By Abdallah el-Kurebe
Kebbi state governor, Atiku Bagudu on Sunday night, confirmed that the state had recorded the first case of coronavirus, COVID-19.
Addressing newsmen in Birnin Kebbi, the governor said that, the index case, who is a 40 year old, has a travel history to Lagos and had been taken to the isolation centre .
“Kebbi state has taken 13 samples to the Nigeria Centre For Disease Control (NCDC).
“Regrettably today, one of the samples returned positive. He has been taken to the Isolation centre and contacts tracing is taking place,” he said.
Bagudu also noted that the state government had, on various occasions, stressed the need to observe all the measures that have been advised, including social distancing, hygiene and mutual support for each other.
“While we have taken all steps and our health team has been mobilized adequately, isolation centre has been set up and ICUs are available, as always, prevention is better than cure.
“So, what we had hoped was to avoid it and we hope with this index case, we pray that it will be the last.
“Government will continue to provide all the needed support, we thank and appreciate the people of Kebbi state for the support they have been giving.
“But, we have to appreciate that, COVID-19 is real, it is spreading and today, regrettably, we have joined other states in country that witnessed this infection.
“This, more than anything else, proves the need for us to rededicate efforts and observe all those practices, reduce public gatherings to the barest minimum.
“Let us not panic, let us report all incidences and let’s support each other,” the governor said.
He maintained that the State Team, its Epidemiologists and other public health officials, are well trained to cater for any eventuality.
“So, there is no need to panic. They have been responding to many calls, most of them turned to be false alarms.
“But their dedication is as good as it can be. So, there is no need to panic. We can handle any care or cases, responsibly, without any panic and God’s grace, we should overcome it.”
Bagudu also extolled the dedication of President Muhammadu Buhari in taking measures to stem the tide of the pandemic.
“The President has been proactive and aggressive in taking measures to contain the pandemic.”