Five Nigerians Test Positive For Coronavirus In China
Four of them had recently visited the same eatery, ‘Emma Food’, multiple times, announced the Guangzhou Health Commission on Tuesday.
The restaurant owner, alongside her daughter and another child, later tested positive for the contagion.
Wuhan, the former epicentre, on Wednesday saw all travel restrictions lifted after 76 days.
Seven people who tested positive for the coronavirus have been linked to the same restaurant in China, sparking fears.
The Nigerian citizens with the infections were detected between March 28 and March 30, after screening 3,779 travellers from high-risk countries living in the city.
The coronavirus epidemic erupted in China after dozens of people suffering ‘mysterious viral pneumonia’ were linked to the same seafood market in Wuhan.
Guangzhou is situated 1,028 kilometres (638 miles) south of the former epicentre.
Yuexiu District, where the restaurant is located, has imposed strict measures in a response to the new cluster of infections, according to the press.
The new cases have raised an alarm in Guangzhou which has so far reported 466 coronavirus cases.
A total of 197 people who had close contact with the patients were isolated and tested.
The owner of Emma Food, known by her surname, Zhuang, was put under quarantine on April 1.
The owner’s daughter, aged 8, and her three-year-old playmate both were diagnosed with the deadly disease on the next day.
The Emma Food restaurant has been closed for inspection. Other restaurants in the district have been forced to shut down for 14 days, Chinese media report.
China sealed off the city of Wuhan on January 23, when it became apparent the deadly COVID-19 virus had started there.
But at 00.50am on Wednesday, trains carrying people out of the city began running, and major highways also began opening up as China’s lockdown on Wuhan was lifted.