CORONAVIRUS: Nigeria is Ready- NCDC

The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says Nigeria is more than capable of dealing with coronavirus, even as an Italian patient has tested positive to the virus in Lagos. The Italian citizen who traveled to Lagos from Milan, became the first confirmed case of coronavirus in sub-Saharan Africa.

Chief Executive Officer of NCDC, Chikwe Ihekweazu told CNN: “Nigeria is ready. We successfully managed Ebola and we manage outbreaks all the time and are currently managing Lassa fever. We have a strong team that is used to doing this.”

Chikwe said though the patient showed mild to moderate symptoms, NCDC is very hopeful of his full recovery. Chikwe added that the patient arrived Lagos on February 25 and became ill the next day but the physician who examined him contacted the NCDC after asking him about his travel history. “The doctor got in touch with us when he found out he had just come from Milan, we collected a sample, tested it and isolated him in a facility in Lagos that manages infectious diseases. The system worked. We identified this case, diagnosed and isolated within 48 hours of it entering the country. In other countries like Iran and Italy for instance, by the time the first case had been confined, there was widespread contact,” Chikwe said.