Osagie Ehanire, minister of health, has said that the fresh Coronavirus case which tested positive on March 8 was not imported but an Ogun State man who had been in contact with the Italian who brought the virus into the country, and one of the 40 persons closely monitored at the isolation facility.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Monday morning announced the second case of Covid-19 (Coronavirus) in Nigeria.
The minister who also announced the new case at a briefing in Edo state explained that contact tracing and monitoring in respect of the coronavirus index case presently receiving treatment in Logos has been diligently, and conscientiously pursued since the 27th of Februory when the case was first diagnosed.
Ehanire noted that there are 40 persons in Ogun and 20 in Lagos who are all under isolation and have remained free of any symptoms since.
“Nevertheless, the Federal Ministry of Heath following best practice decided to test these persons for possible presence of coronavirus in their systems. On the 8th of Mach, scientists confirmed the
presence of coronavirus in one of the contacts.
“It is my duty therefore to announce a new case of coronavirus disease (COVID-19 in Nigeria. The newly confirmed case is an Ogun state contact of the index case. but he has no significant clinical symptoms. This brings the total number of confirmed cases in Nigeria today to two.
The minister also said the first case, an Italian businessman who had flown into the country through Turkish Airlines Presently does not have any cynical symptoms and is in care of the Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba Lagos state.
He added that other contacts of the index case in Ogun and Lagos will remain in isolation and lasting will be carried out on Mose not yet tested, including some in other states.
Other contacts of the index case in Ogun and Lagos will remain in isolation and testing will be carried out on those not yet tested, including some in other states, the minister said.
The minister further informed that a team of researchers from various institutions in Nigeria led by top scientists a the Nigeria Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) Lagos combined their efforts to successfully perform the genome sequencing of the coronavirus strain that the index case brought to
Nigeria and proved it to be a match with the virus circulating in Italy and Wuhan.