•Govt says 97 persons undergoing testing

By Ndahi Marama

The United Nations, yesterday, said the aid worker, who died of complications from Coronavirus, COVID-19, in Borno had no travel history outside the state.

Edward Kallon, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, said efforts are being made to trace anyone the deceased might have come in contact with.

Kallon said, in a statement, that the deceased was “devoting his life to treating vulnerable internally displaced persons who have lost everything during the conflict raging in the north-east. He had no travel history outside of Borno State and made the ultimate sacrifice,” he added.

“Aid organisations, under the lead of the World Health Organisation (WHO), are working closely with the National Center for Disease Control, NCDC, Borno State Government, the Federal Ministry of Health and the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, to trace anyone whom the nurse might have been in contact with in Borno State, and to bolster measures to prevent the spread of the virus and protect IDPs and communities in Borno State.”

The UN coordinator informed that quarantine facilities were being set up across the state by aid workers, in support of Borno State authorities, and “particularly at all points of entry from neighbouring countries”.

He said a COVID-19 treatment facility and a testing laboratory had been established in Maiduguri and a second treatment facility was being developed.

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Kallon also called for support for the millions of vulnerable persons in the north-east, saying: “Nearly eight million people are in need of urgent humanitarian aid in the conflict-affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, with many depending on assistance to survive. Functional health facilities, especially in remote locations in Borno State, are scarce and over three million people urgently need food assistance.

“With the COVID-19 pandemic affecting many areas in Nigeria, it is essential for the most vulnerable to continue receiving humanitarian aid, including water and soap or substitute solutions.”

Meanwhile, Chairman of the state COVID-19 Response Team, and Deputy Governor  Umar Kadafur, while lamenting the outbreak of the virus in the state, announced that no fewer than 97 persons are undergoing testing among others, adding that the dead aid worker “was a 56-year-old citizen of Borno, brought in from Pulka in Gwoza Local Government Area that shares border with Cameroun Republic, with features of severe respiratory disease. He was managed in the UMTH but unfortunately, he succumbed to the disease.”

Vanguard