Nigeria confirms first new coronavirus case, third in Africa

African most populous country Nigeria reported the first new coronavirus case in sub-Saharan Africa on Friday, as global stock markets tanked on deepening fears of a pandemic and the World Health Organization warned against the "fatal mistake" of complacency.

The Nigerian reported first case on Friday, an Italian man who returned to densely populated Lagos early this week. 

Nigeria becomes the third in Africa as cases had previously been reported in Egypt and Algeria, but not in the sub-Saharan region.

The low number of cases across Africa, which has close economic ties with China, has puzzled health specialists and raised questions about authorities' capabilities to detect the virus.

Lagos state Commissioner for health Akin Abayomi said the man was transferred to Lagos State Biosecurity Facilities for isolation and testing. 

According to him, the patient was clinically stable with no serious symptoms and was being managed at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba, Lagos.

The previous test on a suspected Chinese National on Wednesday in Lagos was reportedly negative as the commissioner Abayomi said on Thursday through a press statement  that the likelyhood of COVID-19 infection in this particular Chinese patient was very low and the conclusion of investigations and sophisticated testing confirms that there is no case of Corona Virus in Lagos State as of now.

Now that an Italian man has brought the deadly virus into the country, those he had met and associated with both in the plane and in the country most especially as he arrived the densely Lagos where people across the country and continent can be infected may spark fear not only for Nigeria but the entire Africa sub-region.

Although, authorities claimed that the country is well equipped with necessary equipment and tools to detect the virus as new rules and regulations have been effected at the airports and borders to prevent any outbreak,  the concerns is that there are no yet any  known drugs to cure the killer disease presently.

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