The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, said at a press conference in Benin City, Edo State, that the new patient had contact with the Italian man who was first infected.

“It is my duty, therefore, to announce a new case of coronavirus disease (CIVID-19) in Nigeria,” Ehanire said.

“One of the important response strategies at the containment stage has been to identify all contacts, ensure their strict isolation, and to follow up daily with checks for any symptoms of the disease.

“Following recent experience from other countries and evident from newly published studies on non-symptomatic infections, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), advised that samples should be taken from all contacts of the index case for testing.

“It is in this process that these two cases were detected.”