Since the announcement of the first case of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) in Nigeria on February 27, 2020, a lot of information has been passed on social media for public consumption. Some were true, and others not so true. There is a need for the transmission of only accurate information; to widespread fear and keep Nigerians informed. On March 20, 2020, the number of positive cases in Nigeria came to a total of eight. Here is a breakdown of all the confirmed COVID-19 cases in Nigeria.
1. The first case was announced on February 27, 2020, by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
2. The patient is an Italian National who works in Nigeria and returned from Milan, Italy to Lagos, Nigeria on February 25, 2020. He then proceeded to Ogun State. The patient is clinically stable, with no serious symptoms, and is being managed at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba, Lagos.
3. The second confirmed case was announced on March 8, 2020, bringing the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Nigeria to two.
4. The patient was an Ogun State contact of the index case, but he has no significant clinical symptoms. The patient was put in care at Infectious Disease Hospital, Lagos. On March 13, 2020, the second case was discharged having cleared the virus and tested negative twice.
5. On March 15, 2020, the NCDC announced a suspected COVID-19 case in Enugu. The patient was in isolation and tested. The NCDC declared the result as negative.
6. The third case was confirmed on March 16, 2020. The new case is a 30-year-old Nigerian woman who returned to Nigeria from the United Kingdom on March 13, 2020, after a brief visit.
7. The patient immediately isolated herself upon arrival and after a test was carried out, she was positive for COVID-19. The case is currently being treated at the Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) in Yaba, Lagos. She is clinically stable and is responding to treatment.
8. On March 17, 2020, the Lagos State Ministry of Health declared that an Indian National who was admitted in their facility, with symptoms suggestive of COVID-19, tested negative. He is still in isolation and doing fine.
9. On March 18, 2020, five new positive cases were confirmed in Nigeria. They are two cases from the United States (US) and two cases from the United Kingdom (UK) and one land-based case. Four cases are in Lagos and one in Ekiti State currently.
10. The two cases from the US are Nigerian, a mother and her six weeks old child who arrived from California, making the baby the youngest COVID-19 patient in Nigeria. The cases from the UK are Nigerian. The land-based case is an American national who crossed into Nigeria by the Benin Republic land border, becoming the first COVID-19 case not arriving by air.
There has been no fatality yet, as the COVID-19 cases so far appear to have mild symptoms and are in recovery. Try not to panic and beware of unconfirmed information. All information concerning COVID-19 in Nigeria is always updated by the NCDC and the Lagos State Ministry of Health.