Ogun and Lagos State Governments for swiftly providing response and testing facilities and we are working in full co-operation with all local authorities. Lafarge Africa is also working in close partnership with International SOS, our medical service provider, a leading global health company.
The government has quarantined at least 28 persons who came in contact with Nigeria’s first coronavirus patient.
Mr. Dapo Abiodun, the governor of Ogun state, said the measure was taken to check the spread of the disease.
The index case of coronavirus in Nigeria arrived at Murtala Muhammed International Airport via a Turkish Airline flight on February 24.
The Italian, who is a consultant of Lafarge, reportedly spent the night at an undisclosed hotel near the airport and moved down to the company’s premises in Ewekoro in Ogun state and carried out his business within the confines of the company.
The Italian, who was said to have spent the night within Lafarge premises, started to develop symptoms of high fever and body pains in the afternoon of February 27, 2020 and was then taken to the company’s medical facility where the investigation began.
The patient is currently being isolated at the state’s bio-security facility in the Yaba area of Lagos.
Nigeria is also partnering with Facebook to check the spread of fake news on COVID-19.
Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, said in Abuja on February 28, 2020 that it was obvious that the purveyors of fake news will scale up their act to create panic and spread disinformation, following the confirmation of the disease in Nigeria.
“We know that at times like this, purveyors of fake news and disinformation usually ramp up their acts. We are therefore urging Nigerians not to fall for the antics of purveyors of fakes news and disinformation
“Fortunately, Facebook is working with us in this regard. They have asked Nigerians to report any false or misleading report on Facebook and Instagram pages so they can immediately bring them down.
“They have also assured us that they are taking pre-emptive action to remove any false or harmful messages about this epidemic and public health in Nigeria 24/7. All that Nigerians are required to do is to flag any false or misleading report on the epidemic and Facebook will remove any such report,” he said.
MM/abj/APA