Minister says Nigeria has no suspected case of Coronavirus
Dr. Osagie Ehanire, Minister of Health, says Nigeria has not recorded any suspected case of Coronavirus.
Ehanire gave the assurance during a ministerial briefing in Abuja on Friday.
He said that Nigeria had developed enough
capacity to detect and isolate any Coronavirus case, especially at
international entry points to the country.
He disclosed that the Africa Centre
for Disease Control (ACDC),World Health Organisation (WHO),and other
partners have provided scientific and technical support to Nigeria to
strengthen its preparedness for the new 2019-nCoV.
He noted that the support was geared towards
ensuring that Nigeria was better prepared to respond, in the event of an
outbreak of 2019-nCoV.
“NCDC, Port Health Services and State Epidemiologists were aware of the process for identification and confirmation.
“We‘ll review these criteria as additional information on CoV2019 becomes available,’’ he said.
He said that NCDC has continued to make
advisories available to Nigerians on the novel coronavirus and how to
protect themselves and had also published Frequently Asked Questions
(FAQ) to keep Nigerians informed.
“Since the emergence of the coronavirus, we have been working everyday to learn as quickly as possible about this new virus.
“Ongoing research on its transmissibility and virulence will determine our response across Nigeria,” the minister said.
He advised Nigerians that if they experience
symptoms of coronavirus like respiratory illness, restlessness or cough
within 14 days of travel to China they should contact NCDC immediately
on its toll-free number on – 0800-970000-10
He added that a strange illness recently
discovered in Benue had been laboratory tested and showed no symptoms of
Ebola, Lassa fever or coronavirus.
The minister said that NCDC had activated an
Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) to coordinate response activities in
conjunction with Federal Medical Centre in Makurdi to ascertain the
nature of the illness.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that
the Senate on Thursday alerted Nigerians that a strange disease had hit
Benue, killing 15 persons and about 104 seriously infected.
The Senate suspected that the outbreak may be
coronavirus epidemic which it said required urgent health measures to
identify. It revealed that the outbreak of the disease occurred on Jan.
29, 2020, in Oye, Obi Local Government Area (LGA) of Benue.
Minister says Nigeria has no suspected case of Coronavirus
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