…Begins door-to-door testing in Lagos, FCT
The federal government Wednesday expressed concern over the rising cases of COVID-19 cases in Kano state.
Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Mr Boss Mustapha, raised the alarm at the daily briefing in Abuja.
“The situation in Kano continues to be of concern, and the PTF is working in close contact with the State Government to arrest the situation. The PTF will update you as soon as there are new developments.
“The PTF notes that the number of cases has risen generally. This is attributable to expansion of our testing capacity and activities as well as evidence that community spread is taking place,” he said.
He said considering the dynamic nature of the response plan, the strategy for testing has been modified and door-to-door testing is now taking place in some communities in Lagos and Abuja.
He said testing, detection, isolation and case management and care remain central to the success in the anti-COVID-19 efforts.
The SGF also commended the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, for his actions to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus, especially during this year’s Ramadan.
“It is anticipated that by Friday 24th, the Ramadan shall commence. I want to use this medium to thank His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto and President General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs for endorsing the recommendations of the Emergency Fatwah Committee by issuing a statement guiding the conduct of the Ummah during the Ramadan.
“The statement has directed the Ummah on the suspension of obligatory religious activities such as Jumaat, congregational and other sessions during the month of Ramadan to prevent the spread of COVID 19. It similarly encouraged scholars and organisations to use all other means of communication and broadcast to disseminate information and conduct programmes. Our Prayer is that the Almighty shall accept our collective supplication and show mercy,” he said.
He said the pandemic is real and deadly, and urged Nigerians to rise together to fight what he referred to as “this potent and invisible common enemy by adhering to the guidelines and protocols for COVID-19, including personal hygiene, social distancing, wear of masks in public places, obeying the stay-at-home order and reporting unusual illness to the authorities for investigation.”
Also speaking, National Coordinator of the Presidential Task Force, Dr Sani Aliyu, described as “fake” statement linking him with a proposed complete lockdown of the country.
“My attention has been drawn to a fake task force media statement, which was said to be signed by me, talking about a proposed complete lockdown of the country.
“Not only did the statement patently failed, it was badly written. It is unfortunate that a small number of persons continued to engage mischief making at such a serious time when we are talking about Coronavirus infection.
“I must reiterate that the task force has not released any official statement on a complete lockdown, I refer to the SGF’s speech yesterday, on submitting formal findings to Mr President, this is yet to happen.
“I request that the public and the media take caution in circulating or publishing unverified news. To be very clear, all formal statements on th emergency response are made through this daily press briefing or through official press statements.
“I’m asking for all parts of the media to continue to work with us to prevent the spread of divisive and harmful fake news. I’ll also like to applaud all those patients of COVID-19 and are now sharing the experiences on their own volition.
“This step is extremely harmful, encountering the wrong signal around COVID-19 infection. When we stigmatise persons, when we discriminate against them, when we scold people, what happens is that they go into hiding at a time when they need help and support and it makes our job more difficult.
“We can only flatten the curve if people come out willingly to report symptoms based on case specification; like fever, dry cough and shortness of breath. We need to encourage more people to come out with symptoms so that we can test them and isolate them appropriately,” he said.
