LAGOS| 181 Students, Staff In Private School Test Positive For #COVID19

Lagos State Government has confirmed 181 positive COVID-19 cases in a private boarding school in Lekki.

Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi, who broke the news informed that 181 students and staff members of a private school located in a suburb of Lekki tested positive to COVID19 during surveillance abd case investigation in the school. There are reportedly 441 students and staff in the school.

Giving details of the investigation, Abayomi explained that a 14-year-old SS1 female student fell ill on the 3rd of October and was sent home after receiving first aid at the school.

He added that the student subsequently tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday 6th of October in one of the accredited private labs in Lagos.

The Commissioner assured Lagosians that the State government, through the incident commands system, has the situation under control.

He stressed that appropriate steps have been taken to contain the spread and manage the positive cases. He noted that all parents have been contacted and counselled via a family zoom call on 13th October to further allay their fears.

“There is a total lockdown and movement restriction in the school with the Epidemiology and Surveillance Pillar of the EOC and Ibeju-Lekki LGA State Disease Surveillance and Notification Officer (DSNO) reporting at the school daily to conduct further investigation.

“Positive students and staff have been isolated on the premises and given the COVID-19 home-care treatment packs and are being monitored in isolation within the school premises,” Abayomi said.

The Commissioner stated that the school authorities supported by the Lagos State Ministry of Health and the Lagos State Ministry of Education are following the COVID-19 guidelines as set out by the government.

According to him, “students are to be isolated in the School premises and if unwell will be admitted in one of the accredited isolation centers in Lagos. Students are discouraged from going home to avoid infecting members of their families”.

Abayomi said the government is working to manage what he described as a “minor but significant outbreak” in school. He further announced that all infected students are predominantly asymptomatic while some have very mild symptoms; no student has required hospitalization.

“Members of the Emergency Operation Center and our counterparts in the Ministry of Education have been deployed to the school to provide strategic interventions and support to the school.

This includes psychosocial support, infection prevention control, medical monitoring and risk communication experts to further enlighten and educate affected people,” Abayomi noted.

He reemphasized the need for citizens to practise the highest standard of personal and environmental hygiene stressing that use of face mask in public places, proper hand washing, hand hygiene practice & maintaining physical distance will help prevent the spread of the infection.

“COVID-19 is still very much with us and we must strive to prioritize the safety of all, including students and teachers, by adhering strictly to prevention protocols and guidelines issued by government to prevent its spread,” Abayomi said.