Kaduna claims 16 new COVID-19 cases are almajirai from Kano

Benue to set up infectious diseases institute at BSU

Kaduna State Ministry of Health has confirmed that the 16 new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the state are almajirai who returned from Kano State.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Amina Mohammed-Baloni, said one of the 17 cases announced by Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Wednesday was a repeated test from an existing case. She said their test results returned positive from 40 samples released yesterday, raising the number of active COVID-19 cases in Kaduna from nine to 25.

Her words, “The high number of positive results from persons with travel history from outside the state confirms the Kaduna government’s fears about the danger of infection from neighbouring states and the role of inter-state travel in the spread of COVID-19 across state lines.

“As part of the implementation of the preventive measures, our health officials are monitoring suspected COVID-19 cases who are believed to have sneaked into the state despite the ban on inter-state travel.

“The Ministry of Health wishes to draw attention to the appeal the State Standing Committee on COVID-19 has made to the security agencies to accelerate the blocking of entry points into the state. Effective enforcement of the prohibition of entry into Kaduna State as outlined in the Quarantine Orders is clearly a key success factor in efforts to avert the nightmare scenario of community transmission.”

The commissioner reminded the general public of the importance of hand-washing, personal hygiene, social distancing and the avoidance of large gatherings in helping to curb spread of the virus.

Meanwhile, the Benue State Government has concluded plans to establish Centre for Emerging Infectious and Tropical Diseases Intelligence and Management in the state.

This is coming on the heels of the raging pandemic and other infectious diseases. Governor Samuel Ortom made this known yesterday at the Benue Peoples House, Makurdi, while receiving a proposal from the Provost, College of Health Sciences, Benue State University (BSU), Prof. Linus Saalu, on the need to kick-start the project.

The centre is to be domiciled in the College.Ortom, who expressed happiness at the proposal, described the establishment of the centre as timely and would help in tackling the rampant cases of diseases in the state.

According to him, when the institute comes alive, it will help in repositioning the state’s health sector.“This will be a plus and a milestone for the health sub-sector, not just in Benue but the entire country,” he said.

The governor then set up a committee headed by the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Sunday Ongbabo, to look at the proposal and fine-tune the key areas, to fast-track the kick-off.