The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, has said that an American who tested positive for coronavirus has been evacuated to the United States.
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Making this known while giving an update on his Twitter handle on Wednesday, Prof Abayomi said the last confirmed COVID-19 case recorded in the state was on Tuesday.
He said: “The total #COVID-1cases in Lagos is now 82. Eight patients have so far been discharged following their full recovery. One of the confirmed cases, who is an American citizen, has been evacuated to the USA.”
Earlier, the United States Mission In Nigeria announced that it had commenced evacuation of its citizens from Nigeria.
This follows the move by Germany, Israel, and France to evacuate their nationals following the rising cases of COVID-19 in Nigeria.
The Embassy confirmed the development Monday night on its official Twitter handle, @US Mission Nigeria.
It said: “The flight will be one-way to a destination likely to be a major city somewhere on the East Coast. Once you arrive in the U.S., you will be responsible to get yourself to your final destination.
“If you need to return to Nigeria, you will also be responsible for booking and paying for that ticket as this is not a roundtrip flight.
“The Embassy in Abuja and Consulate in Lagos are unable to assist with lodging, food, or transportation costs.
“We have also been notified that many hotels are closed or will be closing. U.S. citizens who have friends or relatives with whom they can reside in Lagos or Abuja should consider travelling there before borders close, keeping in mind that no flight details are available at present and you may need to shelter in place for a few weeks.
The mission said that multiple emergency flights departing from Lagos and Abuja had been confirmed for this week while asking Americans booked for the flight not to come to the airport until they had been contacted by officials.
Reports emanating from the US, however, indicates that the country has overtaken China in the number of COVID-19 deaths already recorded.
According to www.worldometers.info, as of 1 a.m. on Wednesday, 3,850 lives have been lost to the pandemic in the U.S., compared to China’s tally of 3,305 deaths.
