Chinese man tests negative to coronavirus in Lagos

The suspected case of COVID-19 (coronavirus) infection presented at the Reddington Hospital, Ikeja on Wednesday, has tested negative for the infection.

In a statement on Thursday, the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi said 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 coronavirus in Lagos State as of now.

“I would like to reassure Lagosians that our vigilance levels are very high and we are putting more measures in place to safeguard the State”, Abayomi said.

Giving details of the investigation, the Commissioner explained that the Ministry of Health’s attention was drawn to a suspected case of coronavirus at Reddington Hospital; a private health facility located at Ikeja.

“From our investigation, we gathered that a Chinese citizen who arrived in Nigeria from China seven weeks ago presented at Reddington Hospital yesterday 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.