The government of Osun State has confirmed an index case of Coronavirus on Wednesday.

This comes after the governor, Adegboyega Oyetola and his wife tested negative for the virus.

Oyetola disclosed this during a press conference at the government house, Osogbo, the state capital Wednesday afternoon.

“Sadly, I want to say that we have the first confirmed case of the novel Coronavirus in the State. It was confirmed by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC.

“The case is a returnee from the United Kingdom and is currently receiving treatment.

“The sample was tested at NCDC accredited Testing Centre, which is the African Centre of Excellence in Genomics of Infectious Diseases, Ede, Osun and the result returned positive on Tuesday night”, Oyetola explained .

The governor added that there were other cases of the virus that had tested negative after thorough investigation.

Oyetola opined that the government had contacted the family of the patient and has since commenced contact tracing to identify people who might have been in contact with the confirmed case.

Speaking on what compelled him to subject himself and his family to a medical examination to ascertain his status, Oyetola said: “Considering the fact that I was in Abuja for the better part of last week, as a way of leading by example, I have also subjected myself to test. My wife, because of her recent travel history also subjected herself to test. Both came back negative.

“To this end, I want to passionately encourage all returnees from UK, US, Europe, the West African Coast and indeed other high risk countries to self-isolate and submit themselves to test, so as to assist the government in containing the spread of the virus.

“To further contain the spread, the following measures take immediate effect: One, a Taskforce has been set up to man all land borders and conduct preliminary screening.

“Two, all major markets will be shut down with effect from Friday, March 27. However, traders are allowed to sell food items in front of their houses. Pharmacies are also exempted from this ban. Three, the ban on public gatherings, church services, Mosques, social events and political meetings among others remain in force.

“Fellow citizens and residents of our dear State, do not panic, the case is under control. I want to urge you all to continue to observe necessary precautionary measures by regularly washing your hands with water and soap and also maintain the prescribed social distance.

“As part of our efforts to curb the spread of Coronavirus in the State, we have set up holding centres and the one in Asubiaro Specialist Hospital, Osogbo, is up and running, to isolate and treat suspected and reported cases of the virus in the State”, Oyetola concluded.