GEOFFREY Onyeama, Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday tested negative for the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), 24 days after he tested positive for the deadly virus.
Onyeama had on July 19 announced how he contracted the virus.
The Minister disclosed he had experienced a sign of throat irritation which is one of the symptoms of the virus.
“Did my fourth COVID-19 test yesterday at the first sign of throat irritation and unfortunately this time it came back positive,” he tweeted on his verified social media handle.
“That is life! Win some, lose some. Heading for isolation in a health facility and praying for the best.”
Onyeama had been off the public radar since he confirmed his positive status until Wednesday morning when he officially announced his new state of health.
“By the very special grace of God my latest COVID-19 test result came negative after three weeks isolation,” he disclosed in the new tweet.
By the very special grace of God my latest #COVID19 test result came back NEGATIVE after three weeks isolation.
I am eternally grateful to my family, the C-in-C and VP, the medical team, relations, friends, colleagues, religious leaders and..— Geoffrey Onyeama (@GeoffreyOnyeama) August 12, 2020
While announcing that he had tested negative for COVID-19, he expressed gratitude to health workers, family and relations including religious leaders for their supports.
He also applauded President Muhammadu Buhari and his vice, Yemi Osinbajo for their encouragements.
Meanwhile, the Minister is not the first notable Nigerian that has recovered from COVID-19. Nasir El-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State also tested positive but came back negative after going on isolation.
Bala Mohammed, the Bauchi State Governor and his counterparts in Delta, Ekiti, Oyo and Ondo states also tested positive for the virus but subsequently came out negative after they all observed isolation.
As of August 11, Nigeria has recorded 47, 290 COVID-19 confirmed cases, 956 deaths while 33, 609 persons have recovered.
Lagos State still remains the epicentre of the virus in the country, followed by the Federal Capital Territory, Oyo and Ondo States respectively.
Data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) shows that 19,986,086 confirmed cases have been recorded globally as of the time of this report and 733, 926 deaths recorded.
Olugbenga heads the Investigations Desk at The ICIR. Do you have a scoop? Shoot him an email at [email protected]. Twitter Handle: @OluAdanikin