Director-General of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, is now undergoing 14-day self-isolation to allow for confirmation that he is not infected with COVID-19, following his recent return from China.

The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, told the Senate yesterday that Ihekweazu was in China as part of a World Health Organisation (WHO) team to understudy the behavioural patterns of those who have contracted the virus.

However, a Chinese national who came into Nigeria on Sunday night and was quarantined by the Lagos State government has tested negative to Coronavirus.
The state has also activated outbreak protocols in five general hospitals and its Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in preparation for an eventual outbreak of the disease.
The House of Representatives yesterday also resolved to suspend plenary for 14 days from a date yet to be decided to enable the lawmakers to sensitise their constituents on the outbreak of Coronavirus.

In Anambra State, the government has screened all Chinese citizens living in the state to check the dreaded virus while the Bayelsa State government is to identify and screen foreigners and to keep close watch on Brass Local Government Area where many foreigners work as part of preventive measures to stop the spread of the virus to the state.

However, the Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF) has pledged to support the current efforts by the federal government against Coronavirus with N200 million.
Ehanire, while briefing the Senate leadership on government’s efforts to tackle the Coronavirus scourge, said the NCDC boss returned at the weekend from an official visit to China where he understudied the behavioral pattern of Coronavirus patients.

According to him, Ihekweazu, was one of the WHO officials that spent nine days in China.
He said: “We were honoured that one of the scientists that WHO had chosen to go to China to study the disease was the DG of NCDC. They went there for nine days, during which they carry out investigation.”

He added that although the NCDC boss had tested negative upon his arrival, he would still be quarantined for 14 days in line with established safety procedure against coronavirus.
“We have already established rules here that anybody who has been to China will go to self-quarantine. Chikwe has gone (to China) and came back and has done the test. It’s negative; but we have insisted that he must undergo the 14 days of quarantine which is why he was not here today.

“He is not allowed to come out until after 14 days\ because if you make rules, you must also obey them, which is to set example for Nigerians that the head of NCDC is self- quarantined as we speak. He’s very well but he has to follow the rules,” the minister stated.
Speaking on the level of government preparedness to tackle coronavirus, he explained that there are already established isolation centres in Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt to respond to any emergency.

But giving an update on coronavirus in Lagos State, where the index case occurred last week, the Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, said the Chinese national had been taken to the isolation centre in Yaba where his sample had been collected for testing.
The result, however, showed that the Chinese tested negative to the virus.

Sources said the Chinese who boarded an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa to Nigeria, was coughing profusely on arrival at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
The MMIA Manager, Mrs. Victoria Shinaba, who spoke before the result of the test on the Chinese was released, confirmed the incident, saying that “we are still expecting the results from Lagos State.”

The commissioner said the state was already putting contingency plans in place in case of the outbreak of the virus in the state.
He said: “We presently have 100 isolation centres, but we have put plans in place to increase it to 1000. With time we will know whether to activate this or not. We are also preparing five general hospitals and our IDP camps as plan B. We hope no other case is recorded, but should there be, we are more than ready to handle outbreaks.

“The federal government has activated testing sites at every international airport, including that of Lagos. So as it stands now, we have two centres in Lagos where coronavirus tests can be done.”

According to him, the state has been preparing for this day, and it has an extremely sophisticated laboratory with level three, and certified by international bodies to deal with an epidemic. “People criticise us that we are not prepared, but what they don’t know is that we have been waiting for this day,” he added.

On the Italian index case, he said three tests had so far been carried out on him, noting that the first result showed a baseline of the virus, while the second showed the virus has reduced.
“But the third result showed the virus has gone back to baseline.

“We will keep watching him because the virus fluctuates. Whenever the virus eventually leaves his system, we will be happy to release him. I am sure he will want to travel back to Italy immediately after been released.

“He has a mild to moderate case of the virus at the moment. His breathing is fine although he has slight cough. We know he is lonely at the moment because his ward has 14 beds and he is the only one there. We hope it remains so. We have reached out to his embassy. They have provided him with phone, internet, books, and Italian food,” the commissioner added.