By Abdulmumin Murtala – Kano

The Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje has announced on Saturday that Kano State has recorded its first case of COVID-19 (coronavirus) disease.

The patient who is a 75-year-old retired civil servant and a former ambassador of the federal republic of Nigeria was said to have travelled to Kaduna, Lagos and Abuja and returned to Kano on the 25th of March 2020.

“Specifically what happened was that, a seventy 75-year-old retiree and a former ambassador of the federal republic of Nigeria, he travelled to Kaduna, Lagos and Abuja , he came back to Kano on the 25th March 2020.

“Three days ago, he made a call to our medical team inviting them for him to be tested voluntarily, and the medical team went to his residence, a sample was taken along with nine other samples, it was taken to Abuja and today we got the result that one sample proved positive while nine other samples proved negative.

“So today it is confirmed that we have one coronavirus patient here in Kano, a 75-year-old retired civil servant and a former ambassador of the federal republic of Nigeria.

“He has no history of traveling abroad recently at least for the last six weeks. But his medical records have shown that he had heart complications and probably this has aided in this particular circumstance which he found himself” the governor said.

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Meanwhile, the patient is at the Kwanan Dawakin Kudu Isolation Centre receiving treatment

Ganduje further explained that the state government is making all efforts possible to ensure that all those he had contact with are traced, tested and isolated to prevent the spread of the virus in the state.

“But what we are busy doing now, especially the medical team is to trace his contacts right from the time he came back to Kano on the 25th of March 2020.

“It was discovered that he attended marriage ceremony, so a census has been taken of those who came in contact with him and right now they have been pushed and samples of them taken.

“He also aft ended a Friday Mosque prayer last Friday. Those who were in contact with him were identified and their samples are being taken.

“Also when his sample was taken and sent to Abuja, before the result was brought back, he fell sick and he went to a private hospital and Also to a private diagnostic centre. The team has visited the place and I have ordered the closure of that private hospital after adequate census was taken of all those who came in contact with him including the doctors and the nurses and all those who had contact with him. Also the private diagnostic centre which he visited has also been closed down after adequate census has been taken of all those who came in contact with him.

“Also in his house, those who visited him, as well and we learnt that he went to a friend’s house and had dinner, the house owner was requested to make himself available for the test which he did and also made his entire family members available.

“Luckily enough here in Kano today, we don’t need to take the samples to Abuja, the federal government has already established a testing centre at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital. Right now all our samples are there for further investigation.

“Now the tracing of his contacts has continued and we want to make sure that 100 per cent of those who came in contact with him are being recovered and tested accordingly. This is a task that is going on now.

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Addressing the people of the state on measures to be taken by the state government on the recent development, the governor barred tricycle commuters from carrying more than one person per drop. He warned that business will not be as usual.

“The problem now is that, members of the public must know that business is not as usual. What we were hearing in faraway other states has now come into Kano state therefore movement of the people must be restricted. The tricycle commuters must take only one person at a time and the security agencies are being fully briefed on this issue.
We are holding discussions with the Ulama pertaining to the Friday mosques.

“Already we have been emphasising spacing, social distancing in the mosques, the provision of sanitary solutions, have all been provided all over. But that is not enough, we must take drastic action to see that social distance is maintained and the Ulama will be consulted to see that further action is taken.

“Concerning the concentration of people in our markets, that also business cannot be as usual. We will hold discussion with the business community and find out those markets that are absolutely necessary to operate for members of the public.

“So a firm decision will be taken. Ladies and gentlemen is a very serious issue and people must take this issue very seriously. We must remain in our homes and we must protect our lives. We must take all measures that have been prescribed in order to prevent our population from perishing. We want you to bear with us, we know the measures we are taking are harsh measures, is better to take the measures than to loose your life.

Finally, Ganduje also promised to provide protective facilities for frontline medical workers as well as attractive remuneration to show appreciation for their services to humanity.

“Pertaining to the health workers, we are taking adequate steps to provide protective items so that they don’t get exposed. We are also working out some remunerations for those frontline doctor, pharmacists and nurses and to see what package we can give them in order to make them feel that they are being appreciated.

“We are working out this package and very soon it will be released to the health workers” he declared.

Vanguard News Nigeria.