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Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The Federal Government has said that it has dispatched a delegation of health workers to Azare, Bauchi; Katsina and Jigawa states over the rising cases of unusual deaths associated with the COVID-19.
The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, said this on Tuesday in Abuja, at the 29th joint national briefing of the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19.
“A Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) delegation of experts is presently in Bauchi State on a fact finding mission to work with Bauchi State government and look into reports of unexplained deaths in Azare, Bauchi State.
“The similar missions to Katsina and Jigawa identified needs in those States, which include the need for a molecular laboratory in Katsina to reduce the backlog of pending tests and the turn-around time for results. This will be looked into.
“Other high burden areas or states grappling epidemic control issues will be offered similar support. In this connection, I must commend the ongoing initiative being developed by the Governors’ Forum, to give each other mutual support, by rallying available human resource for health volunteers from states, to support other states with high burden and manpower shortages,” he said.
Ehanire commended the governors of Lagos and Ekiti states in this respect.
He also said that as at Tuesday morning, 242 new covid-19 cases were confirmed in Nigeria, giving a total of 4,641 in 34 states of the Federation and the FCT, with unfortunately 150 deaths recorded.
He added that 902 cases have happily been cured and discharged from care.
He said the 242 new cases reported are Lagos 88, Kano 64, Katsina 49, Kaduna 13, Ogun nine, Gombe six, Adamawa four, FCT three, and one each for Ondo, Oyo, Zamfara, Borno, Bauchi and Rivers states.
“The Federal Ministry of Health is working with its agencies, other organs of government and multinational organizations in continuous efforts to control transmission with tried, tested and innovative measures.
“The nature of this outbreak, as we have observed in other countries, is such that the sustainability of any strategy may be challenged as time goes on, by evolving realities at home and across the globe. We therefore encourage the organs of state maintaining vigilance at our borders, including our Port Health Services, to keep up the good work and not to tire or relent.
“The Federal Ministry of Health has been closely monitoring and reviewing the unfolding situation in some states, where COVID-19 appears to have gained ground. We had responded to the situation in Kano by dispatching a team of medical experts to provide technical support to the State Ministry of Health.
“I am happy to inform that the team has done well in their assignment and has reported a lot of success in helping to stabilize the state’s health system and assuage the disquiet among health workers, who are to restart routine service delivery,” he said.
