Egypt Records First Case Of Coronavirus In Africa, Two Persons Undergoing Test In Nigeria

Egypt has confirmed its first case of a deadly coronavirus that emerged in central China at the end of last year and has since spread to more than two dozen countries around the world.

The spokesman of the Health Ministry, Khaled Mugahed said in a statement on Friday that the affected person was a “foreigner” who did not show any serious symptoms of being ill.

Officials were able to confirm the case through a follow-up programme implemented by the government for travellers arriving from countries where the virus has spread.

The ministry statement said the person was hospitalised and in isolation. It did not specify the person’s nationality or their point of entry.

Egypt is now believed to be the 28th country to record a case of the killer virus and it is the first in Africa.

Meanwhile, two suspected persons are presently undergoing series of test for Coronavirus in Nigeria.

The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, revealed on Friday, assuring Nigerians that as soon as the tests are completed, it would be made known if they are positive.

According to him, the two suspects have been undergoing series of tests in the country since Thursday night, noting however that no one had so far tested positive for the disease in Nigeria.

He pointed out that at least 30 investigations has been carried out so far, and out of the cases earlier examined nobody had tested positive. Dr Ihekweazu said:

“At least we have had 30 investigations of people that have called us for one reason or the other. Out of that, two of them have met the case definition, that is, the person will have to have returned in the last 14 days.

“The two cases were tested and were found negative. Last night (Thursday night), we had another two, and tests are going on at the moment. As soon as they are completed, it will be announced. If a person returns to the country, say within 20 or 30 days, there is no point wasting reagents to test such a person.

“For other diseases, we usually advise people to go to the hospitals to get tested, but for suspected cases of coronavirus, patients are advised to simply put a call through to us, we will come to the patient because going to the hospital can amplify the disease if it is found to be positive.

“Be assured that if there is a positive case, we will be the first to announce it. So if you see something on social media saying a number of people have died of the virus in Nigeria, it is simply a rumour. It is not possible that it will happen because there are only three labs in Nigeria that run these tests.

“Once there is a positive, I will be informed and will inform the Minister of Health who will announce it. There is no other way this information can get out.”

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus from Wuhan in China, more than 64,000 cases of the killer virus have been diagnosed around the world and 1,363 people have died so far.

On behalf of the Africa Centre for Disease Control, Nigeria has been asked to lead on the training on infection prevention and control for the continent.

The training will happen in Abuja starting on the 20th of the month, to standardize our approach to infection prevention and control, he said.