Assures citizens of safety

The Lagos State Government, on Sunday, said the report of a suspected case of Coronavirus at a Chinese residence in Gowon Estate in the Alimosho Local Government Area of the state was false.

The State’s Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi, in a statement, said upon getting the report, the Surveillance and Biosecurity Unit of the state’s Ministry of Health commissioned a search party comprising Dr Odufuwa Alimosho, Dr Oni Mosan Okunola, Mr Abdusalam Akindele, Mr Akinfolarin Baruwa and a Community informant to investigate the matter.

Abayomi said the so-called Osoba Close or Street where the Chinese national alleged to have coronavirus live on was not found in Gowon Estate. This was after “using all available intelligence from the key community members (Ward locals, Councillors, motorbike riders, market women, bartenders), programmatic implementation maps and Google maps, major streets in Gowon Estate was thoroughly searched”.

The commissioner said the investigation would be completed today, upon which he would make a briefing, adding that the ministry has already increased surveillance on hotels and other resort centres in Lagos.

“If this turns out to be fake news, it will have been a waste of human and other government resources and unnecessary inducement of panicking and anxiety in the community caused by mischievous elements.

“It also results in racial stigmatization. We shall commence all efforts to track down sources of intentional malicious news. This is considered to be a serious biosecurity offence.”