Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has broken silence amid public panic prompted by the confirmation of the country’s first case of coronavirus.
In a statement, President Buhari urged citizens to refrain from panic adding that undue alarm would cause more harm than good.
The patient who has contracted the virus is an Italian citizen who works in Nigeria and flew into the commercial city of Lagos from Milan on February 25.
It was the first confirmed case of the coronavirus in sub-Saharan Africa. A statement from his office lauded the Ministry of Health, the Centre for Disease Control and state governments for their response after the first case was confirmed on Friday.
So far all the people who were in contact with the Italian citizen have been traced and follow-ups made.
Mr Buhari asked Nigerians to only trust information provided by the government and the World Health Organization and follow the advisories to prevent infections.
