Fed govt tracing 4,370 people, says minister

Following the outbreak of Coronavirus in Nigeria, the federal government on Thursday has lamented the rising cases of COVID-19(Coronavirus) in the country, saying it will not relent in tracing 4,370 persons of interest.

According to the Government, most of the 4,370 persons, who are returnees from Europe submitted wrong addresses on arrival at the nation’s international airports.

The government implored those who have had contact with such persons  to report themselves to the necessary authorities for screening.

It also urged those who have information on them to volunteer such to the government because “we are on the verge of reaching the level of community spread.”

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed spoke during a COVID-19 update in Abuja yesterday.

Mohammed said: We have 4,370 people of interest who we are tracing. We urge those who have had contact with suspected cases to immediately report to the authorities.

“We urge Nigerians to support the authorities in this regard. We must stop the impending community spread immediately or we will record exponential cases in the days ahead. There is no better way to say this.”

“Some Nigerians who flew into the country from overseas filled wrong addresses and telephone numbers in their forms, making it difficult to trace them when the need arises.

“The government is doing its best but we need the citizens to do their best too. We have now gone past the stage of persuasion. It’s time for strong enforcement

Mohammed’s Health counterpart, Osagie Ehanire, also said a foundation owned by China’s richest man, Jack ma,   has assisted Nigeria with 100,000 face masks,  1,000 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), 20,000 test kits among others.

The  20,000 test kits are to be distributed to the five laboratories in the country.

Lagos State, with  the highest number of  both infected and suspected  COVID-19 cases,  has two laboratories.

The Federal Capital Territory , Osun and Edo states have one laboratory each.

Ma, a Chinese billionaire, had announced the donation of 1.1 million testing kits and six million masks to fight Coronavirus in Africa.