20th March, 2020
The Italian who was first diagnosed with Covid 19 in Nigeria is now free of the virus and was, on Friday evening, allowed to leave the isolation centre of Yaba Mainland Hospital where he was quarantined and treated.
This was confirmed by the Governor of Lagos, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
“As the COVID-19 Incident Commander for Lagos State, I am glad to inform you that the index case the Italian gentleman is now negative.
“Through a combined effort of Lagos State, Ogun State and Federal Health Authorities, we were able to limit the transmission of the virus to a single contact.
“This involved aggressive contact tracing and containment strategies. However, we now have several new imported cases and we hope we can apply the same contact tracing strategy along with social distancing to slow down the outbreak which may be brewing from these new cases.
“The index patient consented to donate one unit of white blood (otherwise called plasma) before he was discharged today. The blood plasma is rich in antibody proteins that target the #COVID19 virus.
“The white blood plasma is frozen in our Bio-bank and will be useful in handling new cases.
“The blood plasma will be beneficial for the treatment of new patients in the absence of a defined therapeutic drug for #COVID19 yet.
“The index patient appreciated the exceptional care and support given to him by the staff of the mainland Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba, all members of the EOC / @followlasg.
“The EOC team was extremely happy to bid the patient farewell.
“Once again, we like to convey the enthusiasm of our team to do the very best possible in handling incidents of Coronavirus,” Governor of Lagos, Babajide Sanwo-Olu wrote on his Facebook page.