181 Lagos students, staff positive for COVID-19 days after schools reopen

Days after schools reopened, students have been isolated in school

A total 181 out of 441 students and staff members of an undisclosed private boarding school located in a suburb of Lekki have tested positive for COVID-19.

Giving details of the investigation, the Lagos health Commissioner, Prof Akin Abayomi explained that a 14-year-old SS1 female student was taken ill on the October 3 and was sent home after receiving first aid at the school.

He added that the student subsequently tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday October 6 in one of the accredited private laboratories in Lagos.

This prompted the testing of other students and staff of the school.

Abayomi stressed that appropriate steps have been taken to contain the spread and manage the positive cases.

He insisted all the infected students are predominantly asymptomatic while some have very mild symptoms and none of the students has required hospitalization.

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

Regarding what is being done, the Commissioner explained, “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.”

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”.

“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.

He reinstated the need for residents including students to wear face mask in public places, wash hands regularly and practice hand hygiene while maintaining physical distance to 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.

As at Thursday, October 15, Lagos has recorded 66 new COVID-19 cases, 20,433 confirmed cases and 204 deaths. Lagos has the highest number of cases in Nigeria.