Coronavirus: Lagos State activates emergency operations centre

Lagos State governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu Friday said the State Emergency Operations Centre has been activated to attend to the first case of novel coronavirus reported in Nigeria.

The patient, an unnamed Italian, arrived in Lagos, Nigeria, on Wednesday from Milan and was reported ill on 26th February. He was transferred to Lagos State Biosecurity Facilities for isolation and testing.

He was confirmed to have coronavirus by the Virology Laboratory of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, part of the Laboratory Network of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and he is being managed at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba, Lagos, Sanwo-Olu said.

He advised residents in the state not to panic and to observe “basic hygiene”.

“The Government under my leadership through Lagos State Ministry of Health has been strengthening measures to ensure that any outbreak in Lagos is quickly controlled and contained in collaboration with the multi-sectoral Coronavirus Preparedness Group, led by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control,” the governor said.