Nigerian hotel denies hosting COVID-19 patient

A hotel in Aba, Abia State of Nigeria, has refuted a report trending on social media that a Lebanese that lodged at the hotel was diagnosed with the dreaded Coronavirus Disease.

The hotel stated on Wednesday that the “fake report” was circulated by some unscrupulous elements to cause panic at the hotel and in the state.

The general manager (name withheld) said, “We hereby refute and condemn the post on Facebook by one ‘Dodoh Okafor’ alleging that a Lebanese lodging at [the hotel] had a test at Abia State University Teaching Hospital in Aba and showed symptoms of Coronavirus.

“In the first instance, [we] do not have any Lebanese guest. The entire claim by Dodoh Okafor is, therefore, false, malicious and deceitful. He should be seen as an enemy of the state government and anti-hospitality potential of Abia and its people as a whole.

“The truth of the matter is that the guest is an engineer working for a retail outlet yet to be opened in Aba. He checked into the hotel on February 20, 2020. He is a South African and has been in the hotel for more than a month and since then, he had not travelled out.”

He affirmed the hotel’s commitment to the safety and welfare of its guests.

A consultant to the hotel, Olamilekan Olalemi, also said the facility only had a South African guest who visited a private hospital in Aba to treat malaria.

According to him, the South African, who has been in the hotel for over a month now and never travelled out of the country, is working with a retail firm that is planning to open an outlet in Aba.

A Facebook user with the name Dodoh Okafor had alleged in a post that a Lebanese guest lodging at the hotel showed symptoms of Coronavirus and was taken to ABSUTH where he was referred to Federal Medical Centre, Aba.

The hotel said the lies told by the Facebook user, who claimed to work for Rootstv, an online medium, showed clear desperation at his efforts to circulate fake news, as there is no FMC in Aba.

Olalemi also said the 94-room hotel, which is the biggest in Abia, is strictly committed to recommended hygiene and preventive practices against COVID-19.

“We also check guests’ temperature at the entry point. We have hand sanitisers in all the rooms, at the restaurants and all other places at the hotel.

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