Seven persons, who are alleged to have had contact with a confirmed case of Corona Virus, have been put on self-isolation in Niger State, North Central Nigeria.
The State Commissioner for Health and Hospital Services, Dr. Muhammad Makusidi disclosed this during a post exco media briefing at the Government House, Minna.
Dr. Makusidi said that the confirmed case came in from the United kingdom and the ministry traced him and those he had contact with.
He said one of the seven contacts is in Suleja while the remaining six are in Minna where they are all observing self-isolation
“We have not gotten either suspected or confirmed case in Niger State, however, we have about seven people on self-quarantine, one in Suleja, six in Minna”, he said.
Dr Makusidi said, although five of the contact cases in Minna claimed they had no direct contact with the confirmed case, government needed to be sure and as such placed them on isolation for 14 days.
On the curfew from 8 am to 8 pm, he said that deliberations were made and that period was the main contact time, so government placed restriction of movements to reduce contact and possible spread of the virus in the event of any case.
He explained that the curfew period was to break the chain of transmission of the disease.
The Commissioner stated that a 28-man task force headed by the Secretary to the State Government, Ahmad Ibrahim Matane has been constituted to checkmate COVID-19.
The Commissioner of Health urged the people to believe in the existence of the disease and avoid stigmatization so that those exposed to any contact or those coming from prone areas and countries associated with the virus would make themselves available for screening.