TheCable

Nigeria has confirmed five new cases of coronavirus.

This was disclosed by Ehanire Osagie, minister of health, during a media briefing on Wednesday in Abuja.

@Fmohnigeria has announced 5 new cases of #COVID19 in Nigeria bringing the total number confirmed cases in Nigeria to 8

All 5 cases had a travel history to the UK/USA

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We urge Nigerians to remain calm as public health response activities are intensified across the country pic.twitter.com/yoKLHXoxhq

— NCDC (@NCDCgov) March 18, 2020

Osagie said the patients had a travel history to the United Kingdom and the United States.

He said four of the patients are Nigerians while one is a US citizen, and that while one case is in Ekiti and other cases are in Lagos.

Three of the patients, including a mother and her six-week-old baby, came from the United States while the other two came from the UK. The American was said to have come through one of Nigeria’s land borders.

The health minister said all cases are being followed up and supported by state health authorities and he asked the public to remain calm because health response activities have been intensified across the country.

He said a detailed travel history of each case is being compiled and that contact tracing has begun. He also said the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), through its emergency operations centre, is supporting responses in the states.

“The federal ministry of health is conducting a risk assessment to initiate other relevant measures,” he said.

“The federal ministry of health through the NCDC will continue to provide accurate updates & take the necessary measures to protect the health of Nigerians We ask that the public refrain from spreading false information while we all engage in proper hand & respiratory hygiene to prevent COVID-19 spread.”

The country now has a total number of eight confirmed cases.

On Tuesday, a third case was recorded in Lagos. The patient is a 30-year-old Nigerian who came into the country on March 13 through a British Airways flight.

The federal government banned public officials from foreign trips as a part of measures to contain the virus.

It also advised Nigerians to cancel all travels abroad, especially to all high-risk countries.

The government also restricted entry into the country for travellers from 13 countries, including China, the UK and the US.

The travel ban will kick in from Saturday. The other countries are Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Japan, France, Germany, Norway, Netherlands and Switzerland.