Italian patient doing well, left with a little amount of the virus, says commissioner

Akin Abayomi, Lagos state commissioner for health, says a recent test carried out on Nigeria’s index case of coronavirus showed he is doing well but still secretes a little amount of the virus.

He said this after the second confirmed coronavirus case in Nigeria tested negative to the disease.

Nigeria’s index case of coronavirus flew into the country from Milan, which has the highest record of the disease in Europe, on February 24.

In a series of tweets on Friday, the commissioner said the Italian is still on admission at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba, Lagos.

He said the medical team has been able to interrupt the transmission of the virus between the index case and other Nigerians or visitors to the country.

“The index case is still on admission and he is doing well. The recent test carried out on him confirms he still secretes a little amount of the virus which means, he is potentially still contagious,” he tweeted.

“The other contacts are symptoms free and have exceeded their 14 days of quarantine which means we do not expect that they will turn positive from direct contact with the index case. Very soon we will be able to say that we have eliminated the threat of the #COVID19 outbreak.

“This update means that we have been able to interrupt the transmission of the virus between the index case and anybody. We have broken the circle of transmission. We don’t have a major outbreak in Lagos due to the interventions carried out by @followlasg and other partners.”

✳️On the positive contact – his initial test was positive twice. But now his test has turned negative and doesn’t have any symptoms at the moment. He is now clear. We made this decision after two consecutive negative tests. He is now discharged or on his way to be discharged.

— Prof. Akin Abayomi (@ProfAkinAbayomi) March 13, 2020

✳️This update means that we have been able to interrupt the transmission of the virus between the index case and anybody. We have broken the circle of transmission. We don't have a major outbreak in Lagos due to the interventions carried out by @followlasg and other partners.

— Prof. Akin Abayomi (@ProfAkinAbayomi) March 13, 2020

Abayomi had earlier announced that 179 persons in isolation over coronavirus have been released.

He said 40 of them were held in Ogun state while the rest were quarantined in Lagos.

The commissioner said the patients have passed the mandatory 14 days in isolation with no symptom of the virus.

Meanwhile, the federal government says there is no immediate plan to impose travel restrictions on any country over coronavirus.