Coronavirus: Plateau’s index case arrived from Kano – Official

The index case of coronavirus in Plateau was a woman who arrived from Kano, an official has said.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), on Thursday, announced Plateau’s first case of the coronavirus.

While providing more details on the patient, the Plateau health commissioner, Ninkong Ndam, in a statement, said the patient arrived Plateau from Kano on April 17.

Kano has the third highest number (73) of coronavirus cases in Nigeria, outside Lagos and Abuja.

Mr Ndam said the patient has been quarantined since arrival.

He said the patient later exhibited symptoms of COVID-19 and her samples were taken and sent to NVRI Vom Laboratory for COVID-19 testing.

The result, released on Thursday, confirmed the patient was positive for the virus, the commissioner said.

The patient has remained isolated and is stable and in good condition, he added.

The commissioner said the state’s surveillance team has commenced contact tracing to investigate the case further and institute other public health measures to curb the spread of the disease in the state.

On Thursday, the NCDC listed Plateau as one of the states with one of the 108 new cases of the disease.

“108 new cases of #COVID19 have been reported; 78 in Lagos, 14 in FCT, 5 in Ogun, 4 in Gombe, 3 Borno, 2 in Akwa Ibom, 1 in Kwara, 1 in Plateau.

“As at 11:30 pm 23rd April there are 981 confirmed cases of #COVID19 reported in Nigeria,” the health agency wrote on Twitter.

So far, 197 patients have been treated and discharged while the country has lost 31 persons to the disease.

The health agency said Nigeria has conducted 9,522 tests.

According to the latest figures published by Johns Hopkins University, 2,699,338 cases have been detected worldwide, with 188,437 deaths and 737,735 people now recovered.

Almajiri Ban

In a related development, the Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, has announced a ban on the activities of the ‘almajiri’ in the state.

Almajiri are children who are supposed to be studying Islamic knowledge and living with their Islamic teachers but end up begging on the streets.

Thousands of such children can be found in Northern Nigerian states.

Governor Lalong also announced an indefinite extension of the lockdown in the state from Sunday midnight till further notice.

The governor announced these in a statewide broadcast.

He said: “Considering the grave danger that Almajiri children are exposed to as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic, I am directing the immediate profiling and return of all Almajiris from Plateau State to their respective States of origin to join their families and guardians.”

“Accordingly, I have set up a Committee for the immediate profiling and return of Almajiris to be headed by Brig. General Salihu Inusa (rtd).

“This action is in tandem with the resolution of the Northern Governors Forum, which agreed to act in unison to protect these vulnerable children and further reduce the chances for the spread of the disease.”

The governor said “the move was aimed at protecting the citizens from the coronavirus pandemic and also ensuring that the entire state is fumigated.”

“As the total lockdown elapses by midnight today 23rd April 2020, the Government has adopted the following decisions; the total lockdown will be relaxed from Midnight of Thursday 23rd April 2020 to 12th Midnight of Sunday 26th April 2020 to enable people to restock their homes.

“Thereafter, the total lockdown will resume on Monday 27th April 2020.

“However, details of the next phase of the lockdown will be issued in due course,” he said.