The Lagos State Government has said it would not allow the 67 Nigerian returnees from Ivory Coast to leave for their state until they have completed their 14-day quarantine at Badagry.
The State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, made this known during an inter-ministerial media update on COVID-19 on Thursday at Ikeja.
He noted that the returnees would be tested and depending on the result of their tests, they would be allowed to leave or sent to one of the isolation centres in the state.
“On Wednesday, we took 67 Nigerians coming from Ivory Coast into our quarantine facility in Badagry where we’re keeping them for 14 days.
“We’ll test them, if they’re positive, we’ll move them into one of our Isolation Wards in Lagos and if they’re negative, we’ll allow them to continue on their way to Osun State which is where they originated from,” he said.
The Commissioner stated that Lagos was closely monitoring movement into the state to avoid an increase in the imported cases of the virus.
According to him, about 10 percent of the 172 Nigerians who returned from Ivory Coast penultimate week tested positive to the Coronavirus.
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On management of COVID-19 corpses, Abayomi said that officials from the Ministries of Health and Environment had been trained to specially prepare such bodies before handing them over to their families for burial.
This, he said was to ensure that “the family members were not at risk of being infected by their loved ones.
“Even when people die of Coronavirus, it doesn’t mean that the virus has died. The corpse is still infectious,” he explained.
On the use of face masks, the commissioner stated that “only sealed N95 masks, which cover entire face and filters air, could protect from contracting Coronavirus.
“If you wear ordinary masks or anything else, they’re not protecting you from COVID-19,” the commissioner said.
Abayomi said that the three Isolation Centres in Lagos State located in Yaba, Onikan and Lagos University Teaching Hospital had 280 bed capacity, 100 of which was already occupied by COVID-19 patients.
According to the commissioner, two new Isolation Centres, with about 150 beds, would be ready next week at Gbagada General Hospital and Landmark in Victoria Island.
