FG expresses concerns over growing COVID-19 cases in Kano

The Federal Government on Tuesday expressed concerns over the rising cases of COVID-19 in the Northwest state of Kano.

The Minister of State for Health, Dr Olorunnibe Mamora disclosed this in Abuja at a media briefing organised by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, adding that the Federal Government would increase its support for the highly populated state to stop the spread of the virus.

The cases in Kano shot up to 59 on Monday as 23 more persons were infected with the virus, whose spread was hastened by the index case, who was reported to have attended a Jumat prayer in Kano.

Expressing worry about the rising cases in Kano, Mamora said that the population density of Kano could be compared to Lagos, which is the epicentre of the virus in the country.

He said: “Part of what we will do is to increase the support for Kano. Kano and Lagos have the highest population and, naturally, we would be worried.

“What Lagos has is also what Kano has in terms of population, the density of population and activities, commercial and otherwise. So, we will need to do more of contact tracing, where we can, testing, isolation, and treatment.”

Also speaking in the same vein, the PTF coordinator, Dr. Sani Aliyu, said the Federal Government and the PTF had noted the rising cases of COVID-19 in the state, adding that the task force was working with the state government to tackle the surge.

He said: “We are closely monitoring Kano, Osun, Oyo and Edo states. We note with particular concern, Kano State and we have engaged closely with the state government. (But) because we are increasing the number of tests as we ramp up, we are likely to have increase in the number of cases.”

Aliyu further disclosed that the state government had set up a team to investigate the increase in coronavirus cases in the state.

“There is a possibility that we will continue to have more cases coming in as we increase the number of tests”, Aliyu said.

Responding to enquiries on reports of multiple deaths and mass burial in Kano, the PTF coordinator said: “Over the weekend, we engaged directly with the state governor and, virtually, over the last two days, I have been talking to people in Kano to find out what is going on.

“It’s not very clear whether the reports we are getting are actually factual or not. But they (Kano State Government) have set up a team that will be investigating this further.

“In terms of what we are doing from the Abuja side, the Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control made an on-the-spot assessment yesterday. He just left Kano today (Tuesday).”

Aliyu said the PTF had sent Rapid Response Teams to Kano, adding that the task force continued to engage with the government in terms of testing.

“The test centre in Kano started last week. We are also looking at opening more centres for taking samples so that we can increase the number of tests and also improve the efficiency of contact tracing”, Aliyu said.