Why we brought coronavirus patient to Lagos - Health commissioner, Prof Abayomi

The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi has explained why the Italian man who tested positive to coronavirus was brought down to Lagos from Ogun State where he fell ill.

Abayomi who spoke at a press briefing on Sunday reacted to the criticism that followed their decision to transfer the patient to a designated testing centre in Lagos State.

According to him, if the patient had been left in Ogun State, the virus would have been transmitted to others because the centre for coronavirus testing is only in Lagos.

Addressing newsmen, Abayomi said: "Some people have criticised us for bringing a patient from Ogun state to Lagos state. Let me remind you that the patient started his journey in Lagos state, ended up in Ogun state. Lagos is the designated testing centre for Coronavirus and Lagos has very sophisticated containment facilities while other states are still trying to develop similar capacity. If we have left the patient in Ogun state, the transmission is a factor of time. The longer you leave it, the more opportunity you have for transmission. So it was critical for us to collaborate with the state, bring the patient to where we have the expertise to contain, to make the right diagnosis and to deliver the correct treatment".