Chinese tests negative to coronavirus in Lagos

The Lagos state government says a Chinese citizen, who was suspected to have coronavirus, has tested negative to the infection.

The Chinese national checked himself into Reddington Hospital, Ikeja, after experiencing symptoms of fever on Wednesday.

In a statement on Thursday, Akin Abayomi, commissioner for health, said the likelihood of COVID-19 infection in this particular patient was low and that the conclusion of investigations and sophisticated testing confirmed that there is no case of coronavirus in Lagos state as of now.

“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.

“From our investigation, we gathered that a Chinese citizen who arrived in Nigeria from China 7 weeks ago presented at Reddington Hospital yesterday 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.”

On Wednesday, Olutunde Lalude, group medical director of Reddington Hospital Group, said the Chinese national, who arrived in Nigeria seven weeks ago, had undergone test for coronavirus.

Lalude said the man presented himself at the hospital while complaining of fever, one of the symptoms of coronavirus.

He said as a precautionary measure, the man was isolated while health authorities in the state were alerted.

The doctor said the patient was subsequently transferred to the Infectious Diseases Hospital in the state ahead of the results of the tests.

He also dismissed the rumour that a coronavirus victim was admitted in the hospital, saying “the risk is thought to be low and so far patient has not been diagnosed with the disease”.