The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, says one in five of all people with respiratory symptoms in Lagos seems to be positive for COVID-19 pandemic.
Abayomi disclosed this when he appeared as a Guest on a programme on Arise Television: “Morning Show,” monitored by the News Agency of Nigeria on Wednesday in Lagos.
He said the state was getting between 15 per cent and 20 per cent positivity among people presenting with respiratory symptoms and fever, among other ailments at the state’s sample collection sites.
He said: “We take the samples to our central testing facilities.
“And right now, we are getting between 15 and 20 per cent positivity among the people who are presenting with respiratory symptoms, fever or things like that.
“What we are seeing now is that one in five people in Lagos right now with respiratory sickness is due to COVID-19.
“There are hundreds of other pathogens that cause the same thing.
“So, one in five of all people with respiratory symptoms in Lagos seems to be positive for COVID-19, and that’s not a reflection of what’s going on generally in the communities.
“I don’t want you to misrepresent that figure: it is not one in five of Lagos people, it is one in five of people who are unwell.”
The commissioner maintained that the figures gave a good data matrix when compared to Europe and the US, and also when considering the death rates.
Abayomi said: “Yes, there’s something different about Lagos and the rest of Nigeria.
“Either, we are in a state of better preparedness or some environmental factors aiding us or something in our genetics that’s helping us slow the trend.
“But only time will tell.
“We are still in the beginning of our outbreak and we don’t want to be prophets of doom.
“We have to look at the data, analyse the trend and modelling, toward using the information to predict their future expectations for the virus.
“We haven’t reached our peak.
