The prompt identification of the Italian who tested positive to coronavirus in Lagos benefitted from the pro-activeness of Lafarge Africa Plc and the cooperation between the federal and state governments, reports Associate Editor ADEKUNLE YUSUF
Even before the rampaging coronavirus sneaked into Nigeria’s borders, political and health authorities at both the federal and state government levels had constantly assured the populace that the country was ready to tackle an outbreak of the virus. However, the opportunity to test the assurance did not come until last week when an Italian tested positive to the virus in Lagos State. Many wonder if the success achieved so far in managing the index case would have been possible could it be another Company that is involved, remembering very well how Dr. Ameyo Adadevoh fought gallantly to save Nigerians, unfortunately at the expense of her life.
Narrating how the patient was identified, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State said his state’s bio-security team was alerted that the Italian was having some symptoms shortly after arriving in the country, which prompted health officials to place the patient in strict isolation at the state containment facility in Yaba where is receiving supportive therapy. He said the Italian patient was driven from Ogun State to Lagos where there is a standard facility that can diagnose illness such as coronavirus.
The coronavirus is likened to the Ebola outbreak six years, which the governments at the state and federal levels swiftly curtailed before it was allowed to ravage the populace as it did some other African countries. Around the world, anywhere a case of coronavirus is confirmed, contact tracing is often a vital tool for tracking infection source, which ultimately guides response from health authorities. That is why Lagos did not stop at giving supportive therapy to the Italian, he said. Its medical team has begun the necessary contact tracing, right from the patient’s movement from the airport through Lagos to Ogun State. This is to ensure the virus is not allowed to spread through human-to-human transmission. “And we are busy identifying any possible person that may have come in contact with him so that we can start our isolation and containment exercise to ensure we break the circle of transmission. In Lagos, we have been building capacity steadily, fortified support at the airport and sending state health personnel to support federal authorities. A form has been developed and all travellers are to fill the form as they arrived. At our infectious facility, we have ramped up our capacity to isolate cases. We are now sitting on an 80-bed facility because of the urgency fund that has been released by the incident commander.
“We are continuing to build more capacity, in case we have an increase in the number of cases in Lagos. We have an aggressive public awareness campaign going on and we have engaged in extensive training across the hierarchy of health professionals in Lagos State. In addition, we are building our capacity to diagnose the case in Lagos and right now, we can run the test in two centres in Lagos.
“One is in our biosecurity facility and the other at the Lagos teaching hospital. We are in constant contact with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and the minister of health and we are exchanging information continuously. The important thing is that the patient is confined and we have aggressively started to identify all his contacts all the way to the airline. We like to ensure everybody that we are on this case that we can identify everybody that come in contact with. The symptoms are subsiding; he does not have any symptoms of respiratory disease. It is probably a good thing, but he does have fever and body pain. If he had respiratory symptoms, it is probably it may be more contagious than it is likely at the moment,” Sanwo-Olu said.
Last weekend, during his visit to the bio-security and containment facility at Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) in Yaba, where the Italian national diagnosed with COVID-19 is being managed, Sanwo-Olu said both Nigerian healthcare officials have been working round the clock with infectious disease control professionals from international agencies to ensure the counter measures being deployed to contain the virus achieve the desired results. “Let me express a confession that I am very delighted with the level of preparedness and our response to stop coronavirus from spreading in our country. The kind of structures we have put in place and the strategies being deployed have raised my confidence that the nation, at the end of the day, will win this battle and will put it behind.”
Also speaking on Tuesday at a stakeholders’ forum on the management and control of coronavirus, the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, restated that the state is on top of the situation. The state has a sophisticated response mechanism, including an 80-bed disease control centre with plans to scale it up to contain the spread of the virus. He urged Lagosians to exercise a high level of suspicion at all times, especially for those just arriving the country and report any suspected case through the helplines.
Acknowledging that contact tracing is key to curbing human-to-human transmission anywhere there is a confirmed case of COVID-19, he said the state government is working with the World Health Organisation to identify those who were on the plane with the Italian. So far, 100 persons who were in same plane with the index case have been identified and are being monitored on a daily basis, he said. The Health Commissioner added that since 2014 when the state experienced the Ebola virus outbreak, capacity building to handle any disease outbreak has been taken seriously by the state government. He urged Lagosians to cooperate with the state government in its efforts to curtail the spread of the virus by living healthy, maintain good hygiene, wash their hands frequently and should remain in-door and seek medical help immediately anytime they fall sick.
“There is still only one case of coronavirus in Lagos. He is the Italian traveller that entered the country. We were able to identify him quickly and bring him to our sophisticated facility at Yaba where he remains. He is doing well. And it is important that those people he has been in touch with are not given the opportunity to spread the virus, we are tracing all his contacts from all the people that were in the airline to the hotel that he stayed in Ikeja and his trip to Ogun State.
“So far, we have been able to identify 100 persons and we are following them up on a daily basis. If any of them develops the symptoms, we will be able to bring them to our facility at Yaba and run the tests. If they are positive, we treat them. We are going to stop the opportunity for the virus to enter our community. That is what the government is doing. We have not been able to identify everybody on that flight because some people have gone to other countries while some have gone to other states. But we are working with the WHO to try and identify everybody on that flight so that we alert people who have gone to other countries that they have come in contact with a person we have confirmed to have the coronavirus. We need to put them on the high alert,” Abayomi said.
The Lafarge experience
Lafarge Africa Plc, a cement manufacturer company based in Ogun State, which first reported the Italian’s case to the state government, has shed some light into why the yet-to-be-named expatriate was in Nigeria. The company’s Industrial Director, Segun Soyoye, explained that the Italian came to Lafarge facilities at Ewekoro to inspect the installation of some equipment the cement giant procured recently from a Swedish firm.
Soyoye spoke at the company’s premises when a combined team of the host state government, the NCDC, and the WHO visited the facility for an on-the-spot-assessment. He also disclosed that the guest house where the Italian was lodged is 5km to the manufacturing plant in Ewekoro. “The Italian came for a business visit. He was in Lagos on Monday and slept at Airport Hotel, Ikeja. Our driver took him there, and when we observed abnormal temperatures and symptoms, we quickly instituted an emergency response team, which is led by the company CEO; we have to find a way of analysing and identifying not only the Italian but also the other contacts,” Soyoye said.
He stressed that 39 people suspected to have had contact with the Italian have been promptly quarantined. “Today (Saturday) is Day 3; they will be there for 14 days. We will continue to observe them; we have their database, showing their bio-data and other information. The doctor is here and what he is doing is to check them on a regular basis. So far everybody is stable, they are not symptomatic; we are providing everything for them over there. The other thing that I have not said is that the clinic that was used for the infected person is closed, disinfected and we moved everybody out. All the guys on duty that day, they were also quarantined, so they will be there for 14 days as well,” Soyoye said.
The Federal Minister of Health Osagie Emmanuel Ehanire, at a media briefing in Abuja on Monday acknowledged the “efforts of the team for ensuring that the index case was handled with 48 hours”.
Commending Lafarge Africa, Ogun State government through the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Tomi Coker, said the quick and proactive measures taken so far by Lafarge Africa have helped in nipping the only COVID-19 case in the bud. Dr. Coker also said the state has activated an emergency operation committee to manage any development that may arise from the reported index case. Ibrahim Mamadu, the team leader, WHO Nigeria, also commended the internal processes undertaken by Lafarge Africa to contain the deadly disease and advised the company and others in operating in the state to acquire digital thermometers that can do accurate body temperature readings, instead of infrared thermometers.
While thanking the Federal Ministry of Health, Ogun and Lagos state governments for providing swift response and testing facilities, Folashade Ambrose-Medebem, Director of Communications, Public Affairs and Sustainable Development at Lafarge Africa, said cooperation in handling the COVID-19 case made things work. “We are working in full co-operation with all local authorities. Lafarge Africa is also working in close partnership with International SOS, our medical service provider, a leading global health company. The individual concerned works for a vendor that provides services to Lafarge Africa Plc in Ogun State. As a business, we have immediately identified the persons who had direct contact with the concerned individual. We have equally initiated isolation, quarantine and disinfection protocol. Health and safety remains a core value at Lafarge Africa and we intend to leverage this strength at this critical time,” Folashade said.
Consequently, a fact that cannot be overlooked regarding the case of Coronavirus in Nigeria is that a stitch at a time indeed saves nine. The Doyen of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Mr. Samuel Ndanta did acknowledge this when the Lafarge Africa team led by its Chairman, Mr. Mobolaji Balogun and the new Chief Executive Officer at Lafarge Africa Plc, Mr. Khaled Abdel Aziz El Dokani performed the Closing Gong Ceremony recently. Ndanta noted that but for the swift action of the Company, the story might have been different and Nigerians would for a long time be grateful for such a life-saving gesture.
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