Coronavirus: Lagos, Ekiti Emergency Lines Unreachable

Two direct telephone lines set up for reporting of Coronavirus cases in Lagos State on Wednesday morning were switched off, our correspondent has learnt.
Going by international standards, emergency lines are supposed to be active 24hours a day, seven days a week.
But the two lines tweeted by the state’s Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, was switched off on Thursday morning when our correspondent called the lines.
Abayomi through his verified Twitter handle (@ProfAkinAbayomi) tweeted the two numbers as a response to a complaint by a user, Ogene Augustina (@sleekybentley89), who said her husband, who just came back from Spain, was feeling unwell.
Augustina complained that the emergency lines were not available.
Responding, Abayomi tweeted, “Please call these numbers 08145064452, 08148940990 immediately.”
When our correspondent called the first line (08145064452) at 10:36am yesterday, it was switched off. Repeated attempts were not different as it remained switched off.
Our correspondent also tried the second line (08148940990) at 10:40am but it was also switched off, confirming Augustina’s frustration that the lines were not available.
Of the twelve COVID-19 cases recorded in Nigeria so far, Lagos has eleven cases and a few suspected cases.
The eighth case was recorded in Ekiti State on Wednesday.
The Ekiti State government had said its first index case was in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital for two weeks before moving to Ado Ekiti on March 13.
The three Coronavirus helplines (08073431342, 08023229267, 08038210122) released by the Oyo State Ministry of Health all went through when our correspondent put a call to them at 10:58am; 11:00am and 11:02am respectively yesterday.
However, two of the three emergency helplines released by the Ekiti State government were switched off when our correspondent tried them on Thursday.