•FG sends Epidemiologists, reagents to Kano
•Says, Testing Lab shut for decontamination after infection of staff
•Says pandemic spreading like wild fire
•Sokoto’s index case sets govt in panic mode
•Adamawa records first COVID-19 case
•Kaduna discharges 1, confirms 3 cases; flays inter-state travels

By Umar Yusuf, Omeiza Ajayi, Ibrahim Hassan Wuyo & Nasiru Suleiman

Despite spread of coronavirus in Kano, the state government has suspended testing, citing lack of facilities. This came on a day members of Sokoto State Response Team on COVID-19 expressed shock as to how the index case in the state contracted the virus, despite not having any travel history to states with the virus.

This is even as Adamawa State, yesterday, recorded its index case of COVID-19, as Kaduna State discharged one more patient, brining the number of those discharged so far to five.

In Kano, a member of the state’s COVID-19 taskforce, Prof. Sadiq Isah, told BBC Hausa Service in an interview yesterday that the testing was suspended in Kano centre because it lacked some basic needs.

“Henceforth, all suspected cases will be transported to Abuja for testing before announcing the result,” he said.

The official said they had notified the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, about the development.

Prof. Isah said Kano would resume testing for coronavirus as soon as all the needed materials were available in the centre.

Isah said suspending the coronavirus test in Kano was a great setback in the fight against the spread of the disease in the state, which accounts for almost 10 per cent of the total 782 coronavirus cases in Nigeria and whose figure had risen daily for the past week.

The COVID-19 testing centre, domiciled at Malam Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, hosts many Northern states’ suspected cases.

Apparently reacting to the situation in Kano yesterday, The Federal Government expressed concern at the wave of deaths in the state, saying it had sent a team of epidemiologists there to unravel the circumstances behind the development.

Lamenting that the COVID-19 pandemic was spreading like wild fire, the government disclosed that it was working with Kano State government to halt the deaths.

Government also announced that following request for more reagents, it had sent the supplies to the state but noted that the laboratory had to be shut after some of its staff became infected with the virus.

According to government, there is need to decontaminate laboratory first before launching it back into operations.

Chairman of the Presidential Taskforce PTF on COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha, who stated this yesterday, alongside Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, during the daily briefing of the Taskforce, said:   “The situation in Kano continues to be of concern, and the PTF is working in close contact with the state government to arrest the situation. The PTF will update you as soon as there are new developments.

“Let me remind us all that this pandemic is real and it is spreading like wild fire. We must all arise to fight this potent and invisible common enemy by adhering to the guidelines and protocols for COVID-19, which include personal hygiene, social distancing, wear of masks in public places, obeying the stay-at-home order and reporting unusual illness to the authorities for investigation.’’

Epidemiologists in Kano

On his part, Health Minister, Dr Ehanire, said his ministry has already sent a team of epidemiologists to Kano State to assist local authorities in finding answers to the current wave of deaths in six local governments of the state.

He said:  “With regards to Kano and the news around there, the Federal Ministry of Health, through the Chief Consultant Epidemiologist, has been with the Public Health Department of Kano State and also, 16 officers from the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, were there to find out what was true about the news of burials going on there.

“They took place in Gwale, Dala, Kumbutso, Tarauni, Nasarawa and the Kano Municipal Local Governments. The state’s Public Health Department is still looking into it to find out if these burials were out of normal and they are carrying out further questioning of people to see what was peculiar about the story.

READ A,LSO: [People Talk] COVID-19: Should FG extend lockdown?

“Since there was no record and no test done on the deceased, the answers will come up a few days later when epidemiologists come up with their reports.”

Contaminated testing lab

“On testing in Kano, there was a report that they had reduced availability of reagents and they were supplied that, but in addition to that, there was a temporary halt in activities because some of the workforce in the laboratory got infected and the laboratory had to be shut down for decontamination. That was just temporary but with regards to the supply of reagents, they have been replenished. They have the VPE and reagents and they are working.”

He said the ministry also convened an emergency National Council of Health virtual meeting with state Commissioners of Health and the acting Secretary, Health and Human Services Secretariat of the Federal Capital Territory FCT, where far reaching decisions were taken regarding the control of the virus.

The minister added:  “Yesterday, April 21 (Tuesday), the Federal Ministry of Health convened a successful Emergency National Council of Health NCH meeting, via teleconference, where State Commissioners of Health and the Acting FCT Secretary for Health, were engaged, to review status and align all response to COVID-19 outbreak in the country. Some of the resolutions unanimously adopted were that:

“All persons diagnosed with COVID-19 will, henceforth, be treated in the state where the diagnosis was made, rather than be referred to their states of origin, except there is a medical indication to the contrary. This is to avoid the high risk of exposure of other persons in the course of transfer.

“Patent and Proprietary Medicine Vendors, PPMVs, and Pharmacists will, forthwith, be prohibited from attempting to treat persons diagnosed as, or suspected to be COVID-19 patients, or else have their operating licenses cancelled

“Private hospitals desiring to manage COVID-19 patients should apply to their state Ministries of Health for permit, meet standard IPC standards and be accredited by a FMoH certified state team after compliance with protocols before being granted;

“States should notify FMoH of their isolation and treatment centres for inclusion on the COVID-19 HMIS Platform to ensure a well-coordinated national response.

“27 Rapid Response Teams, RRTs, have been deployed to states by NCDC to support the COVID-19 response, most recently to Abia, Gombe and Sokoto states.”

In a response to the development, The Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, Dr Chikwe Ikweweazu, said the Agency was aware of the situation and normal services would be restored soonest.

“We are aware. There are some operational challenges as there often is when a new laboratory is activated. It will be back on stream soon,” he explained.

Investigations by Vanguard revealed that the Kano test centre was inaugurated about two weeks ago to complement the testing capacity in the country for COVID-19.

Sokoto’s index Case

In Sokoto, members of the state’s Response Team against COVID-19 are faced with a daunting task of unravelling how the index case in the state contracted the virus.

Addressing newsmen in Sokoto, chairman of the team and Sokoto State Commissioner for Health Dr. Mohammed Ali Iname, said the victim claimed he had no travel history to any endemic region of COVID-19 in the country in the last four weeks.

He said:  “We are still also investigating how this index case was infected because, according to preliminary report from doctors that have been treating him, he did not have any travel history in the last four weeks.”

According to him, unless the team investigates and finds the source where the index case contracted the virus, the team will be left to assume there is community transmission of the virus in the state.

“So we are trying to make sure that we will be able to unravel and investigate the main source where he got infected, otherwise what this indicates is that there is community transmission of this disease in the state, but before we conclude on that, we need to come out with detailed investigation on how we think he was infected,’’ the commissioner said.

He said the full history of the index case was very important to the all residents in the state as it will be a pointer to the particular place the index case got infected.

According to him, this will be very central to the strategy to contain the virus in the state.

Iname said as part of strategy to fight the virus in the state, a method of communication and information management would be adopted by establishing   an information centre   to enable the team   get information from the general public and respond to it promptly.

He maintained that the closure of inter-state entry routes was still in force, adding that the National Youth Service Corp camp was still being used as the state’s quarantine centre.

Adamawa’s index case

Also yesterday, Adamawa State recorded its index case of COVID-19, with the suspected victim taken to the Isolation centre located at the Specialist Hospital in Yola.

The patient, who is reported to have sneaked into the state from Kano, has been suffering from catarrh and uncontrollable cough since he sneaked into the state.

It was learned that on his arrival in Yola, the patient personally reported himself to health authorities where he was initially tested and his blood samples taken for test.

The patient was in the early hours of yesterday, picked in his home, having tested to the virus.  The name of the patient was, however, not disclosed.

Meanwhile, Kaduna State government has confirmed the discharge of one more COVID-19 patient, bringing the number discharged so far to five.

Commissioner of Health in Kaduna State, Dr. Amina Baloni, who disclosed yesterday, also confirmed three new cases, including a 23-year-old man who came into the state from Istanbul, Turkey, via Dubai, in March.

Baloni said in a statement:  “Among the 3 new cases is a 23-year-old male who came into the state from Istanbul via Dubai sometime in March.

“The second patient is 51-year-old male who was tested in Samaru, Sabon-Gari local government area, after coming in from Kano.

“The third patient had earlier travelled to Kano and he is a 42-year-old male from Unguwan Geza, Kaduna.

“These new cases reflect the danger that interstate travels pose to efforts to contain COVID-19.  Such travels spread the virus from place to place, complicate contact tracing and risk implanting the virus in communities.’

“The lockdown which mandates people to stay at home is based on the logic that during a pandemic, the less contact there is with others, the safer everyone is.’

“Residents   should   avoid interstate travels and to promptly report to the authorities any person who has recently travelled from an affected state and develops symptoms of cough, fever or sore throat.

“The importance of hand-washing, personal hygiene, social distancing and the avoidance of large gatherings in helping protect us all from COVID-19. It is important to stay home, stay safe and save lives.”

Vanguard