Kano seeks financial aid as doctors lament poor working condition

• Borno COVID-19 response team traces 104 contacts
• Bauchi mulls partial lockdown, palliatives for residents

Overwhelmed by the exigencies of managing the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje has solicited financial support from the Federal Government to stem the increasing cases in the state.

The governor made the call when he received the Director-General, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, at Government House.

Ganduje’s call came when doctors in Kano lamented inadequate provision of basic amenities and facility to efficiently manage the pandemic.

The NCDC boss was in Kano to assess the state’s level of preparedness in the fight against the disease.

According to Ganduje, based on the population, Kano requires more support at this point than Lagos.

“We know Lagos economy today is much better than the economy of Kano and the acceptance of public enlightenment is higher in Lagos than in Kano,” he said.

Meanwhile, a senior medical doctor who is working under the taskforce regretted that health workers were more exposed to the virus than patients.

In Borno State, the COVID-19 response team has traced 104 contacts with the testing of 48 individuals for the virus.

The team led by Deputy Governor, Umar Kadafur, disclosed this at the maiden news conference held in Maiduguri on Tuesday.

According to him, the response team is embarking on preventive measures with the lockdown than curative.

While speaking on traced contacts with the index case, he said: “Our response team traced 104 individuals and tested 48 suspected cases,” adding that two tested positive and 44 negative.

The Commissioner of Health, Dr. Salihu Kwayabura, a technical committee member, said the Emergency Operation Centre had been activated to complement services of COIVID-19 treatment centres.

He therefore; urged the public to strictly adhere to personal hygiene.

In another development, Bauchi State is considering partial lockdown, after border closure failed, to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Governor Bala Mohammed has, therefore, set up a committee on palliative distribution to assuage the possible hardship on the residents.

Mohammed, who summoned a stakeholders’ meeting on Tuesday, said the Emir of Bauchi, Dr. Rilwanu Adamu, would chair the committee.

He explained that the proposed partial lockdown was to enable the government control the spread of the virus.

Stakeholders at the meeting have mandated the state government to take any action that will assist in curbing the spread of coronavirus.

The deputy governor, Baba Tela, who is the chairman of the task force, had lamented the residents’ perception of the virus. He said some of them were of the belief that the pandemic was for the rich, hence ignoring preventive measures.