Coronavirus: Infected Italian discharged after testing negative

The Italian citizen who brought the deadly Coronavirus disease to Nigeria has been discharged from the Infectious Disease Hospital,Yaba in Lagos State, having tested negative to the virus.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, who confirmed the Italian’s recovery in a tweet said he was discharged on Friday night.

He stated that the Italian is now negative.

“Through a combined efforts of Lagos, Ogun State and Federal Health Authorities, we were able to limit the transmission of the virus to a single contact,” he said.

According to him, limiting the virus transmission involved aggressive contact tracing and containment strategies.

The governor, however, said that the state now have several new imported cases, adding that the index patient consented to donating one unit of white blood (plasma) before he was discharged.

“The blood plasma is rich in antibody proteins that target COVID-19 virus.

“The white blood plasma is frozen in our Bio-bank and will be useful in handling new cases.

He said the blood plasma will be beneficial for the treatment of new patients in the absence of a defined therapeutic drug for COVID-19 yet.

“The patient appreciated the exceptional care and support given to him by staff of the Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba, and all members of the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) team,” the governor said.