Nigerian foreign minister tests positive for COVID-19

Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffrey Onyeama has tested positive for Covid-19, the respiratory disease caused by coronavirus.

He is a member of a presidential task force on Covid-19 that is coordinating the country’s response to the pandemic.

Mr Onyeama announced in a tweet on Sunday that he would be isolating at a health facility. He took the test following a throat irritation – one of the symptoms of the disease.

‘’Did my fourth Covid-19 test yesterday at the first sign of a throat irritation and unfortunately this time it came back positive. That is life! Win some lose some. Heading for isolation in a health facility and praying for the best,’’ he said.

President Muhammadu Buhari has wished him quick recovery.

The minister becomes the latest high profile individual in the country to contract the virus. A number of senior politicians, including several state governors, have tested positive for Covid-19.

In April, President Buhari’s chief of staff, Abba Kyari, died from the disease.

Nigeria has so far recorded about 36,000 cases of coronavirus, with around 15,000 recoveries and nearly 800 deaths.