The Federal Government has said that two cases of coronavirus are undergoing tests in the country.
This came just as the Kano State Government said it had placed 75 residents with symptoms of Lassa Fever under watch
While giving update on the coronavirus in Abuja on Friday, the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, said “Last night (Thursday night), we had two cases and tests are going on at the moment. As soon as they are completed, it will be announced. If a person returns to the country, say within 20 or 30 days, there is no point wasting reagents to test such a person.
“For other diseases, we usually advise people to go to the hospitals to get tested, but for suspected cases of coronavirus, patients are advised to simply put a call through to us, we will come to the patient because going to the hospital can amplify the disease if it is found to be positive.”
In Kano, the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Aminu Ibrahim Tsanyawa, confirmed that of the 393 Lassa fever follow-up contacts in the state, 318 had been discharged, while 75 were still under watch.
During the outbreak of the dreaded disease, Tsanyawa, disclosed that three patients were admitted and discharged, adding that, while one was from Jigawa, the rest two were from Kano.
While saying that the state was in firm control of the disease, Tsanyawa attributed the feat to the collaborative effort and support of all major stakeholders, in the fight against the dreaded disease.
Meawhile, Egypt’s health ministry on Friday announced the first confirmed case of coronavirus in Africa.
The sufferer was not Egyptian, the ministry said in a statement, without specifying the nationality.
“The ministry has taken preventative measures and is monitoring the patient, who is stable,” the health ministry spokesman, Khaled Megahed, said.
Egyptian authorities had notified the World Health Organisation and the patient had been placed in isolation in hospital.
The death toll from the epidemic virus has neared 1,400 cases, almost exclusively in China where it was first identified.
Deep trade links with China and often overstretched health-care systems have raised concerns about the capacity of African countries to respond to an outbreak.
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