Italian not aware he had coronavirus when he arrived Nigeria — Minister
Dr. Osagie Ehanire, the Minister of Health, on Sunday said President Mohammadu Buhari would determine when to lift the lockdown occasioned by th novel Coronavirus pandemic in the country.
Ehanire said this on a Channels Television programme, Politics on Sunday.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that on April 13, Buhari announced a 14-day extension of lockdown in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and Lagos and Ogun States to combat the pandemic.
The initial 14-day lockdown in the three states began on March 30.
“The President in his wisdom will decide if the lockdown will be lifted,” he said.
The Minister said the decision to extend COVID-19 lockdown was tailored according to the needs of every country.
He said: “We do think that the restriction of movement limits significantly the spread of the virus.
“The models we have seen show that we have not gotten to the peak yet.”
Ehanire advised Nigerians that if their symptoms were not meeting the case definition of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control for COVID-19, officials might turn them back.
He said the government had been studying the case in Kano State with the authorities there, adding that the ministry would be sending high ranking fact finding missions to there.
Ehanire said the fact finding mission would meet with Governor Abdullahi Ganduje to be able to diagnose the situation, adding it was not really clear if they were COVID-19 related.
Ehanire said the fact finding mission would also look at if there would be room for improvement in the state’s response activities on COVID-19, like surveillance, testing, case finding, contact tracing and isolation.
He said: “Kano does not have experience with COVID-19 and the rate it has exploded should be of concern to all.
“It is possible to be able to contain it, if the right processes are followed and the right resources are brought in.
“The testing centre should be back on stream tomorrow (today) because a team has gone there now from NCDC and have arrived there today.
“They should be able to resume screening tomorrow (Monday).
