Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health has confirmed a new case of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Nigeria. This case was confirmed on the 16th of March in Lagos State. This brings the total number of confirmed cases in Nigeria to 3.
The new case is a Nigerian national who returned to Nigeria from the United Kingdom on the 13th of March after a brief visit.
“On return to Nigeria, the case decided to go into self-isolation and subsequently developed symptoms. At which point, the case called the NCDC toll-free line to report symptoms. Officials from the Lagos State COVID-19 Emergency Operations Centre were dispatched to the case’s home to collect a sample. This was tested and positive for COVID-19. The case is currently being treated at the Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) in Yaba, Lagos. She is clinically stable and is responding to treatment,” Nigeria’s health ministry stated.
It revealed that contact tracing has started to identify all persons who the patient has been in contact with, since her return to Nigeria.
The Nigerian government added it will continue to assess the situation and review the national response accordingly.
“We are immediately announcing the following interventions: We strongly discourage any travel to all affected countries except for essential trips; We encourage everyone returning to Nigeria from any country to self-isolate for 14-days; All those returning from countries where there is ongoing high community transmission (over 1,000 cases cumulatively), should self-isolate and will be actively followed up for 14 days by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Port Health Services.”
