Fresh details emerge about Nigeria’s first coronavirus case
An Italian man who has been confirmed to be Nigeria’s first coronavirus case after arriving from Milan was in the country for almost two full days before being isolated, travelling through Lagos and visiting another state.
The case has prompted a scramble by authorities in Africa’s most populous country who are now trying to trace everyone who arrived on the same flight as the patient and identify the places he visited before going to the hospital.
“We have started working to identify all the contacts of the person since he entered Nigeria and even those who were with him on the aircraft,” Health Minister Osagie Ehanire told reporters on Friday in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja.
The Italian, whose country is the worst-hit in Europe by the coronavirus outbreak, arrived on February 24 on a Turkish Airlines flight that had a connection in Istanbul, Akin Abayomi, Lagos state commissioner for health, told reporters.
After spending the night in a hotel near the airport, he arrived in the neighbouring state of Ogun on February 25 at his place of work.
He stayed there until he developed a fever and body aches on the afternoon of February 26, Abayomi said.
Health practitioners with his company then contacted biosecurity authorities, who transferred him to a containment facility in Yaba, Lagos state.
“It was very astute of the medical practitioners in that facility to keep him overnight in an isolated environment,” Abayomi said.
Ehanire said the infection was confirmed on February 27 by the Virology Laboratory of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, part of the Laboratory Network of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, and that the man is now quarantined but doing well.
As well as being the first in Nigeria, the patient is the first confirmed coronavirus case in sub-Saharan Africa.
Turkish Airlines did not immediately comment on the case. There are no confirmed cases in Turkey.
The World Health Organisation has said it already has experts on the ground in Nigeria, which it identifies as one of 13 “high priority” countries in Africa.
In a sign of mounting concerns in Kenya, the country temporarily suspended flights from China on Friday. Kenya has no confirmed cases of the virus.
Italian man traveled through Lagos to another state before he was put in quarantine, authorities say.
Trump imposes international travel restrictions after first coronavirus death in US
US President Donald Trump on Saturday announced restrictions on travel from Iran and advised fellow citizens not to travel to certain areas of South Korea and Italy.
The announcement came as the first death from coronavirus was reported in the US from the Washington state.
“Unfortunately, one person passed away overnight. She was a wonderful woman, a medically high-risk patient in her late 50s,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
“Additional cases in the United States are likely, but healthy individuals should be able to fully recover. If you are healthy, you will probably go through a process and you will be fine,” he said and urged people not to panic.
As many as 15 people have recovered from the virus so far in the US.
“There is no reason to panic at all. Our country is prepared for any circumstance,” the president said at his second press conference in the White House briefing room on his return from India on Wednesday.
Joining the press conference, Vice President Mike Pence said Trump had authorised a ban on entry of foreign nationals who travelled to Iran in the last 14 days.
The United States also advised its citizens not to travel to parts of South Korea and Italy, from where reports of coronavirus have appeared. The vice president has been tasked by Trump to lead the administration’s efforts in the fight against the coronavirus.
According to Center for Disease Control Director Robert Redfield, 22 cases of coronavirus have been reported in the US so far.
South Korea reports 376 more coronavirus cases, closes churches to limit virus spread
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said 376 more cases of coronavirus had been reported in the country, most of them in the hardest-hit city of Daegu and the province of Gyeongbuk. No new deaths were reported. The country now has a total of 3,526 cases. Churches were closed in South Korea on Sunday, many holding services online instead, according to Reuters.
In the capital, Seoul, about a dozen worshippers were turned away from the Yoido Full Gospel Church, which put a sermon for its 560,000 followers on YouTube, filmed with a small choir instead of the usual 200 members and 60-strong orchestra.
“I had heard there would be no service, but just came to check as I live nearby, but yes, it is so empty,” said one of them, Song Young-koo, as he left South Korea’s biggest church. “It’s a wise decision to do it online, since the virus would easily spread at mass gatherings and churches can be no exception.” For the first time in its 236-year history, South Korea’s Catholic church decided to halt mass at more than 1,700 locations nationwide. Buddhist temples have also called off events.
Pakistan to shut its border with Afghanistan
Pakistan said it will close its border with Afghanistan from tomorrow “to prevent the spread of coronavirus”. The Chaman border crossing will remain shut for seven days, Islamabad said in a statement. “During the period, necessary measures will be taken to safeguard the health of the people of both countries,” the statement said. Afghanistan has reported one case of the virus, while Pakistan has confirmed four, according to the WHO.
Hong Kong dog tests positive for coronavirus
A dog has been quarantined in Hong Kong after it tested “weak positive” for coronavirus, officials said.
Authorities said the dog belongs to a coronavirus patient. To the relief of animal lovers, authorities said there was no evidence yet that the virus could be transmitted to man’s best friend.