Nigeria has no new case of Coronavirus – Health Minister

Nigerian Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, has said that Nigeria has no any new case of Coronavirus outbreak.

The minister say this while speaking to newsmen on the updates of COVID-19 in Abuja on Friday, he said no any case from the 61 people quarantine.

He said “The contacts of the index case are currently under supervised self-isolation and the states have provided them with the temperature tools,” he said.

“Of the 148 passengers on the manifest of the index case flight, 55 are actively being followed up.

“The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and Port Health Services are in touch with them to monitor their temperatures and possible appearance of COVID-19 symptoms.

“We are tracing out others. I urge any passengers of the Turkish Airlines Flight to Lagos on February 24 listening to me to contact us on 080097000-10,’’ he said.

“We continue to monitor closely, the global situation, with cases spreading quickly in other countries; as at March 2020, a total of 93,090 confirmed cases reported, 88.4 per cent in China, 3,198 deaths.

“While the outbreak in Wuhan and more broadly in China is reducing, case numbers are increasing outside of China. Over 90 per cent of case reported in last 24 hours reported outside of China.

“We also continue to closely compare our infection prevention and control measures with what obtains in other countries and I can confirm that our standing in Nigeria is among the best.

“Number of countries affected within the last 24 hours increased by five (Argentina, Chile, Poland, South Africa and Ukraine) making total of 77 countries with seven of these Africa.

“Algeria, Egypt, Tunisa, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa and Nigeria,’’ he said.

“The states are Lagos, Ogun, FCT and Kano, there is only confirmed case of COVID-19 in Nigeria, which is the index case and no death.

“There were three new suspected cases on March 4, two cases were negative; l repeat that there is only one confirmed case of COVID-19 in Nigeria.

“Please, disregard all rumours of new cases in Nigeria. Verified news will come from the Federal Ministry of Health and NCDC,’’ he said.

Meanwhile Mr, Clement Peter, the Officer-in-Charge of World Health Organisation (WHO) has applauded the minister for holding frequent updates to ensure that Nigerians are kept safe from COVID-19.

Mr Peter said the frequently of holding the updates would help to keep Nigerians informed, saying the “biggest enemy is now misinformation.

“We need to support the government because the government cannot do it alone. It is our responsibility because a case in the country is threat to everyone,’’ he said.