All suspected coronavirus cases in Edo ‘test negative’

The Edo government says there is no record of coronavirus in the state as all suspected cases tested negative.

Crusoe Osagie, spokesman to the state governor, said samples from suspected cases were confirmed negative at the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital.

He also said Edo has put in place measures for testing, tracking and diagnosing the virus, and that teams have been deployed in motor parks to screen passengers.

“We are committed to keeping Edo people abreast with the government’s response mechanism to the outbreak of COVID-19 across the world and in Nigeria,” Osagie said in a statement on Sunday.

”At the moment, we want to inform the general public that there is no confirmed case of COVID-19 in Edo State.

“The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Patrick Okundia, in his last update, said for the last suspected case which was presented at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), samples were taken to the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, which tested negative to COVID-19,” he said.

“All suspected cases of COVID-19 whose samples were sent to the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital (ISTH) from Edo State, also tested negative to the virus.

“The state government has taken proactive measures to ensure that we protect our people and guard against the spread of the virus to the state.”

He also said an emergency response team has been deployed in the airport in Benin, the state capital, to ensure that suspected cases of the virus are spotted on time.

Nigeria has only one case of the disease — an Italian who arrived in Lagos from Milan about two weeks ago.