Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, said that a nursing mother and her six-week-old baby, who were among the five confirmed Coronavirus cases in Nigeria, arrived the state on a Virgin Atlantic flight.

The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, had earlier on Wednesday, March 18th, 2020 announced five new cases of Coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria. He noted that three of the cases arrived the country from the United States, and the two others came in from the United Kingdom.

Ehanire had said four of the new cases were recorded in Lagos State, while the fifth case recorded was in Ekiti State.

Abayomi, who on his part, gave the details of the four fresh cases in Lagos, said,

Lagos State confirms four new cases of COVID-19.

We have a mother and child (of Nigerian nationality), who arrived Lagos on 13th March 2020 from California on Virgin Atlantic flight number VS411;

An American citizen who came into Lagos through Benin Republic border on 13th March 2020.

Another Nigerian, who returned to Lagos from London on 13th March 2020 via Virgin Atlantic Flight number VS411.

Recall that Flavision reported on Tuesday, March 17th, 2020 that a 30-year-old Nigerian woman, who later tested positive for Coronavirus, also arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos on March 13th from the United Kingdom.

The Federal Government has aready placed a travel ban on the U.K., U.S., and eleven other countries with over 1,000 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus. As of Wednesday, U.K. has 1,950 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with over 60 deaths. And in the U.S., the number of confirmed cases is 5,800 with over 100 deaths.

With the five new cases announced on Wednesday, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said the country’s COVID-19 cases has increased to a total of eight.

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.