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Doris Obinna
The Lagos State government has advised all travelers returning from China or exposed to a traveler from China or any country where cases of the novel coronavirus has been reported to observe self-quarantine on arrival in Lagos.
The state government in a public advisory issued through the Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi noted that unsupervised self-quarantine for travellers is the first step in containing coronavirus in the state.
According to Abayomi, self-quarantine is a public health strategy used to separate and isolate individuals who may have been exposed to a communicable disease. He added that the aim is to protect individuals who may have been exposed and the public.
“During unsupervised self-quarantine, we expect persons concerned to respond to the state advice and act like responsible citizens. You are required to restrict your movement to your home, monitor yourself closely, report any symptoms that may develop to the Ministry of Health on the contact numbers provided and engage in good personal hygiene,” Abayomi said.
While giving further details on the self-quarantine strategy, the commissioner explained that persons observing self-quarantine must stay at home during the whole duration of the self-quarantine, and must avoid the workplace, minimize contact with family members, ensure no contact with visitors, refrain from attending or going to public or social functions and must not ride or fly in any mode of public transportation.
“You must monitor yourself closely and diligently during the self-quarantine period, to identify if you develop symptoms including, but not limited, to headache, cough, sore throat, fever, chest pain, chills, shortness of breath, breathing difficulties and pneumonia,” he added.
Abayomi stressed the need for citizens observing self-quarantine who develop any of the aforementioned symptoms to immediately contact the Ministry of Health on 08023169485, 08033565529 and 08052817243 for further instructions.
“Novel coronavirus infection has an incubation period of 5 to 14 days. This means if you have been in China or any other country that is now experiencing Corona virus transmission from person to person, you may become unwell after a period of 5 to 14 days of your return. If you feel unwell or develop symptoms, immediately contact the Ministry of Health on the numbers provided to communicate how you are feeling”, he said.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner who also dismissed misinformation making the rounds especially on social media that a case of novel coronavirus has been recorded in the state said Lagos State as no suspected or confirmed cases of coronavirus infection.
He urged citizens to disregard the misinformation as well as any other information about the virus that did not emanate from his office, the state Ministry of Health, Federal Ministry of Health or the National Centre for Disease Control (CDC).
