Coronavirus: Nigeria confirms 5 new cases

Five additional people have tested positive to coronavirus (COVID-19) in Nigeria, according to a statement by the government on Wednesday, March 18, 2020.

The Ministry of Health said all new cases have a history of travel to the United States of America, and the United Kingdom where at least 1000 cases of the pandemic have been recorded.

According to the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, four of the infected people were discovered in Lagos, and one in Ekiti.

A 6-week-old baby, the youngest recorded so far in the country, is one of the new positive cases.

Another one of the infected is an American who arrived the country on March 13 via Nigeria/Benin Republic land border, the first case to not arrive Nigeria by air.

"We urge Nigerians to remain calm as public health response activities are intensified across the country," the minister said.

Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire [Twitter/@OsagieEhanire] Pulse Nigeria

The announcement of the new cases come just moments after the government announced travel restrictions on travellers from 13 foreign countries, including the U.S. and the UK, hit by the coronavirus.

Other countries affected by the restriction are China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Japan, France, Germany, Norway, Netherlands and Switzerland.

All the affected countries have recorded at least 1000 cases of coronavirus within their borders.

The Federal Government has also suspended the issuance of visa on arrival to travellers from the affected countries.

The travel restrictions kick into effect on Friday, March 20, and will be reviewed after four weeks.

All travelers returning from the affected countries prior to the restriction will be in supervised self-isolation, monitored by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and Port Health Services.

Since coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan, China in December, over 200,000 people have been infected, and at least 8,000 killed around the world. More than 82,000 people have also recovered from the virus.