Timothy Olanrewaju Maiduguri, Tunde Omolehin, Sokoto and Abdulrazaq Mungadi, Gombe
No fewer than 104 persons that had contact with the first Coronovirus index case in Borno State have been placed on isolation.
Borno State Deputy Governor and Chairman, High Powered Response Team for the prevention and control of COVID-19, Umar Kadafur, said 34 of the contacts tested negative while three others tested positive.
“So far, we have three cases, two persons have contact with the deceased health worker and the other from neighbouring Gombe State. A total of 34 tested negative,” Kadafur disclosed.
According to him, the state had an isolation centre with 15 ventilators and capacity to handle the situation with trained health workers.
“People should not panic. We are managing the situation and those infected will be given adequate treatment. COVID-19 can be treated and it is not a death sentence,” he stated.
In order to curtail the spread of the pandemic, the governor, said the Zulum-led government was working on decongestion of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) camps.
The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Borno was recorded on Sunday. The man, a nurse working with an international health organization, died on Saturday.
‘‘Coronavirus can be prevented by regular hand washing, good hygiene, social distancing including abstaining from shaking of hands and gathering according to the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).’’
Meanwhile, Governor Babagana Zulum, has ordered an enquiry into the handling of COVID-19 index case that died over the weekend in Maiduguri, the state capital
Zulum, in a broadcast on Monday night said government owes health workers who were exposed to the risk of infection.
He said the deceased, a 56-year old nurse who worked with an international health organisation, provided medical services to displaced persons in Pulka, some 120 kilometres southeast of Maiduguri, Borno capital.
“I am setting up a panel to investigate the circumstances surrounding the outbreak and handling of the index case in Borno State,” the governor said
The governor, who lamented the manner in which the index COVID 19 case in the state was handled, also disclosed that government had commenced contact tracing of the 100 persons to curtail the spread for the disease.
He urged people to observe measures put in place for the control and prevention of the disease including hand-washing, social distancing and high hygiene life-style.
Zulum, who announced a total lock down of the state commencing today for a period of 14 days, appealed to people to cooperate with the security agencies and the committee on the prevention and control of COVID 19.
Sokoto begins contact tracing of index patient
Sokoto State COVID-19 Response Team, has said deployed medical experts to trace all contacts associated with the index patient discovered in the state.
Chairman of the team and Commissioner for Health, Dr. Mohammed Ali Inname, disclosed this while giving an update on the pandemic in the state.
He assured that all those who have made contacts with the patient will be traced and accord the neccessary approach and treatments.
Inname, also said the isolation centre , situated in Amanawa, Dange Shuni Local Government has been activated prior to the discovery while treatment has commence in earnest.
“We are still investigating the cause of transmission to the index patient infected by the Coronavirus. We have deployed our personnel to commence tracing his contacts in recent time.”
He added that the response team will begin active case test in the next forty-eight hours, as a strategy to ensure that the general public did not suffer during the pandemic. The team leader urged the general public to render valid information to ease the tracing task.
The commissioner disclosed that the COVID-19 test centre will be established in the state within the next two days.
“We are not going to wait for people to come to us for test but go back to our medical registry. We need the cooperation of the general public in given us accurate information whenever is necessary to enable us curtail the outbreak of COVID 19 in the state.
Inname, also disclosed that the state government has commenced fumigation of all public hospitals across the state.
He noted that the current enforcement of border closure in the state will help in curtailing the spread of the disease.
Gombe enlists vigilance group, hunters to enforce inter-state travel restriction
The Gombe State Governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, has enlisted the services of vigilance groups and hunters to enforce measures put in place to curb the spread of Coronavirus, in which the state has recorded five index cases.
The two groups will join other security agencies, traditional and religious leaders, to ensure more strict enforcement of the measures.
The governor, said orders with other states remained closed and added that punitive measures would be taken against any large crowd found in the state.
He stated this during an emergency meeting with traditional rulers to discuss strategies to be adopted for enforcement
During the meeting and a press conference, the governor declared that in order to prevent further spread of the deadly virus, his administration had to collaborate with the traditional institution and map out the best strategies to ensure strict enforcement of the directives already in place.
“If care is not taken and measures were not taken, enough to protect the people, community spread will set-in and that will be the worst’’ he warned.