London, Feb. 12, 2020 (AltAfrica)-Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, on Tuesday in Kano, confirmed that three laboratories had been established at strategic points in the country to diagnose cases of coronavirus.

Ehanire made the disclosure while declaring open the Kano 2020 Primary Health Care Summit at Coronation Hall, Kano Government House.

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The minister said nobody had been diagnosed of coronavirus in the country, saying those tested so far for the virus proved negative.

He said, “This, however, does not mean the Federal Government will fold its arms as it is taking all the required measures to keep the virus at bay.”

In his remarks, the Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, said the summit was a significant milestone in Kano’s history.

WHO names coronavirus Covid-19

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation on Tuesday said ‘Covid-19’ would be the new name for the deadly coronavirus that was first identified in China on December 31.

WHO Director General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, told reporters in Geneva, “We now have a name for the disease and it’s Covid-19. The ‘co’ stands for ‘corona’, ‘vi’ for ‘virus’ and ‘d’ for ‘disease’.”

He said the name had been chosen to avoid references to a specific geographical location, animal species or group of people in line with international recommendations for naming in order to avoid stigmatisation.

The WHO had earlier given the virus the temporary name of “2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease” and China’s National Health Commission this week said it was temporarily calling it “novel coronavirus pneumonia” or NCP.

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