By Gbadamosi Oladimeji
The Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, has urged residents to remain calm following the confirmed case of coronavirus in the state.
He made the appeal in a statement on Friday by the Commissioner for Health in the state, Dr Ninkong Lar Ndam.
Hours after the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) announced the index case of the disease in Plateau, Governor Lalong asked the residents not to panic.
Lalong urged residents to continue to imbibe good personal and respiratory hygiene, social distancing, avoid crowded places, and stay at home.
According to the Health commissioner, the Covid-19 test was conducted on one suspected person who came into Jos, the state capital from Kano on Friday, last week.
He said the patient was quarantined following his arrival and upon exhibiting symptoms, the nasal and oropharyngeal swab were taken and sent to the NVRI Vom Laboratory for Covid-19 testing.
“Sadly, the result which was released on Thursday, 23rd April 2020, returned positive, thereby making the patient the state’s index case.
“The patient has since been isolated and is in a stable and good medical condition,” the statement said.
The Governor also called on the residents to be vigilant and report any suspected case to the appropriate authorities.
He also asked residents to assist the government in enforcing the border closure directive which he said was one of the key measures adopted to curb the spread of the disease.
Ndam revealed that the State Surveillance Team immediately commenced contact tracing to investigate the case further and institute other public health measures to curb the spread of the disease in the State.
As of Friday, Nigeria had recorded 114 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number recorded in the country to 1095.
