The Ministry of Health in Lagos State has confirmed its first case of COVID-19 and reported it to the Federal Ministry of Health.
The case, which was confirmed on Thursday, is the first to be reported in Nigeria since the outbreak in China in January 2020.
The case is an Italian citizen who entered Nigeria on February 25 from Milan, Italy for a brief business visit.
He fell ill on February 26 and was transferred to Lagos State Biosecurity Facilities for isolation and testing.
COVID-19 infection was confirmed by the Virology Laboratory of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, part of the Laboratory Network of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
The patient is clinically stable, with no serious symptoms and is being managed at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba, Lagos
The death toll from the coronavirus is now more than 2,700 worldwide , with the vast majority in mainland China. There has been more than 80,000 global cases .
Europe’s biggest outbreak is in Italy, where more than 280 have been infected. Iran has reported at least 95 cases and South Korea Snow has more than 970 cases.
World Health Organization officials say it’s still too early to declare the novel coronavirus a pandemic — but now is the time to prepare. Meanwhile in the US, President Trump has remained publicly optimistic i about the virus, even as Democrats criticize his administration.
