Timothy Olanrewaju Maiduguri
Borno State has appealed to the people not to stigmatise those who manifested symptoms of novel coronavirus or tested positive of the pandemic.
Commissioner of Health, Dr Salisu KwayaBura while giving update on behalf of the Committee on Prevention and Control of COVID-19, on Sunday said the appeal became necessary following a case that went into hiding after being tested positive. He said such person went into hiding because of stigmatization from others around.
“I want to call on such individual to avoid themselves with the therapy for their own health and that of the society,” he pleaded.
He said 15 survellianace teams have been deployed to Maiduguri metropolis and Jere, the adjoining local government. He said one of the survelliance team has been sent to bring out the positive case from hiding.
The commissioner maintained there was no need for the patient to switch off his phone and that of his mother after previous discussion with the survelliance team. He pleaded with residents to ensure they do not see COVID-19 patients.
He also explained that the state has conducted 211 cases and received 65 alerts of suspected cases through its media desk. He maintained the state health system and facilities were not overwhelmed by the increasing confirmed cases of COVID-19 especially with the response put in place.
The commissioner also confirmed 31 cases have been recorded in the state  as at Sunday afternoon. He stressed the need for hand washing, personal hygiene and social distancing as measures to prevent spread of coronavirus even as the state relax the lock down on Monday and Thursday.