Covid-19: Nigeria now has 22 confirmed cases, says Health Minister

Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, says Nigeria’s now has 22 confirmed cases of coronavirus with 10 new cases, including in the federal capital territory (FCT), Abuja.

Ehanire who announced this on Saturday, said the new cases were in three states in addition to the FCT — Lagos, Ekiti, and Ogun.

The three cases in Abuja — two males and one female — all returned from abroad between March 14 and 18.

While one has been in self-isolation, the other two have not.

The minister also said the 10 new cases are Nigerians, and that nine of them have travel history to Canada, France, The Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom and returned in the past one week, while the tenth case is a close contact of a previously confirmed case.

Ehanire said: “Nigeria has recorded 10 new cases of COVID-19 in Lagos and Abuja.

“That is a total of 22 cases in Nigeria: Lagos, 16; FCT, 3; Ekiti, 1, and Ogun, 2.”

He added that two of the patients have been discharged, and that “all cases are clinically stable and receiving adequate care”.

One of the recent cases confirmed in Lagos was that of local transmission.

The patient in his 50s did not travel out of the country, but had contact with one of the patients that returned from abroad.

To curb the spread of the virus, the federal government banned travelers — with the exception of Nigerians — from 15 countries that have recorded more than 1,000 cases of the disease.

Most schools including tertiary institutions have also been shut down till further notice.

The FCT administration had said it set up two isolation wards in the nation’s capital in response to the disease.