Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi, revealed yesterday that Lagos now has three suspected cases of suspected coronavirus in isolation in Lagos. The commissioner who announced it on his Twitter account @ProfAkinAbayomi last night said test results for the three were expected.
His tweet reads: “We now have three suspected cases in isolation at our containment facility in Yaba. One from France, one from England and one from China. Their samples have been taken and results are awaited. Abayomi said the patients were referred to the infectious disease hospital by an undisclosed private hospital in Lagos.
However, he assured that the patient’s test result would be announced as soon as it was concluded. Speaking further, the commissioner deplored the fact that out of the 15 people remaining on board the plane which had introduced the file in the country, 13 people showed up, two others. Abayomi, who was concerned that the two remaining people had yet to report, called the person on the plane to report to avoid spreading the virus to the community. His words: “Right now, we have 13 of these 15 people that we had not yet reached on Wednesday, between that yesterday, (Wednesday) and today, 13 people showed up while we are still missing two people. Those who came out of Nigeria, we use the WHO to find them. Of this number in Lagos, we are looking for two on this flight.
“If we can’t get the remaining two, we
will give out their names to the media to help us find them but we are giving
them the opportunity for confidentiality. Help us find these two people. We are
looking for them. ‘’They may be out there, not knowing that they were exposed
to a coronavirus person. In case any of these contacts develop the symptoms,
the sooner we know the better. Our strategy is to ensure that they did not get
the opportunity to spread it. We are just one step ahead of the virus at all
times when this virus is spreading in other countries.” Speaking on one of the
patients, he noted that the clinical situation of the index case was quite
stable, saying: “His symptoms are dramatically resolving. We expect that
we will continue to make this kind of progress. ‘’Somewhere along the line, at
the weekend he developed some respiratory symptoms, so we initiated some more
specific treatment in the form of antivirus which is not curative but will make
it easier for his immune system to overcome the infection. He responded to that
with no side effect. “Today (yesterday), he is in better spirit and he requires
some psycho-social support because he is getting a little bit depressed in
isolation.
We provided him with enough air time to be in
touch with the world, with his family and the embassy here.” ‘’We have provided
psychosocial support for his family. We have provided him with psychological
support, a number of specialists have been in contact with him. “His last viral
load shows that that the level is going down. If that trend continues, he will
be better. I cannot give you a precise date but it may not be long, perhaps in
another week. When we get the viral load that is negative and he is not
execrating the virus and no longer contagious and once we get negative, we will
wait for a few days; and if we get another negative result for the second
time, he can return to the community.”
