Stunned residents speak on COVID-19 rise, death in Kano

Kano residents are expressing apprehension following the death of a coronavirus patient in Kano State withing the week. The first death and rising number of infected persons in Kano has thrown many residents into palpable fear, with many, who were initially skeptical about the diseases, coming to terms with reality. The Kano State Government confirmed […]

Kano residents are expressing apprehension following the death of a coronavirus patient in Kano State withing the week.

The first death and rising number of infected persons in Kano has thrown many residents into palpable fear, with many, who were initially skeptical about the diseases, coming to terms with reality.

The Kano State Government confirmed the death of a coronavirus patient in the state in a tweet by the state’s Ministry for Health via its official Twitter handle: @KNSMOH,

It read: “Wednesday, 15th April 2020. As at 11:55 pm, 1 death of #COVID19 has been recorded in @KanostateNg.”

Some of the residents, who spoke to our reporters expressed shock over the sudden development, urging the government to rise to the occasion by intensifying contact tracing to identify possible contacts to those who already tested positive.

According to Sadiq Umar, one of the residents who spoke to Daily Trust: “Today I’ve now believed that we are into crisis because initially I thought this disease is just a manipulation to control our minds and thinking by the elites and their cohorts in the western world.

“With what I am hearing about the rising number of cases in the state, from one to four, then nine and today 21, with one death, I think that is enough warning for everyone to take caution.”

Nafiu Ahmad expressed fears over the current situation, urging the government to take proper measures to protect the lives of the citizens.

Nonchalant attitude

Speaking about the current situation in the state, the Chairman of Kano Civil Society Coalition, Comrade Ibrahim Waiy, decried the nonchalant attitude exhibited by the people in observing the basic safety measures advocated by the authorities.

He attributed that to ignorance, saying up till now, there are sections of people who still live in disbelief about the pandemic.

“Our fear is that the issue of social distancing, and the issue of community transmission are very critical because if you look at our own setting, you will see that we don’t observe those rules, we interact very closely with one another perhaps because it is a society where a lot of people live in one place, you have large number of people living in one house, all these which rises concerns for possible transmission of the disease.

“What we are saying is that people of Kano need to be given sense of belonging in this campaign because it is an all inclusive war. It might interest you to know that there are people in Kano today who still don’t believe there is COVID-19.

“Secondly, there are people who don’t believe that the government is serious.

“Thirdly, there are people who are still with the notion that this is just a political issue, so for us to emerge victorious in the end, government needs to take everybody along to make people understand that COVID-19 is real.

“I am afraid if government fails to address some of these things by carrying people along devoid of political sentiments, there is every tendency that the situation in Kano will be worse than any other place,” he added.

He expressed concern with the manner the initial trans-boundary movement ban earlier imposed by the government was implemented, urging relevant agencies to be dispassionate in enforcing the seven days total lockdown declared to contain the spread of the disease.

He identified lack of coordination among the institutions managing the COVID-19 issues in the state as one of the setbacks.

“When you look about three weeks ago when there was land border closure in the state, there were complaints that the measure really didn’t even work because there were many cases of corruption at the entry ports, many people were allowed to be coming into Kano.”

How feasible is lockdown?

On his part, Comrade Ibrahim Garba Maryam, a human rights activist in Kano, however, questioned the feasibility of the lockdown order in containing the spread of the virus.

He said there is no scientific evidence that support the lockdown order in containing the disease.

“We need to ask some questions before we get the answers. Will the lockdown help to reduce the coronavirus, is there any scientific evidence that said if you lockdown this disease is going, do we need curative measures for this coronavirus?

“Why are we telling people that there is no medicine for coronavirus and we are still discharging people? What remedies are we using to discharge people? Why don’t we sensitise the public and tell them that this is the remedy in case since you don’t have access to facilities to go and test yourself? That is the issue, you cannot just come and lockdown without any preparation.

“The palliatives the federal government is giving right now, look at Katsina, some are collecting N5000, some N10, 000 we are expecting that they would start distributing food in Kano since yesterday but nothing is happening.

“In Kano, about 70 percent of people have to go out in the morning before they look for what to eat in the morning and the afternoon. If you lockdown Kano, will that provide solution to COVID-19?”

 

Need for calm

The Director, Centre for Infectious Disease Research and Control, Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Professor Isa Abubakar Sadiq has called for calm, urging people of Kano to face the reality by observing all the safety measures advocated by the federal government against coronavirus pandemic.

He stressed the need for people to adopt preventive measures to stay safe from the ravaging virus.

According to him: “People should face the reality by observing the basic safety guidelines suggested by the government to stay safe so that we do not get overwhelmed by this pandemic.

“There are so many developed countries that are overwhelmed by this virus, with the way we are going, the rising cases every day and even death today, I think it is time for us to change our orientation about the disease.

“People should see themselves as vulnerable as other people. COVID-19 has no cure, it has no vaccine. We should therefore emphasise on hand washing, using sanitisers, observing social distance as well as stay-at-home order. People should remain at home except it is extremely necessary” he emphasized.

Police poised to ensure full compliance

The state Commissioner of Police, Mr Habu A. Sani expressed the readiness of the police command to enforcing the lockdown order across the state.

He said an operational order has been given to 71 points across the 44 local government areas of the state to ensure full compliance to the lockdown measure.

Because we want to ensure that this total lockdown is complied with, we do an operation order and identified about 71 points across the 44 local government of the state with particular reference to the metropolis where we have about eight local governments.

“This is in combination with other security agencies like the DSS, NSCDC and other agencies of government such as the FRSC as well as the state agencies like the KAROTA, HISBAH as well as other supportive bodies would also be utilized in order to ensure that this total lockdown is implemented. As I said we have identified 71 points that we need to deploy our personnel” he added.

He said the command would not hesitate to take any appropriate action within the ambit of the law against anyone that violate order, urging the public to comply as the measure was meant for their safety.