Borno awaits confirmation of COVID-19 status of deceased nurse

The Deputy Governor of Borno State, Alhaji Umar Kadafur, said on Sunday the state government was still waiting for results of the first suspected coronavirus case in the state.

Kadafur, who is also the Chairman of state High Powered Taskforce on COVID-19, told journalists in Maiduguri, that speculation over the death of a nurse working for the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Pulka, Gwoza local government area of the state, should be regarded as mere speculation pending the outcome of the test.

He said: “His sample has been taken, and we are waiting for the result from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

“People, particularly the media, should be patient and stop preempting the result.

“We have a patient who has passed away, there is a need to be patient as we await the result.”

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Also speaking on the matter, the state Commissioner of Health, Dr. Salihu Kwaya-Bura, said the taskforce had put in place surveillance teams in all the 21 LGAs, monitoring communities for persons with possible symptoms, to take samples for investigation.

“We have also given out phone numbers for people to call us in case of any suspected case,” Kwaya-Bura said.

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