No suspected Coronavirus case in Lagos - LASG

Contrary to a media report on alleged suspected case of the coronavirus in a hospital in Lekki area of Lagos, facts on Sunday, emerged that the person just arrived from China and needed to be monitored as part of the response mechanisms in the state.

In the report, it was claimed that a suspected case of a patient with the Coronavirus had been quarantined at a hospital in Lekki, Lagos.

When contacted, the State Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi dismissed the report, describing it as fake news.

Giving an update on the suspected Coronavirus case in Lagos on Saturday 1/02/2020 on his twitter handle @ProfAkinAbayomi, the Commissioner for Health wrote: “The attention of @followlasg and @LSMOH has been drawn to a story of a query suspected case of #2019nCoV infection which presented at a particular private hospital in Lekki on 29/01/2020."

“The subject in question is an adult male Nigerian who arrived from China 4 days ago. He was in Shanghai throughout his stay in China and during his stay he did not have any contact with anyone who was ill or from Wuhan region."

“On his return to Lagos he has followed our instructions from @LSMOH and like a responsible member of the society has chosen to self-quarantine. He presented to a hospital for a check-up just to be sure but was found to be perfectly well and asked to return home to continue his self-quarantine. He is therefore clinically not a suspected case of #2019-nCoV as he is not exhibiting any symptoms."

“As of 2:38 pm today when I called the epidemiology officers of @LSMOH and the doctor that attended to him at the hospital in Lekki, he remains in perfect health with no symptoms of #nCoV2019. Nevertheless, @LSMOH will continue to monitor his welfare until the end of his self-quarantine period. As of now, there is no suspected or confirmed case of #nCoV2019 in Lagos."

“I urge you all to be vigilant and call +234 802 316 9485 for any suspected case of infections, ” he concluded.

In a related development, the Lagos State government has advised all travellers returning from China or exposed to a traveller from China or any country where cases of novel coronavirus have been reported to observe self-quarantine on arrival in Lagos.

The advice which was contained in the Lagos State government public advisory issued on Sunday through the State Commissioner for Health noted that unsupervised self-quarantine for travellers is the first step in containing coronavirus in the State.

“Self-quarantine is a public health strategy used to separate and isolate individuals who may have been exposed to a communicable disease. The aim is to protect individuals who may have been exposed and the general public. During unsupervised self-quarantine, we expect persons concerned to respond to the State advise 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.

Continuing, Abayomi explained that persons observing self-quarantine must stay at home during the whole duration of the self-quarantine, and must avoid workplace, minimise 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. He said the Virus 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 Coronavirus 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 dismissed reports of a case of the virus in the state and 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.