COVID-19: We have broken transmission circle – Lagos Health Commissioner

Lagos State Government has disclosed that it has been able to break the circle of person-to-person transmission of COVID-19 from the index case in the State.

The Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi who disclosed this today at a news briefing to give updates on the pandemic situation in Lagos said all other identified contacts of the index case except the positive contact who has now tested negative to the virus and discharged, have exceeded the 14 days quarantine isolation period without symptoms.

Said he “The remaining contacts of the index case; those in Ogun and Lagos States remain symptoms free and they have exceeded their 14 days surveillance which means that we do not expect that any of them will turn positive from direct contact with the index case”

“In simple words, that mean that in Lagos, we have been able to interrupt the transmission between the index case and anybody in this environment, we have broken the circle of transmission and have not given the virus the opportunity to spread beyond one person. So, the threats posed by the index case to Lagos and Nigeria has been eliminated and we have not got an outbreak as a result of the interventions that took place in Lagos”

Abayomi explained that the positive contact of the index case tested negative after two consecutive tests conducted on him noting he has been certified to be virus free and subsequently discharged.

“His tests initially showed that he was positive to Coronavirus twice and now, he has tested negative to the virus on two consecutive tests carried out on him”, the Commissioner said.

However, on the index case, Abayomi stated that  the Italian being managed at the Mainland General Hospital, Yaba remains on admission although  is perfectly well now but he is  still secreting the virus. He stated further that the patient is getting closer to being discharged as his immune system is gradually wiping out the virus.

“He is perfectly well now, we are only keeping him because he still has some secretion of the virus. Test shows that anytime from now, he may be negative. If he is negative, we will conduct another test within 48 hours after and if he is still negative, we will set him free.

“We are close to discharging the index case, we want to be sure he poses no danger to the society anymore.”

The Commissioner however assured members of the public not to panic stating that government will continue to respond swiftly and take necessary actions to contain the spread of the disease. He added that the state government will continue to strengthen its surveillance and will be sending more medical personnel to the point of entry at the Airport.