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.
Lagos State Governor, Baajide Sanwo-Olu confirmed that the Italian man has recovered and was discharged on Friday night in a series of a tweets.
“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 index patient consented to donate one unit of white blood (plasma) before he was discharged today. The blood plasma is rich in antibody proteins that target #COVID19 virus.
“The white blood plasma is frozen in our Bio-bank and will be useful in handling new cases. The blood plasma will be beneficial for the treatment of new patients in the absence of a defined therapeutic drug for #COVID19 yet.
“The index patient appreciated the exceptional care and support given to him by the staff of the mainland Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba, all members of the EOC.
“The EOC team was extremely happy to bid the patient farewell. Once again, we like to convey the enthusiasm of our team to do the very best possible in handling incidents of Coronavirus,” he said.