The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, announced this on Monday at a
press conference in Benin City, the Edo State capital.
Ehanire briefed reporters at the boardroom of the University of Benin
Teaching Hospital, where he gave an update on the coronavirus infection
in the country.
He, however, noted that the newly confirmed case was a contact of the
index case and not an importation into the country.
The minister said, “It is my duty, therefore, to announce a new case of
coronavirus disease (CIVID-19) in Nigeria.”
“One of the important response strategies at the containment stage has
been to identify all contacts, ensure their strict isolation, and to
follow up daily with checks for any symptoms of the disease.
“Following recent experience from other countries and evident from newly
published studies on non-symptomatic infections, the Nigeria Centre for
Disease Control (NCDC), advised that samples should be taken from all
contacts of the index case for testing.
“It is in this process that these two cases were detected.”
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) also announced the
confirmation of the second coronavirus case via its verified twitter
handle.
According to it, the case is a contact of the index case in Ogun state
and has been in isolation and was tested as part of strategy to check
all contacts of the index case.
Since the first case was confirmed in Lagos, the NCDC said it has been
supporting the Ogun State Emergency Operations Centre to respond
accordingly.
It, therefore, urged Nigerians not to panic as the situation was under
control and take necessary measures to protect themselves from the
virus.