Committee decries Kano’s trade with Taraba despite restriction

– Benue inaugurates 11 task forces to check COVID-19 spread
– FMC Lokoja to reject patients without a facemask

The dream of Taraba State government of halting the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) into the state may be frustrated following the ongoing trade between the state and Kano.

The state’s technical committee on COVID-19 yesterday raises the alarm that despite the ban on travels to and from the state, traders from the two states continued to engage in business activities, a situation the committee viewed as a threat to the fight against the virus.

Citing Kano as the Northern state with the highest cases, at a press briefing in Jalingo, it said the dream of Taraba standing out without a case was gradually turning to a mirage.

Led by the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Innocent Vakaai, the committee said, “We know there is an interstate restriction of movement, but we wonder how these people still managing to go to Kano and come back daily.”

In another vein, Benue State government has inaugurated a task force to monitor restriction of movement across the state border with Cameroon and 10 interstate borders to curtail the spread of COVID-19.

Addressing the task forces yesterday, Chairman, State Action Committee on COVID-19, who is also the Deputy Governor, Benson Abounu, charged them to stop the spiral effect that coronavirus might have on the state.

Meanwhile, the Federal Medical Centre Lokoja, Kogi State, has said it will henceforth not render service to any patients not wearing a facemask.

In a statement yesterday in Lokoja, the management noted that the law would take effect from April 22, 2020.

The statement read in part, “In view of the fact that from evidence made available by National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), we are already into person-to-person community spread phase of COVID-19 and there could be asymptomatic carriers who can potentially infect others.”