Amidst the uncertainty over the spate of deaths in Kano, the Presidency, yesterday, said verbal autopsies were ongoing to ascertain the cause.
Scores of persons, among them professors, medical doctors, cleric, bankers and politicians passed on within a few days.
The victims were not tested for the virus before their deaths and before they were buried according to Islamic rites.
Kano has the third-highest coronavirus case in Nigeria, behind Lagos and Abuja.
In a statement, yesterday, Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, said there were ongoing verbal autopsies underway in Kano State to identify the precise cause of the sudden and rapid increase in mortality in recent days.
Verbal autopsy, according to the Centre for Global Health Research, is a method of gathering information about symptoms and circumstances of an individual’s death to determine the cause of death. It involves gathering health information and description of events prior to death from interviews with persons(s) familiar with the deceased. The information gathered are then analysed.
Shehu advised Nigerians to be prepared to accept whatever was scientifically shown to be the cause of the deaths.
“While some may wish to believe that there are other causes at play here like hypertension, diabetes, meningitis, and acute malaria’, there are others who say it is COVID-19.
“We should be prepared to accept the medical and scientific result of the autopsies and work together to confront the common enemy,” he said.
Testing was suspended in the state last week due to the nonavailability of testing materials and the fact that some of the health personnel tested positive for the virus. The unexplained deaths occurred during the suspension of testing in the city.