Novel Coronavirus: States in red alert, Governors warns travellers

"The Lagos State Government is committed to the health and safety of her citizens and so, there is no cause for panic or alarm. This alert is just to assure you that we are preparing for any eventuality as directed by the Governor”, Abayomi said.

Novel Coronavirus: States in red alert, Governors warns travellers
Medical practitioners

Governors of the 36 states of the federation, through the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), have said that they are on red alert over not just Lassa Fever but the coronavirus epidemic that reportedly claimed 17 lives in the city of Wuhan, China since the virus was detected.

So far over 500 people have reportedly been infected by the virus in Wuhan City, leading to authorities suspending planes and trains in and out of the city of 11 million people, as well as buses, subways and ferries.

Domestically, the Nigeria Centre for Diseases Control (NCDC) on Wednesday confirmed that a total of 82 cases of Lassa Fever including 14 deaths have been recorded.

Speaking on the outburst, Chairman and governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi, revealed that governors are working hand and hand with the Federal Ministry of Health and other agencies to intensify efforts to ensure the diseases are contained.

He said to this end, governors agreed to carry out immediate actions on the implementation of the Seattle Declaration including the constitution of a multisectoral Primary Health Care Under One Roof (PHCUOR) implementation committee, quarterly review of PHC performance in State Executive Council meetings, review of States‘ performance on the Abuja Commitment and organisation of advocacy meetings with traditional and religious leaders.

Fayemi said: “The Forum received an update from the NGF Secretariat on Health priorities for the year 2020, including the implementation of the Seattle Commitment signed by the Forum at a two-day High-Level Roundtable on Primary Health Care and Human Capital Development convened in November. 2019 (by Aliko Dangote and the Bill and Melinda Gates).

“On the Lassa fever, we recorded cases in one or two states, Ondo in the South West and Kano in the North.

“I believe all our states are taking precautionary measures to address this in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Health and the National Centre for disease control (NCDC).

“We are working to ensure that this does not spread any further than they have at the moment.”

Also, the Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi said Coronaviruses (CoV) is a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

Abayomi explained that the novel Coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain that had not been previously identified in humans, adding that Coronaviruses are primarily infections of animals that can be transmitted to humans.

“On 31 December 2019, the World Health Organisation (WHO), China Country Office was informed of a cluster of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. A novel Coronavirus was identified as the causative virus by Chinese authorities on the 7th of January”, Abayomi said.

“As of 22nd January 2020, a total of 471 cases have been confirmed in South East Asia and USA with nine deaths. There is evidence now that the infection is able to spread from person to person”, the Commissioner added.

 

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He disclosed that the common signs and symptoms of the infection include fever, cough, shortness of breath and difficulty in breathing, explaining that in more severe cases, the infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death.

While noting that no case of the virus has been identified in Lagos, Nigeria or anywhere in Africa, the Commissioner stated that the Lagos is ramping up its level of preparedness considering the large commercial trading traffic between Nigeria, China and Thailand.

“The Lagos State Biosecurity team in collaboration with Lagos University Teaching Hospital is currently working on building urgent capacity to identify the virus in our Biosecurity facility and isolation wards located at the Mainland Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba in the event of any suspected case arriving in Lagos State”.

“We are in touch with Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) in Abuja to align our strategies. Importantly we are also collaborating with the Federal Ports Authority at air, land and sea border posts to elevate screening and surveillance of incoming travellers”, he said

Abayomi urged citizens to adopt and practice a high standard of personal and environmental hygiene including regular hand washing, covering of mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, avoiding close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing while taking biosecurity precautions with domestic and wild animals as measures against the transmission of any kind of contagious infection, nCoV inclusive.

The Commissioner advised citizens travelling from South East Asia or any country where the infection has been reported or who have had contact with travellers from that region and experiencing above stated symptoms associated with the disease to go to the nearest health facility for immediate assessment and treatment or call 08023169485, 08033565529 or 08052817243 for assistance.

“The Lagos State Government is committed to the health and safety of her citizens and so, there is no cause for panic or alarm. This alert is just to assure you that we are preparing for any eventuality as directed by the Governor”, Abayomi said.