Ekiti state confirms its first case of Coronavirus

The Government of Ekiti State has confirmed the first case of Coronavirus in the state.

The patient, a 38-year-old male from the state, tested positive to COVID-19, the state government said in a statement.

The patient is suspected to have been infected while driving an American Caucasian, 27, who was visiting Nigeria from Richmond, Virginia, USA in the company of his caregiver, a Nigerian woman aged 31 from Ekiti state.

The statement adds that the American man and his caregiver arrived Nigeria on March 3, 2020, via the Muritala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos and were driven to Ibadan by the man who has now tested positive for Coronavirus. They stayed in Ibadan for two weeks before driving to Ado-Ekiti on March 13.

A day after arrival, the American man fell ill and later died.

Hospital authorities alerted the state task force and samples were taken from all three persons. The driver tested positive for Coronavirus, the female caregiver’s result came back negative for the Coronavirus while the American man’s result was inconclusive.

The driver, who is stable and not showing any symptoms, has now been quarantined in the State’s Isolation Center, while the caregiver who tested negative is under close observation.

The statement signed by the Honorable Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Dr (Mrs) Mojisol Yaya-Kolade, states that the State is working with the Federal Minsitry of Health and the World Health Organization to trace anyone who might have come in contact with the team since they landed in Lagos on March 3 before heading to Ibadan and then Ekiti State.

Read the full statement below.