The Kano State Government has said that it would extend the lockdown in the state for another seven days.
Governor Abdullahi Ganduje revealed the plan during an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today on Wednesday.
The state had initially imposed a seven-day lockdown which took effect from April 16 and was to expire on April 23, but with the rise of COVID-19 cases in the state, the governor said it had become necessary to extend the lockdown so as to curb the spread of the disease.
He, however, noted that tomorrow, April 23, will be declared a free day to allow residents to make preparations for the Ramadan period.
“The lockdown was initially for one week, which is expiring tomorrow but we’ve declared that (from 6:00 am) tomorrow (to 12 midnight), will be a free day so that people will make preparations for the fasting period but by midnight, the lockdown will continue for another seven days,” Ganduje said.
Addressing the issue of the number of deaths recorded in the state, the governor noted that contrary to news reports that scores of persons have died from the COVID-19, there has only been one death so far in the state.
He said a lot of the news making the rounds are false and the government is making efforts to arrest peddlers of such fake news.
“That information is not correct because we undertook some survey and investigation (about the initial report of 70 deaths). We found out that it was only 13 deaths in that place and we will soon get a complete report but I assure you that that information is not correct,” the governor said, adding, “looking at previous reviews, there is nothing to show that there is a usual frequency of deaths.
“The death recorded from coronavirus is only one and the NCDC is aware of that,”.
His comments come hours after the newly established testing centre for COVID-19 in the State suspended its operation.
The Director of the Centre for Infectious Diseases Research, Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), Isah Abubakar who confirmed this to Channels Television said the centre had run out of test kits.
Abubakar added that the centre would remain closed until new test kits are supplied from Abuja, the nation’s capital.
Beyond the issue of lack of sufficient testing kits, the governor, while addressing the matter, disclosed that there might have also been cases of infections among the staff at the centre.
He, however, gave the assurance that the Federal Government is handling the matter.
“The laboratory has been closed down for today and we understand that there is an infection within the laboratory. Probably some of the technicians have tested positive but I think the Federal Government is taking care of the urgently.
“Also there is the issue of scarcity of reagents and scarcity of the bottles that convey the samples. That too has been discussed with the DG who has assured us that they are taking action,” Ganduje said.
