Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja

The Federal Government has said the coronavirus (COVID-19) test laboratory centre at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), in Kano has reopened after suspending operations on Monday, informing that testing has commenced immediately.

The closure of the center was due to shortage of reagents according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

The Director-General of NCDC, Chikwe Ihekweazu, confirmed the reopening at the daily briefing of the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 pandemic.

He said a national response team made of of 16 people had been deployed to the state, assuring that the state will continue to receive the support of the Federal Government.

Recall that residents of Kano have expressed anxiety over the strange ailment killing many people, including prominent indigenes, in the city almost on a daily basis.

At the weekend, the strange disease killed a professor of Mass Communication, Bayero University, Kano, Murtala Balarabe Maikaba; Prof. Ibrahim Ayagi, owner of Hassan Gwarzo School; former Grand Khadi of Kano, Alhaji Dahiru Rabiu; and former Editor of Triumph, Mal Musa Tijjani among others.

According to the DG NCDC: “I will like to remind everyone that during a pandemic, the risk of spread is to those areas where the population density is the highest. We are all aware of the population density in Kano; so Kano has always been very high on our radar.

“The high number of cases that we are now seeing in Kano is really not a surprise and we are very concerned about this and we are doing everything we can.

“Despite our strong commitment to quickly control the spread of the coronavirus, there is no magic bullet; if anyone has one I will be happy to get it. But as much as there has been this conversation, our role is to continue to work very hard on behalf of everyone, for the people of Kano and the people of state in the country.

“So what exactly are we doing? Firstly, is to mention that Kano has been one of the states we have had strongest relationship with at NCDC. There is no single state I have visited more often since I became the NCDC DG in 2016 than Kano.

“Just last week, I visited Kano and met with the governor of Kano State, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje and we had very fruitful discussion.”

Ihekweazu added: “We did everything possible to activate the Kano lab, but sometimes speed also has consequences. So we had to pause and shut the lab for the safety of workers at the lab.

“The Kano lab will go functional today. Everybody is working hard to get the lab working.

“We remain focused on our targets, which is to increase testing across the country.

“We are also working hard to investigate the causes of the deaths in Kano.

“This is a time for leadership, solidarity and not the time to point fingers. We understand it is a marathon and not a sprint,” Ihekweazu said.

PTF National Coordinator, Dr. Sani Aliyu also speaking in the same vain said: “People of Kano, you are not alone. The Federal Government will ensure the issues are quickly resolved.”

According to him, “a lot has been said about Kano; I just want to further add that we have been working very closely with our partners, specifically the UN system and the US government, to ensure that the whole aspect of the Kano response, particularly where we are having difficulties in terms of testing, in terms of access to patients, in terms of logistics, is sorted out and we are very grateful to our donors for coming together and making sure that we have a very coherent response.

“I will again emphasise the message to the people of Kano; they are not alone; the Federal Government will continue to take its responsibility seriously and we’ll continue to work with the state government and other stakeholders to ensure that the issue in Kano is sorted out as soon as possible.”

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, on his part said that the situation in Kano State was being addressed closely by the NCDC in strong partnership with the state government and guidance by the Federal Ministry of Health and also the development partners.

This is as he warned that the nation is yet out of the woods tackling the virus.

“The situation in Kano is being addressed very closely by the NCDC in strong partnership with the state government and guidance by the federal Ministry of Health as well as support from our development partners,” he said.