Churches, mosques and other religious organisations in Lagos have been advised to suspend all activities that involve huge crowd because of the Ebola epidemic that has led to the death of two people.
The Lagos State government which gave the advice on Wednesday at a media briefing in Alausa said the suspension of activities involving large gathering of people will in no small way help to curtail the spread of the deadly ebola virus. The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, said four people have been confirmed has having contracted the virus out of the eight people that were tested. One person however tested negative while the results of the three others were being expected.
Idris also advised that burial of people who have contracted the virus should be handled with caution to prevent the spread of the virus to family members .
“Burial ceremonies where mourners including family members have direct contact with patients who died of Ebola have also played a role in the spread and direct contact with dead bodies should be minimized at this period, even as washing and burial or disposal of such bodies should be professionally handled with safety to personal health of handlers being cardinal focus.,” he said
The Nigerian government had earlier disclosed that a nurse who was among the Medical personnel that attended to the Liberian born American, Patrick Sawye had died of ebola virus disease.
The nurse who worked with First Consultants Medical Center, Obalende, Lagos is the first Nigerian that died of ebola. A female doctor who attended to Sawyer, had earlier been confirmed to have tested positive of the virus.
The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, at a press briefing on Wednesday morning confirmed that five more people tested positive of the virus. “Nigeria has now recorded 7 confirmed cases of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD),”he said. All the five patients are being treated in an isolation ward in Lagos.
The Minister said “All the Nigerians diagnosed with (EVD) were primary contacts” of Patrick Sawyer, who worked for Liberia’s finance ministry and contracted the virus from his sister. The government has declared public emergency following the disease..
Sawyer, an employee of the Liberia Ministry of Finance arrived Nigeria on July 20 for a conference and was rushed to the hospital after he collapsed. He died of the disease on July 25.
