The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, has reiterated that Nigeria has not recorded any suspected case of Coronavirus.
Ehanire gave the assurance during a ministerial briefing in Abuja on Friday.
He also maintained that Nigeria has developed enough capacity to detect and isolate any Coronavirus case, especially at international entry points to the country.
According to him, the Africa Centre for Disease Control (ACDC), World Health Organisation (WHO) and other partners have provided scientific and technical support to Nigeria to strengthen its preparedness for the new 2019-nCoV.
“NCDC, Port Health Services and State Epidemiologists were aware of the process for identification and confirmation.
“We‘ll review these criteria as additional information on CoV2019 becomes available.
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“Since the emergence of the Coronavirus, we have been working everyday to learn as quickly as possible about this new virus.
“Ongoing research on its transmissibility and virulence will determine our response across Nigeria,” the minister said.
He advised Nigerians that to contact NCDC immediately on its toll-free number – 0800-970000-10 if they experience symptoms of Coronavirus like respiratory illness, restlessness or cough within 14 days of travel to China.
He added that a strange illness recently discovered in Benue had been laboratory tested and showed no symptoms of Ebola, Lassa fever or coronavirus.
The minister said that NCDC had activated an Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) to coordinate response activities in conjunction with Federal Medical Centre in Makurdi to ascertain the nature of the illness.
