Ekiti on coronavirus: American suspected to have infected Nigerian driver died of unknown illness

The Ekiti state government says an American suspected to have infected his Nigerian driver with coronavirus died of complications.

The driver, a 38-year-old Ekiti indigene, is among the five new cases confirmed on Wednesday.

In a statement, Mojisola Yaya-Kolade, the state’s commissioner for health, said the driver had taken the American who was in company of his caregiver, a Nigerian, from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos through Ibadan, Oyo state, to Ekiti.

The test for the American, however, was said to have been “inconclusive” while the driver tested positive and the result for the caregiver came back negative.

“The Ekiti State Taskforce on COVID- 19, headed by His Excellency Dr. John Kayode Fayemi, can confirm that we have record ed an incidence of  a Nigerian male, 38 years old, of Ekiti origin, who has tested positive to COVID- 19,” the statement read.

“The confirmed case is suspected to have been infected while driving an American Caucasian, male, 27 years old, who was visiting Nigeria from Richmond, Virginia, USA in the company of his caregiver, a Nigerian female aged 3 1, of Ekiti origin.

“The American male and his Nigerian female caregiver, arrived Nigeria on 3rd March 2020 throu gh the Muritala Mohammed Intern ational Airport Lagos. Preliminary investigations revealed that the pair were driven by our confirmed case to Ibadan , where they stayed for two weeks, and arrived Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State on 13th March, 2020.

“A day after their arrival, the American male fell ill and he was taken to a private hospital where he was referred to a tertiary hospital. Unfortunately, he died from complications of his illness.”

The commissioner said the hospital authorities alerted the state task force  and samples were taken from the American male as well as his two companions.

In line with the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) protocols, the government said it has already quarantined the confirmed case at the state isolation centre while the caregiver who tested negative is presently in isolation.

”We have commenced the process of contact tracing, working with the Federal Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO) following the team ‘s itinerary since they landed in Nigeria on the 3rd of March 2020,” she said.

”We have also contacted the Oyo State Government since it was recorded that they stayed in Ibadan for two weeks before arriving Ekiti State.”

The confirmed case, the commissioner said, is very stable and not showing any symptoms while NCDC will repeat the test for the caregiver who is “also in self isolation”.

She added that “it is important to state that this likely index case was on a short visit and had not been in Ekiti State for up to 72 hours before his death.”