At least 18 Nigerian Army generals have tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19), military sources told Channels Television on Sunday.
The infected military officers were said to have had contact with late Major General Olu Irefin who died from COVID-19 complications last week.
According to the sources, the affected senior army officers were attendees of the 2020 Chief of Army Staff Annual Conference at the Nigerian Army Resource Centre in Abuja.
Besides, late General Irefin was said to have visited some of his colleagues at home before he attended the conference.
Thereafter, all the officers who attended the conference, their wives, and other members of their families who live with them, have been directed to isolate themselves for a week by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
The sources revealed that the affected senior army officers were mostly those who came from outside Abuja and have been tested by officials of the NCDC.
However, others who were in the nation’s capital have yet to take the test for the virus.
Channels Television also learnt that the venue of the aborted conference – the Nigerian Army Resource Centre in Asokoro – has been decontaminated by health officials at the weekend
Major General Irefin fell ill at the 2020 Chief of Army Staff Conference last week and was taken to the hospital.
He was later confirmed to be positive for COVID-19 and was receiving treatment before he died.
The late general was the General Officer Commanding (GOC) Six Division of the Army in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.