By Daniel Tyokua
There is apprehension in Abuja communities as coronavirus pandemic cases continued to increase and spread across the Federal Capital Territory, FCT,
This follows the discovery of 12 positive cases of Covid-19 in Mabushi, a village in the nation’s capital.
Fear has gripped most of the residents over the possibility of community transmission of the virus.
The AUTHORITY recall that 49 new cases of Covid-19 were reported in Nigeria, late Saturday with 12 of such cases in Abuja.
There had been few cases in Mabushi but the majority of cases uncovered at the weekend were from the village, with health officials now putting the total at 12.
One case was also uncovered at Gishiri village, another low-income but densely populated community in the territory. None of the identified cases had any recent history of foreign travel or coming in contact with a returnee.
An epidemiologist in the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) who don’t want his name mentioned described the situation as worrisome.
He said,”Due to the fear of community transmission, we had embarked on community active case search. We focused on Mpape due to its proximity to Maitama where we had a lot of cases. Then we went to Gishiri. We got one positive case. What is worrisome is the situation in Mabushi where we have gotten 12 positive cases already”, he said.
According to him, officials are working round the clock to trace all contacts related to the identified cases.
While he praised the FCT minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello for his assistance to health workers, he warned residents against trying to circumvent the rules of the lockdown, describing the Covid-19 pandemic as “an existential threat which must be tackled by all means possible”.
While FCT had 81 confirmed cases as of Saturday night, there were 56 active cases, 23 discharged patients and two fatalities.
