‘Why Kano recorded many COVID-19 cases within days’
Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, has said that Kano State recorded a high number of confirmed COVID-19 cases within days because of its dense population. Ihekweazu said this on Monday in Abuja at the 20th joint national briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19. Kano was […]
Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, has said that Kano State recorded a high number of confirmed COVID-19 cases within days because of its dense population.
Ihekweazu said this on Monday in Abuja at the 20th joint national briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19.
Kano was closing in on the 100 cases mark before the laboratory was shut down last week.
“I will like to remind everyone that during a pandemic, the risk of spread is in those towns where the population density is highest. We are all aware of the population density in Kano. The high number of cases we are now seeing in Kano is really not a surprise,” he said.
Ihekweazu said the team did everything possible to immediately activate the Kano laboratory, but that sometimes speed also has consequences.
He said: “So we had to pause and shut the lab for the safety of workers at the laboratory. The laboratory, which is domiciled at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital and will be attending to cases from many northern states, will start testing samples today (Monday).
“I am happy to announce that the Kano lab will start working this afternoon and start testing samples again as it should be. This has not been an easy effort by any stretch of imagination.
“It has taken the collective effort of my team, the laboratory scientists in Kano and many people that have quietly worked on this to make it happen. We will not stop until the laboratory is fully functional again,” he said.
The NCDC boss noted that there were concerns about the happenings in Kano and efforts were being made to address the issues.
He added: “We want to address the Kano issue headlong. We are very concerned about what is happening in the state. But there is no magic bullet. We will continue to work hard.”