COVID-19: Presidential team raises alarm over high rate of community transmission in Kano

The Presidential Technical Team sent to Kano State by President Muhammadu Buhari has raised the alarm that the rate of community transmission was high in state.

The Head of the team, Dr Nasiru Gwarzo, raised the alarm in an interview with the Hausa Service of the BBC, saying 80 percent of 100 samples sent for testing always came back positive.

According to him, the high rate of transmission, as shown by increased testing, was evident when compared to the former situation in the state, adding that there is an urgent need for the people of Kano to take the deadly disease seriously.

He said: “This is a serious situation which needs collective effort to address as the case of pandemic has gone beyond people’s imagination as it has gone to community transmission.

Read also: Sanwo-Olu charges Lagosians to comply with guidelines on COVID-19 lockdown ease

“What we are afraid of in this pandemic is what is happening. The pandemic has left the first stage of entering the country. It has left the second stage and has entered the third stage of community spread. This is not news that will be palatable to the public but like a Hausa proverb says, ‘on the day you are to take a bath, you cannot hide your navel.’”

He said the team was worried about deaths, which had claimed many personalities in the state, adding that most of the recent mass deaths in the state were caused to COVID-19.

“If you follow the debate (over the cause of the Kano mysterious deaths), while there is some truth in other causes, (complications from hypertension, meningitis, among others), coronavirus is the leading cause of these deaths in Kano.

“On the coronavirus itself, when we conducted tests before, you saw four or five; now you can take 100 samples and 80 (per cent) return positive.”

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