- Lagos urges removal of bodies from morgues
- Kano cries to FG for help
Nigeria, on Saturday, confirmed 87 new cases of Coronavirus.
The Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) confirmed this on its Twitter page. This brings the number of confirmed cases in Nigeria to 1182.
It tweeted: “87 new cases of #COVID19 have been reported.
“33 in Lagos, 18 in Borno, 12 in Osun, nine in Katsina, four in Kano, four in Ekiti, three in Edo, three in Bauchi and one in Imo.
“As at 11:55 pm, 25th April, there were 1182 confirmed cases of #COVID19 reported in Nigeria.
“Discharged: 222; deaths 35.”
Meanwhile, the Lagos State governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has asked owners of bodies in the State mortuaries to pick them for burial in line with the protocol established in the management of COVID-19 or risk mass burial by the government.
He urged them to maintain social distancing, wear nose masks during the burial, which should not be attended by more than 20 persons.
The governor also said the wearing of nosemasks in any public gathering and by those on essential services in the State is now compulsory.
Speaking at his COVID-19 update at the State House, Sanwo-Olu urged private the sector and well meaning Lagosians to patronise local fashion designers for the production of nose masks for their staff and residents.
Also, Chairman, Lagos State Health Service Commission, Mr. Bayo Aderiye, said activities around COVID-19 have put pressure on healthcare provision in Lagos State, as a lot of healthcare workers are being withdrawn to take care of COVID-19 patients.
He said some of the volunteers and retired persons being trained, especially the older ones, have been deployed to the hospitals, while the younger ones were sent to the COVID-19 ‘warfront’.
Aderiye said the State Health Service Commission has trained over 1,300 staff and volunteers in the last six weeks on Basic Infection Prevention and Control protocols.
He added that the governor has been supportive, approving an increase in hazard allowance and insurance for workers and volunteers.
The Permanent Secretary, State Health Service Commission, Mr. Muyiwa Eniayewun, said the governor has prioritised the welfare of health workers in the State by increasing their hazard allowance for the month of April and presentation of insurance, urging them to use the knowledge they acquired judiciously.
In Kano State, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje has literally cried out that the situation is becoming terrible by the day as cases of COVID-19 pandemic continue to rise.
This is as the state took samples of fresh 44 persons for testing, while issue of deaths among the elderly has not been settled.
“But as the situation gets serious, we are surely on top of it, but this requires putting up a testing machine in Kano by the Federal government.
Ganduje, however, assured that nobody that tested positive was in serious need of a ventilator; hence the situation is still manageable.
He said in order to punish offenders of the current lockdown, they have established ten mobile courts to try defaulters.
The State Coordinator COVID-19 Rapids Response, Dr Tijjani Hussain, explained that the sNCDC centre at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital was locked down because the place is currently undergoing a 74-hour fumigation.
Tijjani noted that in the last two days, they recorded 44 suspected cases, bringing the total number of cases whose samples were taken to Abuja to 489, with 74 confirmed positive cases.
Ganduje explained that they usually transport the samples of suspected cases to Abuja, which takes almost seven hours and in most cases, the samples get wasted, forcing them to look for other samples.
The governor, who commended Kano people for observing the total lockdown, said the strategy is the only way to stop the pandemic.
“We are appealing to the Federal government to, as they support Lagos and Ogun states, also come to the rescue of Kano State quickly.”