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Doris Obinna
The Lagos State government has said that the Chinese citizen who presented at the Reddington Hospital, Ikeja, Lagos on Wednesday, suspected to have Coronavirus (Covid-19) has tested negative for the infection.
Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi who made this known in a statement on Thursday noted that the likelihood of Covid-19 infection in this particular patient was very low and the conclusion of investigations and sophisticated testing confirmed that there was no case of Covid-19 in Lagos State as of now.
“I would like to reassure Lagosians that our vigilance levels are very high and we are putting more measures in place to safeguard the state,” he said.
While giving details of the investigation, Abayomi explained that the Ministry of Health’s attention was drawn to a suspected case of Covid-19 at Reddington Hospital, a private health facility located in Ikeja.
“From our investigation, we gathered that a Chinese citizen who arrived in Nigeria from China seven weeks ago presented at Reddington Hospital on Wednesday complaining about fever. The hospital in keeping with the advisory we earlier issued, correctly maintained a high index of suspicion, isolated the patient and reported the case to the ministry.
“We took up the case, transferred the patient to the state’s Isolation Unit at the Mainland hospital, which is our specialised infectious disease hospital. His blood samples were taken to the Virology laboratory for analysis and it came out negative,” the commissioner said.
Abayomi appealed to citizens to refrain from posting unverified news that can cause unnecessary anxiety in the community.
He urged citizens to disregard any information about the novel Coronavirus that does not emanate from official communication channels of the Ministry of Health or his office.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in a reaction has said that Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), which has the capacity to test for the Coronavirus is within the NCDC laboratory network.
“The centre is on the alert and will continue to keep Nigerians informed. We are in close communication with the Lagos State Ministry of Health (LSMOH) and will inform the public once there’s a confirmed case in Nigeria.”
