Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, has tested positive for COVID-19.
The minister who disclosed this via Twitter on Sunday, said that he tested positive after his fourth COVID-19 test on Saturday at the first sign of a throat irritation and that he was now heading for isolation in a health facility.
“Did my fourth COVID-19 test yesterday (Saturday) at the first sign of a throat irritation and unfortunately this time it came back positive.
“That is life! win some lose some. Heading for isolation in a health facility and praying for the best,” the report by Channels Television quoted the minister as saying on Sunday.
The report added that the minister was one of those who had been at the forefront of the COVID-19 fight in Nigeria since the pandemic began to ravage the country.
According to the report, in April, the minister announced that several countries, including Canada, Israel, and the United States, had begun evacuating their citizens from Nigeria and that the evacuations of Nigerians in other countries was delayed a bit as the government said it needed some time to sort out the logistics involved.
“Subsequently, Mr Onyeama directed all citizens interested in returning to the country to work with Nigeria’s embassies and high commissions wherever they were.
“At another briefing, the minister noted that the protocols for evacuating Nigerians in the Diaspora had been completed and the country was in a much “stronger and better position” to bring back citizens interested in returning to the country.
“Since then, Nigerians across the world have been repatriated to the country in their hundreds, including the 134 who just arrived in Abuja from Sudan today.
“All evacuees are, however, expected to embark on a 14-day self-isolation, in line with the guidelines by the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) and the Ministry of Health,” he said.
GIK/APA