The Ekiti State Government, on Wednesday, March 18th, 2020, confirmed the death of an American male, who died of the Coronavirus. With this latest development, the American is the first confirmed coronavirus death in Nigeria.

The state government also disclosed that another patient tested positive for the deadly virus in the state.

The American, aged 27, was on a visit to Nigeria from Richmond, Virginia, the United States, in the company of his caregiver, a Nigerian female, aged 31, who is a native of Ekiti State.

The Ekiti State Taskforce on COVID-19 said the state confirmed that a Nigerian male, aged 38, of Ekiti origin, tested positive to coronavirus, otherwise known as COVID-19.

The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, had earlier revealed a positive case of COVID-19 in a patient in Ekiti State.

In a statement the COVID-19 Taskforce said:

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.

In the statement, signed by Ekiti State Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Dr. Mojisola Yaya Kolade, added that the American man and his Nigerian female caregiver, entered into the country on March 3rd, 2020 via the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.

The statement reads:

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 hospital authorities alerted the State Taskforce and samples were taken from the American male as well as 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.

In line with the Nigeria Center for Disease Control, NCDC, protocols, the Ekiti State Taskforce on Covid-19 has already quarantined the confirmed case on admission in the State Isolation Centre, while the caregiver who tested negative, is presently under observation in self-isolation.

We have commenced the process of contact tracing, working with the Federal Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization, WHO, following the team’s itinerary since they landed in Nigeria on the 3rd of March 2020.

We have also contacted the Oyo State Government since it was recorded that they stayed in Ibadan for two weeks before arriving at Ekiti State.

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.

The Ekiti State Task Force on COVID-19 is following the NCDC Case Management Protocols with diligence. We want to urge Ekiti residents to stay calm and ensure they observe the prevention steps that are being publicised on all credible media.

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.

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.