Coronavirus

By Kazeem Ugbodaga

The Italian national who brought the deadly Coronavirus to Nigeria has now tested negative to the disease.

Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi disclosed this on Thursday at a news conference to give update on the pandemic.

He said the index case, who had been receiving treatment at the Infectious Disease Hospital, IDH, Yaba, had tested negative to the disease.

Abayomi said it was good news for Lagos and Nigeria for the index case to test negative.

He said he would not be allowed to go yet until a confirmatory test had been carried out within 48 hours, saying that if he tested negative the second time, he would be discharged.

The Italian was tested negative for Coronavirus on Thursday 27, February, 2020.

The patient entered Nigeria on the 25th of February from Milan, Italy for a brief business visit to LaFarge.

According to Abayomi, “He fell ill on the 26th February and was transferred to Lagos State Biosecurity Facilities for isolation and testing. COVID-19 infection was confirmed by the Virology Laboratory of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, part of the Laboratory Network of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. The patient is clinically stable, with no serious symptoms, and is being managed at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba, Lagos.”

The Italian had gone to LaFarge, where he had contacts with staff of the company. Forty people were later quarantined at LaFarge, out of which one tested positive for Coronavirus.

The second case who was infected by the Italian tested negative few days after he was quarantined.

However, Abayomi said all new cases were responding to treatment at the IDH in Yaba, Lagos.