The Lagos State Government says the Chinese citizen who was presented at the Reddington Hospital, Ikeja with suspected case of COVID-19 has tested negative to the infection.
Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi who made this known through a media 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 confirms that there is no case of COVID-19 in Lagos State as of now.
Also read: Coronavirus ‘spreads before symptoms show’
He reassured Lagosians that vigilance levels are very high and the State is putting more measures in place to safe guard the residents.
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 at Ikeja.
In the statement, the Commissioner said it was gathered that a Chinese citizen who arrived in Nigeria from China 7 weeks ago was 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 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 National Centre for Disease Control, NCDC through its Twitter handle has also confirmed that there is no case of COVID-19 in Nigeria and all suspected cases including the recent one in Lagos have tested negative
