Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi, on Friday, said 181 pupils and staff members of a private school located in the Lekki area of the state have tested positive for COVID-19.
The cases were discovered during surveillance and case investigation in the school.
Abayomi, in a statement from the ministry’s Director, Public Affairs, Tunbosun Ogunbanwo, noted that the total population of the school is 441.
According to him, a 14-year-old SS1 female pupil fell ill on October 3 and was sent home after receiving first aid at the school.
The pupil subsequently tested positive for COVID-19 on October 6 in one of the accredited private labs in Lagos.
Abayomi said the pupil’s parents had been contacted and counselled via a family Zoom call on October 13 to further allay their fears as communication between school authorities and parents continued.
The statement added, “There is a total lockdown and movement restriction in the school with the Epidemiology and Surveillance Pillar of the emergency operations centre and Ibeju-Lekki LGA State Disease Surveillance and Notification Officer reporting at the school daily to conduct further investigation, while positive pupils 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.
“Pupils are to be isolated in the school premises and, if unwell, they will be admitted in one of the accredited isolation centres in Lagos. Pupils are discouraged from going home to avoid infecting members of their families.
“The Ministry of Health is working closely with the Ministry of Education to jointly manage this minor and significant outbreak in this boarding school. I am pleased to announce that all the infected pupils are predominantly asymptomatic, while some have very mild symptoms; no pupil has required hospitalisation.
“Members of the Emergency Operation Centre 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.”
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