The Chairman, Nigeria Medical Association, NMA, Oyo State, Dr Akin Sodipo has urged members of the public to remain calm but maintain basic personal hygiene practices as the first case of COVID 19 also known as Coronavirus is recorded.

The case was of an Italian citizen who was in Nigeria for a brief business visit but fell ill and was taken to Lagos State Biosecurity Facilities for isolation and testing.

Dr Sodipo in an Interview with Radio Nigeria advised people to wash their hands with soap and water, use alcohol-based sanitizer, and avoid crowded places while people coughing or sneezing should stay indoors until they are better.

He urged medical practitioners and other health workers to be vigilant at this point and adopt safety measures such as wearing of face masks and gloves and prompt isolation of patients with symptoms of the disease to prevent spread.

Dr Sodipo assured residents that no case of COVID 19 has been confirmed in Oyo state but that the government was intensifying efforts to contain any outbreak of the virus.

Globally, more than eighty thousand people in about fifty countries have been infected while up to two thousand eight hundred have died.

Many countries are taking actions to prevent spread.

For instance, China, Hong Kong, Japan and Iraq have ordered schools closed while Saudi Arabia has halted travel to Mecca and Medina for this year’s Humrah.

Back home in Nigeria, a multi-sectoral Coronavirus preparedness group led by Nigeria Center for Disease Control, NCDC, has activated its operations centre which will work closely with Lagos State health authorities to respond quickly to any case.

Anthonia Akanji