Nigerian minister tests positive for coronavirus

Nigeria’s foreign affairs minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, has tested positive for coronavirus.

According to him, he was confirmed positive on Saturday, after his fourth test. The minister took to Twitter on Sunday afternoon to announce his health status.

“Did my fourth Covid-19 test yesterday at the first sign of a throat irritation and unfortunately this time it came back positive. That is life! Win some lose some. Heading for isolation in a health facility and praying for the best. #StayHomeSaveLives #COVID19 #PTFCOVID19”, he wrote.

Did my fourth Covid-19 test yesterday at the first sign of a throat irritation and unfortunately this time it came back positive. That is life! Win some lose some. Heading for isolation in a health facility and praying for the best. #StayHomeSaveLives #COVID19 #PTFCOVID19

— Geoffrey Onyeama (@GeoffreyOnyeama) July 19, 2020

Mr Onyeama joins the list of prominent Nigerians who have contracted the virus. Before now, Governors Rotimi Akeredolu, Nasir El-Rufai, Seyi Makinde, Bala Mohammed and Okezie Ikpeazu had also tested positive for the disease.

Apart from officials who have tested positive and recovered from the virus, some others have died from complications caused by the virus.

The latter category includes President Muhammadu Buhari’s former chief of staff, Abba Kyari, and ex-Oyo State governor, Abiola Ajimobi.

As of the time of this report, 36,107 people have contracted the virus in Nigeria out of which 14,938 people have recovered and have been discharged while 778 have died.

Lagos remains the epicentre of the disease in Nigeria with over a third (13,341) of the total cases.

While Nigeria continues to record new cases in hundreds, daily, the country is opening its economy more while citizens continue to disobey the government’s directives on social distancing and use of face masks in public.