Nigeria has recorded five new coronavirus cases, jacking up the national total to eight.
Minister of Health, Prof. Osagie Ehanire on his Twitter handle on Wednesday, said he regretted to announce the five new cases of Coronavirus in the country.
He said the government has intensified contact tracing for these cases to control the risk of spread and that the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, was already supporting the response efforts.
”I regret to announce the confirmation of 5 new #COVID19 cases in #Nigeria bringing the total no. of confirmed cases to eight.
“We have intensified contact tracing for these cases to control the risk of spread and
@NCDCGov is already supporting the response efforts,” he said.
I regret to announce the confirmation of 5 new #COVID19 cases in #Nigeria bringing the total no. of confirmed cases to 8
— Dr. E. Osagie Ehanire MD, FWACS (@DrEOEhanire) March 18, 2020
We have intensified contact tracing for these cases to control the risk of spread and @NCDCGov is already supporting the response efforts pic.twitter.com/pJNaU2KLln
Five new cases of coronavirus just confirmed in Nigeria by the Federal Ministry of Health were imported from the USA and United Kingdom, increasing the cases in Nigeria from three registered in Lagos to eight nationally.
Three of the confirmed cases, two of them Nigerians, a mother and her six-week old baby arrived from the US. Another two cases, all Nigerians arrived from the UK.
Government did not indicate where the cases were found.
“A detailed travel history of each case is being compiled & contact tracing has begun
“Our National Emergency Operations Centre is supporting response in the states
“The Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Health is conducting risk assessment to initiate other relevant measures”, said a tweet by the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control.
“We urge Nigerians to remain calm as public health response activities are intensified across the country”, NCDC said.
The first index case of the virus is an Italian from Milan.
Hence, the Federal Government announced entry restriction for travellers from the US, Italy and the UK.
Other countries affected are China, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Japan, France, Germany, Norway, Netherlands and Switzerland.
These are all countries with over 1,000 cases domestically.
“The Federal Government is temporarily suspending all visas issued to nationals from these countries. Nigerians arriving from these countries will be subjected to supervised isolation for 14 days.
“The Federal Government of Nigeria is also advising all Nigerians to avoid travel to these countries.
“These restrictions will come into effect from Friday 20 March 2020 for 4 weeks subject to review”, said Boss Mustapha, secretary to the Government of the Federation, who also chairs the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19.