The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), has suspended laboratory tests for Covid-19 in Kano, prompting the senator representing Kano North, Barau Jibrin to issue an urgent SOS appeal to the federal government for assistance to curb the coronavirus pandemic sweeping through the metropolis.
“Even in the USA, the administration of President Donald Trump is providing financial and material supports to states experiencing spikes in community transmission of the pandemic”, he said, adding that “President Muhammadu Buhari should please assist Kano State at this point in time.” He lamented that if not because of the lockdown, he would have raised a motion to that effect on the floor of the upper chamber of the National Assembly.
In a statement in Abuja yesterday, Sen Jibrin said with the noticeable spike of the virus in the Kano metropolis, there was the need for the federal government to assist the state government with funds, equipment and additional testing facilities to meet the challenges of the most populous state in the country in combating the menace. He said such emergency assistance would not only be useful to Kano but also to the surrounding states and invariably the country because of the strategic role Kano plays in the life of the nation.
The senator who is the Senate Committee Chairman on Appropriations cited the Federal Government’s assistance to Lagos State because of its strategic location and importance to the country. He said with the alarming rate of the spread of COVID-19, there was the need to help Kano State especially the rural communities of the state. Sen. Jibrin pleaded with the Federal Government not to wait until the virus spreads beyond the capability of the state before coming in.
The appeal came after the NCDC announced the suspension of the Covid-19 testing center in Kano after the center reportedly ran out of testing kits. The test laboratory, which was activated at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, barely a week ago, has so far examined 386 cases; of which 73 tested positive. An impeccable source who elected anonymity told Huhuonline.com that the suspension of the testing center was due to a shortage of testing kits. The source said samples from Kano and other neighboring states would henceforth be referred to Abuja.
“The testing kits are temporarily out of stock and as soon as we receive more kits from Abuja, tests will continue. In the main time, samples will be taken to Abuja,” the source said. But Prof. Isa Abubakar Sadiq, director of Centre for Diseases Research, Bayero University, Kano, denied the suspension was as a result of the lack of test kits. Sadiq, who is also a senior member of the Kano State Task Force on COVID-19, said the centre was closed to enable routine fumigation, to make the facility safe for health workers on core duty.
“It is true that active testing at the centre is presently suspended but not because of lack of testing kits. I have just confirmed that new test kits have just arrived from Abuja and so we have the materials needed for tests. But to set the record straight, the centre is being shut down to enable disinfection activities. We are presently fumigating the lab to keep it safe for the health workers working here. So, it is not strange.It is just a routine practice to sanitise the lab especially places like this with volumes of highly contagious samples.”
A deputy director at the NCDC, Nasiru Magaji Sadik, told journalists in Kano that fumigation takes a minimum of 48 hours. He said the Kano test centre could reopen tomorrow. Available statistics show Kano currently has the third highest confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country after Lagos and Abuja.
