Ekiti State Taskforce on Covid-19, headed by Governor Kayode Fayemi, has confirmed that the state has recorded an incidence of a 38-year-old Ekiti native, who has tested positive to the virus.
A statement on Wednesday by the Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Mojisola Yaya-Kolade, said the man drove an American and his female caregiver.
The Ekiti native is among five new cases of coronavirus recorded on Wednesday.
The statement read: “The confirmed case is suspected to have been infected while driving an American Caucasian, male, 27 years old, who was visiting Nigeria from Richmond, Virginia, USA in the company of his caregiver, a Nigerian female Age 31, of Ekiti origin.
“The American male and his Nigerian female caregiver, arrived Nigeria on 3rd March 2020 through the Muritala Mohammed International Airport Lagos. Preliminary investigations revealed that the pair were driven by our confirmed case to Ibadan, where they stayed for two weeks, and arrived Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State on 13th March, 2020.
“A day after their arrival, the American male fell ill and he was taken to a private hospital where he was referred to a tertiary hospital. Unfortunately, he died from complications of his illness.”
The commissioner said samples were taken from the American and his two companions.
“The test for the male driver came back positive; the test for the female caregiver came back negative while the test for the American male was inconclusive,” it said.
The confirmed case has been quarantined in the State Isolation Centre. The caregiver who tested negative, the statement said, is presently under observation in self isolation.
The government said it has begun contact tracing as it was learnt they stayed in Ibadan, Oyo State for two weeks before arriving Ekiti.
“The confirmed case is very stable and not showing any symptoms while NCDC will repeat the test for the caregiver who is also in self isolation,” it said.
The government urged residents to stay calm and observe preventive measures.
“It is important to state that this likely index case was on a short visit and had not been in Ekiti State for up to 72 hours before his death,” the statement read.
