Nigerian Minister for Foreign Affairs, 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.
Onyeama announced this in a tweet on Sunday and said that he would be isolated 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 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 a 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.
