From Maduabuchi Nmeribeh, Kano
The COVID-19 Presidential Task Force delegation to Kano on Sunday blamed the rising cases of the Corona Virus in the state to the refusal of residents to strictly adhere to prevention protocols of the deadly virus.
The Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Health and leader of the delegation, Dr. Nasiru Sani Gwarzo, who spoke to journalists at Muhammadu Buhari Special hospital, shortly after witnessing the handing over of 400-samples per day capacity mobile test laboratory donated by Akiko Dangote Foundation expressed worry over the attitude of Kano residents towards the fight against COVID-19 in the state.
Gwarzo regretted that many residents in Kano have refused to come to terms with the reality that COVID-19 is real.
He, however, urged residents to obey the lockdown order, maintain social distancing and personal hygiene so as to avoid uncontrollable community transmission of the virus.
According to him, “awareness is our main problem until when the Kano are ready to accept the reality that COVID 19 is real then we have a long way to go because most of the residents are yet to believe with the seriousness of the pandemic until they take precautionary measures against spread of the disease through community transmission.
“The Presidential Task force are here to support the state team we are not inventing the wool and we not creating a pararell structure we only have instruction from the Federal government to come and assist by working with the team by getting full cooperation.
“We don’t look at problems as shortcoming but we look at them as challenges that is why the Presidential Task force is here to resolve these challenges.
“The major challenges we have I can assure you is not from the government of Kano is from the people of Kano, they must have understanding, they must have the clear appreciation of the magnitude and trajectory of the epidemic otherwise if they don’t whatever is invested will come to come to a difficult end.”
Gwarzo who is the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Health added that presently Kano has three hospitals that are functioning which can adequately take care of COVID-19 patients.
He said, “at the moment we have Six Centres that are ready to take the upsurge. in the next forty Eight hours Kano will have a new five hundred space capacity the most so welcome test the more we get in the next two weeks we will be able to make one thousand to three thousand capacity so that more people are received, giving care, and in the process protected from not only getting sick but protected from not transmitting the disease.”
Commenting on mass death in Kano, Gwarzo said there are three studies that are going on the results will be giving an idea very soon and now we are getting clearer on the causes of death and we will tell you people very shortly when the test are done we shall give you very clear pictures of the outcome of the result.
He further stated that, “here in Kano we have about three Centres one has the capacity of 180 samples and another 80. It is 26O and with the Dangote Foundation bringing another new Mobile Testing Laboratory Centre in the state with 400 samples capacity there will be tremendous improvement.
“It will now reach about 660 within the possible time and that will not be enough and since they said within one week it will accommodate one thousand samples that will make us to get out of this problem.
“Within no time you will see other states will be bringing their sample here in Kano and that will further ginger us to further expand our scope to achieve maximally.
“No Country in the whole world will say that she is free of the virus we have to be proactive in expanding and providing sophisticated equipment that could enable us to be ahead of COVID 19 and if we relent the end result will be destructive.”
