Coronavirus: DG of Nigeria disease control agency, Chikwe Ihekweazu, self-isolates himself after trip to China

Chikwe Ihekweazu, director-general of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), has gone into self-isolation for 14 days as a standard precautionary measure. 

Osagie Ehanire, minister of health, disclosed this on Tuesday when he updated the senate on the activities of his ministry to curb the spread of coronavirus in the country.

He told principal officers of the senate that Ihekweazu was quarantined because he just returned from China.

Ehanire said it is the standard practice for those who just returned from China, where the disease broke out in December, to be quarantined.

An NCDC source told TheCable that Ihekweazu went for a high-level delegation meeting of the World Health Organisation in China.

The source, who said the NCDC DG is under self-quarantine at his residence, refused to disclose the location.

On Friday, Nigeria recorded its first case of the virus, which has infected over 80,000 people and killed more than 3000.

An Italian who flew into the country from Milan, which has the highest case in Europe, tested positive for the disease.

The patient is currently receiving treatment at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba, Lagos.

The federal government has said all those who had contact with the patient have been traced and isolated.