Lagos confirms 181 COVID-19 positive cases in private school

• 260 students, staff under isolation

Just few weeks after the Lagos State government reopened school, the State Government has confirmed 181 COVID-19 positive cases among students and staff of a private boarding school in Lekki area of the state.

Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, who disclosed this, Friday October 16, said 181 students and staff members of a private school (name withheld), located in a suburb of Lekki tested positive to COVID19 during surveillance and case investigation in the school.

There are 441 students and staff in the school.

According to Abayomi, “Investigation revealed that a 14-year-old SS1 female student fell ill on the October 3 and was sent home after receiving first aid at the school.

“The student subsequently tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, October 6 in one of the accredited private laboratories in Lagos.”

The commissioner, however, assured residents that “the state government, through the incident commands system, has the situation under control. Appropriate steps have been taken to contain the spread and manage the positive cases.”

He noted that all parents had been contacted and counselled via a family zoom call on October 13 to further allay their fears and communication between school authorities and parents continues.

The zoom call was attended by the commissioners for Health and Education and all relevant responders and stakeholders.

“There is a total lockdown and movement restriction in the school with the Epidemiology and Surveillance Pillar of the EOC and Ibeju-Lekki LGA State Disease Surveillance and Notification Officer (DSNO) reporting at the school daily to conduct further investigation while positive students and staff have been isolated on the premises and given the COVID-19 home-care treatment packs and are being monitored in isolation within the school premises,” Abayomi said.

The commissioner stated that the school authorities supported by the State Ministry of Health and Education are currently following the COVID-19 guidelines as set out by the government.

According to him, “Students are to be isolated in the school premises and if unwell will be admitted in one of the accredited isolation centers in Lagos. Students are discouraged from going home to avoid infecting members of their families.

“The Ministry of Health is working closely with the Ministry of Education to jointly manage this minor but significant outbreak in this boarding school. “I am pleased to announce that all the infected students are predominantly asymptomatic while some have very mild symptoms, no student has required hospitalization,” he said.

“Members of the Emergency Operation Center and our counterparts in the Ministry of Education have been deployed to the school to provide strategic interventions and support to the school. This includes psychosocial support, infection prevention control, medical monitoring and risk communication experts to further enlighten and educate affected people,” Abayomi noted.

The commissioner who stressed the need for citizens to practise the highest standard of personal and environmental hygiene and use of face mask in public places, proper hand washing and hand hygiene practice, maintaining physical distance, said compliance  would help prevent the spread of the infection.

“COVID-19 is still very much with us and we must strive to prioritize the safety of all, including students and teachers, by adhering strictly to prevention protocols and guidelines issued by government to prevent its spread,” Abayomi said.

He therefore, urged residents to call the 08000EKOMED or 08000356633 toll-free line if they notice any sign or symptoms of COVID-19, which include fever, cough, sore throat, fatigue or loss of taste or smell.

Recall that while appealing to adamant #EndSARS protesters to shun further protest and let the state move on, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, raised the alarm over possible increase in cases of COVID-19 pandemic which could be sparked by the activities of the protesters.

According to him, “You should also remember that COVID-19 is still very much with us. We are still amid a pandemic; we are not out of it yet.

“As at Wednesday, October 14, 2020, Lagos State had recorded a total of 20,394 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Of this number, 16,734 have recovered in community, 968 are currently active in community, and 207 deaths have sadly occurred.

“You might have noticed a sharp rise in the number of cases reported in the last two days, out of step with the numbers we have been daily recording in recent weeks.

“This is however a wake-up call to jolt us out of complacency. In the last six months we have made  tremendous progress in the fight against COVID-19; do not let us, through carelessness or nonchalance, reverse this progress.”