UPDATE 2-Nigeria contacts 100 people who may have been exposed to coronavirus patient

* Nigeria is Africa's most populous nation
* First confirmed coronavirus case in sub-Saharan Africa
* Man stayed at Lagos hotel, travelled to neighbouring Ogun
state
* President calls for calm response

(Adds details, quotes, bullet points)
By Alexis Akwagyiram
LAGOS, March 1 (Reuters) - Nigerian authorities have
contacted around 100 people who may have been exposed to an
Italian man who is the country's first coronavirus patient, a
Lagos state official said on Sunday, in a bid to stop an
outbreak in Africa's most populous country.
The case, the first in sub-Saharan Africa, has prompted
fears the virus could spread quickly in Lagos. The densely
populated commercial capital of 20 million people is the biggest
city in a country of some 200 million inhabitants.
Health experts are concerned about an outbreak in a region
where health systems are already overburdened with cases of
malaria, measles, Ebola and other infectious diseases.
The Italian man arrived in Lagos on Feb. 24 from Milan on a
Turkish Airlines flight that had a connection in Istanbul. The
following day he travelled to neighbouring Ogun state and was in
the country for almost two full days before being isolated.
Asked in a telephone interview about the number of people
Nigerian authorities had been in touch with who may have had
contact with the man, Lagos state Health Commissioner Akin
Abayomi said: "It is around 100 people but that number is
increasing every minute."
The patient works as a vendor for cement company Lafarge
Africa Plc WAPCO.LG in the southwestern state of Ogun.
"The number is going up all the time as we find people who
were on the flight. We found people who were on the journey to
Ogun, in contact with him at the factory and people at the
hotel," Abayomi said.
Health Minister Osagie Ehanire, speaking on Nigerian TV,
said the man was responding to treatment and seemed to be "on
the way to recovery".
President Muhammadu Buhari's spokesman, in a statement
issued late on Sunday, called for calm.
"President Buhari urges Nigerians not to panic about the
news of this first case of Covid-19 in our country, as undue
alarm would do us more harm than good," said the statement.
Lafarge issued a statement on Sunday in which it said its
cement production lines remained open. It said 39 people who
were in direct contact with the man had been quarantined.