Commissioner for health in Lagos state, Akin Abayomi, says 119 suspected cases of COVID-19 are discovered during it statewide house-to-house search for possible cases of the virulent infection.

Speaking at a media briefing on Tuesday, the commissioner said a total of 118,000 households have been covered in the active case search of possible COVID-19 cases in communities.

He said community search became imperative to curtail the spread of the disease in the state which has the highest number of COVID-19 patients in the country.

Abayomi said tests were being conducted for 110 persons who were found with symptoms of coronavirus to ascertain their status.

“We’ve embarked on an active case search in communities. The idea is to go to hot spots and go from door to door with our health personnel. So far, in the last two days, we’ve visited 118,000 households and we’re looking for the typical symptoms of COVID-19. We’ve identified about 119 people who have the symptoms that are suggestive of COVID-19,” he said.

“But let me remind you that COVID is one of the viruses that can cause respiratory symptoms. There are many viruses. So, the idea is to take samples from these 119 and analyse them and that would give us an idea of how much COVID-19 activity is happening in the communities.”

The exercise tagged “Community Active Case Search” was announced by the commissioner last week, and it is expected to run for an initial period of two weeks.

He said those identified to have COVID-19 will be taken to the isolation centres, in order to reduce the opportunities for transmission.

As of April 13, 2020, Lagos has recorded 192 confirmed cases of COVID-19 out of which 70 persons have been discharged and six deaths recorded.

A total of 343 confirmed COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in 19 states and the federal capital territory (FCT).