Abdulrazaq Mungadi, Gombe
The Gombe Special Taskforce on COVID-19 has disclosed that one of the 5 confirmed index cases in the state is unaccounted for and that a team of the state public health emergency operating centre is currently tracking the confirmed case who is believed to be within the metropolis.
According to the chairman of the task force, Prof Idris Muhammad, 3 of the 5 cases are presently at an isolation centre in the Federal Teaching Hospital (FTH) Gombe, while one had been escorted to the Gombe border with Biu in Borno State and that another was still being tracked at the time of filing this report.
Addressing reporters on Tuesday shortly before proceeding to a closed-door meeting the members of the State Council of Emirs and Chiefs on Tuesday in Gombe, the state governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, announced that the state government had enlisted local hunters, vigilance and other religious aid groups to enforce the travel restriction order earlier announce by the government to curtail the spread of novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) to the state.
Confirming the update announced by the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) that of the 38 new cases recorded in the country on Monday five were from Gombe, the governor said the news of Gombe having 5 confirmed cases was a very sad one.
He said: “Just as I was about to close from office yesterday around 8 pm the director, State Security Service (SSS) called my attention and reported the ugly news to me and 30 minutes later the chairman of the state task-force on COVID-19 called and relayed the message to me,” the governor who lamented on the none compliance with measures announce by the government said.
He added that it was sad that proprietors of various Almajiri schools in the state, as well as places of worship, did little to support the government’s efforts at preventive measures, hence he warned that with the confirmation of the cases in Gombe, the government would not hesitate to ensure enforcement.
He disclosed that discussion at the meeting with the Emirs and Chiefs would be around the spread of the virus in the state and best ways to enforce the border-closure order of the government. While assuring that the state government was considering restrictive measures to ensure enforcement, the governor said they were working to slow down the spread of the virus within the communities.