Coronavirus-positive man escapes from isolation centre

A commercial driver who tested positive to coronavirus in Niger State has escaped from the isolation centre in Bida where he was being managed.

 Similarly, one of the returnees from Côte d’Ivoire, simply identified as Alaska, who Osun State Government had kept in an isolation centre for a test for the virus, allegedly sneaked out of isolation in Ejigbo to socialise with friends in town.

These came on a day the state recorded a spike in the number of 12 confirmed Coronavirus cases with nine new infections, bringing the total of infected persons in the country to 151. Edo State, which had two cases before yesterday, had its number of confirmed cases rise to two.

Ekiti had earlier in less than 24 hours discharged its index and only case after recovery of the patient. 

Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, confirmed the cases. Also, the Federal Government said over 2,000 Nigerians have so far been tested for the virus, while nine persons had been discharged after recovery. This is even as Lagos State Health Commissioner, Prof. Akin Abayomi, disclosed yesterday that an American citizen diagnosed of COVID-19 in the state had been evacuated to the US. 

Similarly, some Presidency staff who had been in isolation for over a week, yesterday raised alarm that they were yet to be tested by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, as Kaduna State Government threatened to deal with mallams (Quranic teachers) hiding Almajirai, despite warning that they be released to return to their states. It also made available N500 million to provide food for the poor in the state to stave off impact of the curfew imposed on the state as a result of the pandemic. 

On the case in Niger State, the commissioner said: “We are surprised that he escaped, and how he escaped from the isolation centre is still a mystery to us but a manhunt for the man has been mounted.”

Vanguard