…Total infections now 3145 and 103 deaths
By GRACE AUDU, Abuja –
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has deployed a Rapid Response Team (RRT) to support Kano State Government in strengthening its COVID-19 response and repositioning its resources to address identified gaps.
The global body which made this known on Wednesday in a statement obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said the decision was reached to quickly contain the spread of the disease in the state.
This came as the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) announced on Wednesday it recorded 195 new cases of Coronavirus in the country, bringing the total number of infections to 3145.
Out of the 195 new cases recorded by the NCDC, Kano has 30, bringing the total number of infections in the state to 372 and eight deaths from the index case that was recorded on April 11.
As part of the response strategy to halt the rapid spread of the disease in Kano, WHO trained and deployed additional 88 Local Government Facilitators (LGAFs) to support the ongoing COVID-19 response at the LGA level.
The training which lasted between May 2 and May 4, had in attendance, 88 newly engaged surveillance assistants who would be deployed to the 44 LGAs.
According to WHO, the 88 surveillance assistants are to strengthen active case search, reporting and contact tracing, risk communication as well as infection prevention and control.
The State Coordinator, Dr Jibrin Alkasim, said the rising number of positive cases had thrown up the challenge of following up on several contacts within the state.
He said the involvement of these officers would support contact tracing and active case search in both public and private health facilities as well as in communities.
Alkasim said the measure would lead to early detection and notification of cases.
“To have a pool of experts that will support response to COVID-19, particularly with respect to surveillance and risk communication, we have to train these facilitators to take the mandate to the lower level,” he said.
The WHO also quoted one of the trained LGAFs, Maimuna Muhammad, as saying that the training had enlightened her on COVID-19, most especially on surveillance and risk communication.
“I have learnt how false information is being spread through social media and how people misinterpret information on social media.
“I have also acquired skills on how to protect myself, enlighten the community about the reality of the disease, self-hygiene and protection from infection,” she said.
Another LGAFs, Muhammad Ibrahim, was quoted as saying: “this is an eye-opener. We have gotten vast knowledge on all the important areas to deal with this pandemic.
“With all the training we have got, I am confident we will be able to curb the spread by enlightening people at the grassroots on Infection Prevention and Control (IPC).”
Meanwhile, the NCDC also said on Wednesday that five new patients have been confirmed dead to the virus in the country, bringing the total number of deaths to 103.
The agency, on its confirmed twitter handle on Wednesday night, said that the 195 new cases were recorded from 13 states as follows:
“82-Lagos, 30-Kano, 19-Zamfara, 18-Sokoto, 10-Borno, 9-FCT, 8-Oyo, 5-Kebbi, 5-Gombe, 4-Ogun, 3-Katsina, while one each in Kaduna and Adamawa States.”
According to NCDC, as at 11;59 p.m. May 6, 2020 Nigeria has 2504 Active Cases of COVID-19 and 534 Treated and Discharged in the country.
The continuous increase in number of infections has risen due to the increased capacity for testing across the country.
The NCDC has exceeded daily test above 1600 on two occasions, but this did not translate into higher positive counts.
“April 29: 861 tested, 196 positive cases, 23 per cent; April 30: 2070 tested, 204 positive cases, 9.9 per cent; May 4: 976 tested, 245 positive cases, 25 per cent; and May 5: 1696 tested, 148 +positive care, 8.7 per cent.
The coronavirus is affecting 213 other countries around the world including one international conveyance (the Diamond Princess cruise ship) harbored in Yokohama, Japan.
(With NAN reports)
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