No new COVID-19 case in Nigeria, says FG

.Vows to prevent spread, says suspected COVID-19 cases in Plateau negative

.Insists facemask not necessary at the moment

The Federal Government disclosed on Monday that there was no new case of COVID-19, otherwise known as Coronavirus disease, in the country.

The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, who was speaking while addressing a news conference in Abuja, reaffirmed government’s readiness to deploy all available resources at its disposal in forestalling a further spread of the disease beyond the confirmed case of an Italian presently being managed in Lagos.

Ehanire, who noted that the driver of the Italian had been identified and under close observation, also disclosed that 19 persons in Lagos and 39 in Ogun State identified through contact tracing, were currently on self quarantine and under close supervision.

According to him, the four Chinese men in Wase Plateau State who were suspected to have coronavirus have been confirmed negative. He added that they were still under self-quarantine and observation.

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While noting that the use of face masks in Nigeria was not necessary at the moment, he insisted that all international passengers coming into Nigeria were passively screened for possible symptoms of coronavirus through temperature scanners.

Ehanire, who urged Nigerians to remain calm and ensure they practice good hygiene of hand washing and respiratory etiquette by coughing and sneezing into their elbows, disclosed that the Italian was in stable condition.

‘’Since the confirmation, we are focused on containment including contact tracing to risk and management of the case. As of March 1, there was no new confirmed case in Nigeria. About 14 tests have been done and except that one case, none other one person has been diagnosed.

‘’There were about 156 passengers on the manifesto of the flight that brought in the index case. Since then, ports health services and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has been supporting both Lagos and Ogun State governments to carry out contact tracing and other response activities.

‘’Currently the contacts of the index case are identified as 19 contacts in Lagos, 39 contacts in Ogun State. We are in touch with the contacts that are under supervised self-isolation and the states have provided them with temperature monitoring tools.

‘’The multi -sectoral emergency centre is led by NCDC and was activated in January 28, 2020. It has continued to coordinate national response activities state level both in Lagos and Ogun with an activated EOCs’’, the minister said.

He said ‘’the Italian is going to be monitored in the next 14 days as will all the 19 people in Lagos and 39 people in Ogun State who have been in contact with him. They are all in self-isolation in their homes. Also, the airline that brought him has been notified of the patient and have been advised to put their crew also under observation”.

He added that a brand new state of the art emergency unit that is under construction in Gwagwalada, which is not yet completed would be ready by April.

‘’In the meantime, we are using a brand new ICU there which has been equipped and has everything ready but it’s also going to benefit from the provision the NCDC is using’’.

While advising Nigerians not to panic, the minister said that the journey from China to Nigeria by sea is about three weeks and the incubation period is three weeks and so anybody coming in from China will be seriously sick before they reach here and they will immediately be discovered.

He commended the state and local governments for the synergy so far, adding that the collaboration amongst all Nigerians is what is required to curb the menace.

‘’Collaboration with state and local governments is excellent, we still have to build it up in some areas but the focus is more  in those states where we have international airports; Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Enugu and Kano. At the moment, Enugu airport is not functional but it is included in the plan that we have on ground.

‘’I have visited Kano, Lagos and we are in Abuja. I can tell you they are working very hard to get themselves ready and prepared for the peculiarities of this very outbreak. The virus is peculiar so we need to adapt to it.

‘’If there is a reason for contact tracing to go further, we have the opportunity of speaking with the governors and talk to them to always assist us in doing the work we need to do.

‘’The ventilators are available but it’s only in extreme cases we need ventilators for those whose infection has badly infected the lungs. They will be deployed, as needed when the case arises but not all persons who have had Corona infection will require ventilator.

‘’The one we are seeing in Lagos do not require ventilator at all; he is walking about, he is okay. This is because his own infection did not affect the lungs, he is breathing very normally’’, the minister added.