COVID-19: Lagos was ready by the time index case was confirmed - Sanwo-Olu

- Lagos governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu said the state was ready by the time the index case of coronavirus was confirmed

- Sanwo-Olu credited the Lagos commissioner for health who had urged the state to prepare in anticipation of the pandemic

- The governor said the ongoing lockdown in Lagos state will be extended if the situation of things is not improving

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos has said the state was able to tackle the index case of coronavirus in the country because they were ready and knew what was expected.

In an interview with ThisDay, Sanwo-Olu gave credit to the Lagos state commissioner for health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, who had urged that the state prepares for COVID-19, towards the end of 2019 as he expressed that trouble was coming.

The Lagos state governor went on to note that back in January, the commissioner had said to him that the pandemic was coming and would eventually get to the state.

Both men agreed that a few things were needed to be done in order to prepare for the eventuality that the virus got to Africa's most populous nation.

He said: "As a professor, he was part of the team that dealt with Ebola. Among the things he said we needed to do was to upgrade the state’s health infrastructure like the infectious disease hospital and that we needed to set up a ‘control-and-command centre’ in anticipation of what was coming."

Sanwo-Olu speaking on the extension of the Lagos lockdown said that they would be advised by health professionals as there were few more days left to make that decision.

He further explained that the lockdown would be extended if the situation is not improving.

"If, from the look of things, the situation of things isn’t improving, and we may have to extend the lockdown, it’ll be the responsibility of various leaders to encourage our people, to persuade them, to help them understand that the decision is taken in the overall interest of all of us," he added.

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Legit.ng previously reported that four new COVID-19 patients have recovered in Lagos and have been discharged, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu disclosed. The Lagos state governor disclosed this in a tweet via his verified Twitter handle @jidesanwoolu on Saturday, April 11.

According to Sanwo-Olu, four male patients, including an 11-year-old boy, were discharged from the Lagos state Isolation facilities.

In other news, the Nigeria Centre of Disease Control (NCDC) has confirmed 13 new cases of COVID-19 in Nigeria as Lagos state extends the lead.

According to the NCDC, 11 of the new cases are in Lagos while Kano and Delta states have one each. Following the latest announcement, the total cases in the country now stand at 318.

Seventy of the cases have been discharged while 10 patients have died, indicating three new deaths since the last update.

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Source: Legit.ng