As Nigeria battles the effect of the deadly Coronavirus (COVID-19), reports have emerged that the Italian who brought the deadly virus to the country has now tested negative to the disease.
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Disclosing this on Thursday at a news conference to give update on the pandemic, Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, said that the index case, who had been receiving treatment at the Infectious Disease Hospital, had tested negative to the disease.
The commissioner expressed joy over the news, saying that it was good news for Lagos and Nigeria at large.
Prof. Abayomi, however, disclosed that the Italian would not be discharged yet until a confirmatory test had been carried out within 48 hours. He noted that if the European tests negative the second time, he would be allowed to go.
The Italian had tested positive for Coronavirus on Thursday 27, February 2020, after he entered Nigeria on the 25th of February from Milan, Italy, for a business visit.
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.”
Findings further revealed that the Italian had gone to a building and concrete solutions company, LaFarge, where he had contacts with the staff of the company. Forty people at the company were said to have been quarantined out of which one tested positive for the virus.
The news of the index case testing negative is coming on the backdrop of the four new confirmed cases of people who have tested positive to the virus.
The figure brings the total number of COVID-19 cases to 12 amidst fears that more cases would be confirmed in the coming days.
