By Fola James
There’s looming apprehension that Kano state could be the next epicenter of the corona virus pandemic, following the death of over 150 persons whose cause of death is yet to be ascertained.
Three other states, Oyo, Edo and Osun are also under serious watch, the Presidential Task Force, PTF on COVID 19 said on Tuesday.
With 59 persons already tested positive for the virus, Kano is now next to Lagos which currently has over 170 positive cases.
Over 80 per cent of the active cases in the state are male while less than 20 per cent according to figures gathered by the magazine.
One person has also been confirmed dead from the virus.
What could have led to the death of the persons whose graves now litter the state? This is the big poser the Director General, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu was trying to answer when he visited the state governor, Abdullahi Ganduje on Tuesday.
The NCDC boss had rushed to the state following a save our soul message from the governor a day before, asking for the federal government assistance to ascertain what led to the death of his people.
The federal government on its part has expressed concern over the rising number of COVID 19 cases in Kano.
The National Coordinator of the Presidential Task Force on COVID 19, Dr Sani Aliyu, said at the briefing, on Tuesday that the task force was concerned about the increasing cases of the virus in the state.
He said the recent multiple deaths in the state was being investigated and that other fours states have been flagged and under close monitoring.
“We are closely monitoring Kano, Osun, Oyo and Edo states. We note with particular concern, Kano State and we have engaged closely with the state government. (But) because we are increasing the number of tests as we ramp up, we are likely to have increase in the number of cases,” Dr Aliyu said.
Also, the minister of state for Health, Olorunimbe Mamora expressed worry over the development in Kano.
He warned that the state could overtake Lagos in terms of positive cases.
Mamora said, “Part of what we will do is to increase the support for Kano. Kano and Lagos have the highest population and, naturally, we would be worried.
What Lagos has is also what Kano has in terms of population, the density of population and activities, commercial and otherwise. So, we will need to do more of contact tracing, where we can, testing, isolation, and treatment.”
The federal government has intervened following reports deceased persons died of the novel pandemic, also known as COVID 19.
The state government has, however dismissed the claim to be untrue.
In a statement, the information officer of the ministry, Hadiza M. Namadi said an investigation is ongoing to find out the cause of death.
“The attention of Kano State Ministry of Health has been drawn to a post being circulated on social media platforms on purported death of number of people within two days and buried in some cemeteries within Kano metropolis.
As the ministry could not immediately verify the veracity of the claim going round, the state Commissioner of Health, Dr. Aminu Ibrahim Tsanyawa, hereby assured the general public that investigation into the matter is ongoing to verify the claim and possible causes of the deaths.
The investigation will be made public soon.
“While he prayed for the repose of the souls of the departed, the commissioner also advised people to continue to observe social distancing, wash hands regularly, avoid gatherings and stay at home to prevent the spread of Covid-19,” the statement said.
The state government has swiftly responded to the panic by shutting down the entire state.
According to Governor Ganduje, this has become necessary to stop the spread of the virus.
Markets and other public places have also been disinfected as part of the methods to contain the disease that have infected over 700 persons in the country with 19 people dead of the virus.
