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Chinese, suspected with Coronavirus at Reddington Hospital, tests negative

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The Lagos State government has said that the Chinese citizen who presented at the Reddington Hospital, Ikeja, Wednesday and suspected to have COVID-19 has tested negative to the virus.

The Commissioner for Health, Lagos State, Prof. Akin Abayomi who made this known through a press statement Thursday, noted that the likelihood of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) infection in this particular patient was very low and the conclusion of investigations and sophisticated testing confirms that there is no case of Coronavirus in the state.

“I would like to reassure Lagosians that our vigilance levels are very high and we are putting more measures in place to safe guard the State,” he said.

While giving details of the investigation, Abayomi explained that the attention of his was drawn to a suspected case of Coronavirus at Reddington Hospital; a private health facility located in Ikeja.

“From our investigation, we gathered that a Chinese citizen who arrived in Nigeria from China seven weeks ago presented at Reddington Hospital yesterday (Wednesday) complaining about fever. The hospital in keeping with the advisory we earlier issued, correctly maintained a high index of suspicion, isolated the patient and reported the case to the Ministry.

“We took up the case, transferred the patient to the State Isolation Unit at the Mainland hospital which is our specialised infectious disease hospital. His blood samples were taken to the Virology laboratory for analysis and it came out negative,” the Commissioner said.

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Abayomi appealed to citizens to refrain from posting unverified news that can cause unnecessary anxiety in the community.

He urged citizens to disregard any information about the novel Coronavirus that does not emanate from official communication channels of the Ministry of Health or his office.

Reddington Hospital had issued a statement Wednesday, reporting the case of a Chinese citizen who presented to the hospital for fever.

“In the early hours of Wednesday 26 February 2020, a Chinese national presented to Reddington Hospital, Ikeja, complaining of fever. Following standard protocol, it was ascertained that he had arrived in Nigeria from China seven weeks ago and had not been in contact with anyone else who might have coronavirus.

“As a precautionary measure, staff immediately isolated him in accordance with the hospital’s standard operating procedure for potential coronavirus patients.

“The state public health authorities were promptly informed and involved. Despite the risk being assessed to be relatively low according to the currently available science regarding incubation period, blood samples were taken using full prescribed precautions and sent to the Lagos State authorised virology laboratory for analysis and diagnosis,” the Group Medical Director, Reddington Hospital, Dr. Olutunde Lalude, said in the statement.

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