First Case of Covid-19 in Rivers State: A Case Report on the Public Health Response

Five days after arrival in Nigeria, a 19-year-old female model called the Public Health Emergency Operation Centre with complaints of fever, cough, sore throat, catarrh, sneezing, and diarrhea. A nasopharyngeal swab Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) confirmed the diagnosis of COVID-19 on the 26th of March 2020 making her the very first coronavirus (COVID-19) case in Rivers State. Following the diagnosis, the case was moved to the treatment center. Contact tracing of all possible contacts was conducted; one hundred and five contacts were located and asked to self-isolate for fourteen days. The patient had a relatively mild illness; she was treated and discharged home after two weeks when she had two consecutive negative PCR results.