The first patient to contract CONVID-19 in Togo has tested negative but is still under medical observation, state TV quotes the Health Minister as saying.

The West African nation is now dealing with eight confirmed cases.

The government had asked people arriving in Togo from high-risk countries “to exhibit the highest sense of responsibility and patriotism” and work with the authorities to curb the spread of the virus, Health Minister Moustafa Mijiyawa said.

He urged the Togolese to “stay calm and not panic” but to follow strict crowd control measures put out by the government.

At the same time the Republic of Niger has reported its first case of the coronavirus in a man who returned from Togo via Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso.

The government told the BBC, the patient was a Niger national who worked for a transport company.

He had travelled to Lome, Accra, Abidjan and Ouagadougou. A Government Spokesperson said the patient was stable and efforts were ongoing to contain the virus.

Niger becomes the latest country in Africa to confirm the presence of the virus. Religious leaders in that country have issued a joint statement suspending worship at mosques and churches to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.