The Lagos State Government said on Thursday it had reached an agreement with the China Embassy in Nigeria to quarantine all Chinese returning to Lagos from their country to prevent the outbreak of coronavirus.

The state Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, said at a press conference that the Chinese government, through her embassy in Nigeria was working with Lagos State Government to prevent the entry of coronavirus into the state.

He said, “We are very happy with the cooperation we are receiving from the Chinese government. We’ve had a very serious and high-level discussion with the Chinese government through their embassy in Lagos. Our primary concern has been the return of their citizens to Lagos in a few days and we are happy to inform you that the Embassy of China is also concerned about this, and they have sent out information through notifications to their citizens and companies located in Lagos that their citizens should try and remain in China until there is clarity about how this infection is going.

“However, if some of them choose to return, and we cannot restrict people, if they do return to Lagos, the instruction from the Chinese Embassy is that they should be quarantined for a period of 10 to 14 days in their houses, hostels and accommodations.”

The commissioner added that officials of the Ministry of Health would meet with associations and businessmen in Lagos, particularly those who make use of the China-Nigeria trade routes to advise them on their travels to Asian countries, particularly China.

WHO declares emergency

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation on Thursday declared as international emergency on coronavirus.

The WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom, said via the twitter handle of the WHO, “We don’t know what sort of damage this #2019CoV virus could do if it were to spread in a country with a weaker health system. We must act now to help countries prepare for that possibility.

“For all these reasons, I am declaring a public health emergency of international concern over the global outbreak of #2019nCov.”

WHO noted that a coronavirus is a family of viruses that include the common cold, severe acute respiratory syndrome and Middle East respiratory syndrome.

The Cable News Network had on Tuesday reported that a 34-year-old female student became the first person to be tested for the virus in Africa. The traveller, whose identity has been withheld, disembarked a flight from China, at Felix-Houphouet-Boigny International Airport, in Abidjan, Ivory Coast on Saturday.

Also, the New York Times on its website, 170 people have died of coronavirus since its outbreak with more than 7,834 cases confirmed.

Isolate yourselves, Senate tells returnees

The Senate on Thursday asked Chinese citizens in Nigeria, who travelled to China to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year, to isolate themselves on return to the country.

The Upper Chamber also extended the call for self-isolation to travellers from other countries affected by the outbreak of the deadly disease.

The directives were part of resolutions made during the consideration of a motion titled, ‘Coronavirus outbreak and preventive response towards stemming its spread in Nigeria.’

Senator Chukwuka Utazi, who sponsored the motion, said, “Health officials fear the number of infected people will rise rapidly as hundreds of millions of Chinese people travel within China and abroad for the week-long Lunar New Year.”

Senator Jibrin Barau, in his contribution, described the motion as a wake-up call for health officials across the country to deploy early preventive measures.

He said, “This motion is a wake-up call to our health officials to deploy preventive measures.

“We should find a way to send a message through this motion to make sure the proper thing is done to safeguard the health of citizens and the nation.”

Senator James Manager, in his contribution, raised the alarm that Nigeria and other countries were at risk of experiencing an outbreak given what he described as the uncontrolled influx of Chinese nationals from one country to another.

The Senate, in its resolutions, urged Nigerians with likely infection or with symptoms associated with coronavirus to visit hospitals for urgent health check.