Tony John, Port Harcourt
Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has confirmed a coronavirus positive case in the state, declaring that the state government has commenced contact tracing of all those she had contact with.
Governor Wike also announced that all markets in the state be closed from Saturday.
Also, he has directed civil servants from Grade Levels 1 – 10 to remain at home from Thursday until further notice.
Related: COVID-19: Lagos to begin enforcing lockdown order on markets, stores
The governor made the announcement in a state-wide broadcast, describing as unfortunate, the entrance of the virus into the state.
He said: “It is, however, unfortunate that despite all the preventive measures we put in place, our state has recorded a positive case as confirmed by Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
“The positive case is a 19-year-old female model from Edo State, who resides in Port Harcourt. Her travel history reveals that she travelled to France, Italy and Greece before returning to Port Harcourt on the 16th of March, 2020.
“On arrival in Port Harcourt, she was asymptomatic and commenced self-isolation in her family house before her samples were collected and sent to the Reference Laboratory, Irrua in Edo State”, he noted.
The governor added: “The patient is presently being managed at the State Treatment Centre and she is doing excellently well.
“As it is in normal established practice, intensive line listing and contact tracing of all those she came in contact with has commenced in full force.
“In addition, samples have been collected from high-risk contacts for further evaluations while the decontamination process has also commenced.
“As the State Chief Executive, I want to sincerely thank this young lady for her patriotic spirit which aided health officials to get relevant information in this direction.
“May I, therefore, urge you all to remain calm because there is no cause for alarm. The State Government is fully prepared to ensure that the incident is contained to avoid further spread.”
Governor Wike outlined additional measures to check the spread of coronavirus in the state.
“All Commissioners and Special Advisers are to monitor the compliance of the above directives in their various Local Government Areas.
“Security Agencies have also been directed to enforce all the decisions taken by the Security Council.”
Wike said that the State Government could not relax the measures as requested by some organisations.
He said: “Government cannot grant their requests now because the protection of human life is more important than any other thing and we shall do everything necessary to fulfil our obligation in this direction.
The governor, however, pleaded with Rivers people to continue to cooperate with the State Government for the containment of coronavirus.