Mother, Six-Week-Old Baby Among Latest Confirmed Cases Of COVID-19 In Nigeria
Coronavirus cases in Nigeria on Wednesday increased from three to eight fuelling fears of the epidemic of the disease in the country. The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, at a press conference in Abuja, yesterday, said four of the five new cases were in Lagos State, while one was in Ekiti State.
Ehanire has now confirmed that a mother and her six-week-old baby are among the new five confirmed cases. The minister said,
“The Federal Ministry of Health, unfortunately, confirms five new cases of COVID-19 in Nigeria within the last 36 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in Nigeria to eight.
“Of the five new positive cases, three arrived from the United States, while two came in from the United Kingdom. We are still collating information on the travellers; but we know that two of the three from the US are Nigerians – a mother and child – making the six-week-old baby the youngest COVID-19 patient we have,
and the third person is an American national, who crossed the land border and became the first COVID-19 case not arriving by air. The two cases from the UK are Nigerians.
“A detailed travel history of each person is being compiled and contacts are currently being traced, to identify persons who have recently been in touch with anyone.”
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The Minister made this announcement just as Lagos and Ogun state governments banned gatherings of over 50 people. The minister also said that the Lagos Infectious Disease Hospital had 100 standard bed spaces with provision for expansion while the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital had 12 beds. He, however, said that there was provision for fall back.
“We have teaching hospitals and general hospitals where we have medical directors as members of the planning committee. They have been told to make beds available at short notices and train nurses and doctors.”