COVID-19: Lagos might have up to 39,000 cases, says Health Commissioner

The Lagos State Government on Friday said it expects to see up to 39,000 cases of COVID-19 in the state.

The Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, disclosed this at a Press briefing at the Ministry of Health in Alausa.

According to him, “Our mathematical modelling shows that the worst-case scenario is that we may see up to 39,000 cases in Lagos.”

He, however, said if everyone practices good social distancing, the figure will be limited to 13,000.

“If we add social distancing to active contact tracing, then we will be able to bend the curve further,” he said.

Abayomi said the figures were small as  compared to outbreaks around the globe

“The figures may seem alarming at this point, but this is just to emphasize to the Lagos community to follow instructions of the incident commander to make sure that we practice social distancing and other preventive measures.

“Looking at the same time frame from the introduction of the index case, you can see that Lagos State is not seen anywhere near what Spain, Italy and Iran are showing.

“So, at weeks two and three of our index case, we are flat and at week four, we have 37 cases; while at the same fourth week, Italy, Iran and Spain had more than 20,000 cases.

“So, we are doing something right in the state,” Abayomi added.