FIRST CASE OF CORONAVIRUS CONFIRMED IN EGYPT.
Egypt on Friday confirmed a case of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in its territory, the first in Africa since the deadly virus began ravaging some parts of China a few weeks back.
But the sufferer is not Egyptian, the ministry of health said in Cairo.
The ministry did not disclose the nationality of the person who is quarantined isolation in hospital.
It merely said that it “has taken preventative measures and is monitoring the patient… who is stable.”
Cairo has already notified the World Health Organization.
In the heat of the present coronavirus pandemic, the Egyptian Authorities evacuated about Three hundred and one of their citizens from Wuhan, epicentre of the virus in China, and they have remained in quarantine for 14 days.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, on Friday reiterated Nigeria’s readiness to tackle the deadly coronavirus through the government’s increased surveillance in our airports and the setting up of four standard laboratory in Lagos, Abuja, and Edo (Irrua Specialist Hospital). In his words:
“We have enough reagents to test; Chinese ambassador said they have supplied 2,000 doses of reagents for Africa Centre for Disease Control so that any country in the continent can apply for it.
“China has also shared the protocol for treatment of the virus with us, since they have treated 4,000 cases, we asked them for the protocol and the ambassador brought it on Friday.
“We have sent it to NCDC and some hospitals where we have isolation centres; we have all these, and we will do all we can to make sure that Nigerians are safe.”
In addition, he said, the ministry had been working with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the agency had been supportive with information and diagnostic tools, among others.
Ehanire said that Nigeria was also in collaboration with health ministries in West Africa to strengthen its preparedness and action plan.
The minister also confirmed that no case of coronavirus has been reported in Nigeria so far.
READ ALSO: Nigeria budgets #620 million to fight coronavirus.
According to the Spectator Index, the number of people now infected with coronavirus is 60,000 with 8,000 persons in serious condition.
Sources:
Nation
Aljazeera
Spectator Index
Featured Image: Strait Times
