Ogun govt quarantines 28, shuts down Lafarge

 

The Ogun State Government says it has quarantined 28 people it claimed had physical contact with the Italian diagnosed with the deadly coronavirus.

A cement factory, Lafarge, located in the Ewekoro community in the state, which the unnamed Italian visited, has been shut down with government intensifying effort to locate others who had met with him.

The search is taking place simultaneously in Lagos and Ogun states as part of the strategies aimed at containing the deadly virus.

It was not clear last night how many people had physical contacts with the unnamed Italian between his arrival in Nigeria on Monday night and Thursday when he tested positive to COVID-19.

He is currently in isolation at the bio-security facility in Yaba, Lagos.

The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has already deployed its rapid response teams in Lagos to deal with the situation.

Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, confirmed the decision to quarantine the 28 people at a press conference in Abeokuta, Friday night.

Government, according to him, was leaving no stone unturned to bring the situation under control.

He advised residents and visitors to be calm.

He said officials of the Federal Ministry of Health were already in the state to assist in ensuring that the situation does not get out of control.

READ: Lafarge says Italian with Coronavirus works at its plant

The Federal Government officials will help in upgrading the isolation centre at the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH), Sagamu to Virus Security Centre.

He said efforts were on to get in touch with secondary contacts with the established index case.

The governor advised the public to wash their hands regularly, cover their mouth and nose while sneezing or coughing and to report to the nearest public health centre if they notice any sign of cold, cough and respiratory difficulty.

He warned that the virus is no respecter of any person.

At a separate press conference in Abuja yesterday, Health Minister Osagie Ehanire said that everyone that had contact with the Italian was being tracked by government.

They include the passengers on the same Turkish Airline flight with the Italian and those who had contact with him elsewhere.

The Italian came in from Milan, Italy, which has the highest rate of the infection in Europe.

Ehanire said the relevant authorities are working to find out where he has been to and those he came in contact with since he arrived in Nigeria.