Nigeria announces five new cases of coronavirus, places travel ban on 13 countries

Nigeria on Wednesday announced five new cases of coronavirus bringing the total number of cases in the country to eight.

Before now, only three cases were recorded in the country.

Nigerian Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, in a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, said all the new five cases had a travel history to and from the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

We urge Nigerians to remain calm as public health response activities are intensified across the country, he said.

The centre also wrote on Twitter that

A Detailed travel history of each case is being compiled & contact tracing has begun Our National Emergency Operations Centre is supporting response in the states The Federal Government through @Fmohnigeria is conducting risk assessment to initiate other relevant measures “@Fmohnigeria through NCDC will continue to provide accurate updates & take the necessary measures to protect the health of Nigerians We ask that the public refrain from spreading false information while we all engage in proper hand & respiratory hygiene to #PreventCOVID19Spread.

@Fmohnigeria has announced 5 new cases of #COVID19 in Nigeria bringing the total number confirmed cases in Nigeria to 8

All 5 cases had a travel history to the UK/USA

We urge Nigerians to remain calm as public health response activities are intensified across the country pic.twitter.com/yoKLHXoxhq

— NCDC (@NCDCgov) March 18, 2020

The country on Wednesday issued travel ban on 13 countries over coronavirus fears.

The affected countries are the United State of America, the United Kingdom, China, Japan, Iran, Switzerland, Norway, Netherland, France, South Korea, Germany, Italy and Spain.