Nigeria confirms coronavirus, first in sub-Saharan Africa
- The patient is an Italian citizen who works in Nigeria and returned from Milan to Lagos on Tuesday
- Officials were working to identify all of the man’s contacts since he arrived in Nigeria
The Commissioner for Health for Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city, said on Friday that an Italian citizen who entered Nigeria on February 25 from Milan on a business trip fell ill the next day.
Commissioner Akin Abayomi said the man was transferred to Lagos State Biosecurity Facilities for isolation and testing. The patient was clinically stable with no serious symptoms and was being managed at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba, Lagos.
He said officials were working to identify all of the man’s contacts since he arrived in Nigeria.
Nigerian health officials have been strengthening measures to ensure that any outbreak in Lagos is controlled and contained quickly, Abayomi said in a statement.
“I wish to assure all Lagosians and Nigerians that we have been strengthening our preparedness since the first confirmation of cases in China. We will use all the resources made available by the state and the federal government to respond to this case,” Abayomi said.