As contacts with the first Coronavirus patient hits 39, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has released the fourth public health advisory on COVID-19.
The Ogun Government and Lafarge Africa have confirmed that the contacts have arisen from 28 to 39, including the driver who picked the infected Italian from an hotel in Lagos and those who served him food and drink.
Also the production of Lafarge Africa, a cement firms in Ewekoro, where the Italian is a contractor, has not been suspended.
The Ogun Commissioner for Health, Dr Tomi Coker, commended Lafarge Africa for the quick and proactive measures taken so far.
Meanwhile, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, the Director-General of NCDC, said in Abuja on Sunday that COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) is a new strain of the virus that has not been previously identified in humans.
SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Ihekweazu said that this was an updated advisory on the COVID-19 disease, following confirmation of the first case in Nigeria on the Feb. 27, 2020.
“This advisory will be updated frequently to reflect new information and research emerging on the disease and its impact on populations.
“On the February 28, 2020, the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH), announced the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Nigeria. The index case is an Italian businessman who arrived Nigeria from Milan, Italy, on the 25th of February, 2020.
” The case was confirmed at the Virology Laboratory of Lagos University Teaching Hospital on the 27th of February 2020. This laboratory is part of the network of laboratories supported by the NCDC.
“Prior to laboratory confirmation, the patient had travelled to Ogun State for a business meeting. The index case is clinically stable, with mild symptoms, and is being managed at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba, Lagos,” he explained.
He said that the Federal Ministry of Health through NCDC had activated a national Emergency Operations Centre(EOC) at the highest level and was leading the national response.
MM/abj/APA