In furtherance to the 28 persons that were quarantined in Lafarge’s factory in Ogun State on Friday, the company’s Industrial Director, Segun Soyoye, said on Saturday that the number of those identified to have had contact with the patient, who visited the company’s facility on Tuesday, had risen to 39.
The patient had visited the factory on Tuesday for a business appointment after arriving in the country on Monday evening. He was said to have developed fever while still with the company.
But speaking on Saturday while addressing journalists at the plant facility in Ewekoro, Ogun State, Soyoye said all the contacts had been quarantined alongside the guest house, clinic, as well as the vehicles used in conveying them.
He said the quarantined persons included the driver, who took the patient from a hotel in Ikeja, Lagos to the factory and those who served him food and drinks. He added that the quarantined contacts would be kept at the isolation centre for 14 days so as to monitor their temperature.
He added, “The doctor is here and so far, everybody is stable. They are not symptomatic; we are providing everything for them over there. The clinic that was used for the infected person is closed, disinfected and we have moved everybody out.”
He, however, debunked the closure of the cement production lines because of the virus, noting that the Italian was in the company to inspect the installations of machines bought from a Swedish firm.
Meanwhile, The Chief Press Secretary to Governor Dapo Abiodun, Kunle Somorin, in a statement denied reports that the taxi driver of the patient in the state escaped. The report had claimed that the driver escaped and threatened to spread the virus unless he received N100million from the state Commissioner for Health.
The commissioner, Tomi Coker, commended the company for the measures taken so far, noting that the state had also set up an Emergency Operational Centre, which she heads.
- The Team Leader of World Health Organisation in Nigeria, Ibrahim Mamadu, also lauded the efforts made by the company.
