The Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals on Sunday called on the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), to reverse his decision on the easing of COVID-19 lockdown, which takes effect today (Monday).
The NUAHP made the call in a statement signed by its National President, Dr Obinna Ogbonna, and its General Secretary, Martin Egbanubi.
As health workers advised the President, members of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 he sent to Kano State expressed concern about the high rate of community transmission in the state.
The presidential team said 80 per cent of every 100 samples taken from the state for testing always came out positive.
As of March, the state had no case of COVID-19, but on April 11, a former ambassador, who attended a Jumat service while awaiting his coronavirus test result, was diagnosed with the virus.
As of 5.51pm on Sunday, there were 313 COVID-19 cases in the state, which was second to Lagos State that had 1,084, the highest in the country.
Buhari had, in his broadcast to the nation on April, 27, imposed a total lockdown on Kano State and dispatched a team of experts to the state the following day as part of efforts to stop the spread of the virus.
But in the national broadcast on April 27, he said there would be phased and gradual easing of the lockdown in the Federal Capital Territory, Ogun and Lagos states, which started on March 30.
He, however, imposed a dusk to dawn curfew on the country and banned inter-state movements.
Kano has high rate of community transmission –Head of FG’s team
The Head of the team sent to Kano State by the President, Dr Nasiru Gwarzo, said the state had a high rate of community transmission of COVID-19.
Gwarzo told the BBC Hausa Service in an interview that the high rate of transmission, as shown by increased testing, was evident when compared to the former situation in the state.
According to him, there is an urgent need for the people of Kano to take the deadly disease seriously as out of every 100 samples taken for testing, 80 per cent always came out positive.
He said, “This is a serious situation which needs collective effort to address as the case of pandemic has gone beyond people’s imagination as it has gone to community transmission.
“What we are afraid of in this pandemic is what is happening. The pandemic has left the first stage of entering the country. It has left the second stage and has entered the third stage of community spread. This is not news that will be palatable to the public but like a Hausa proverb says, ‘on the day you are to take a bath, you cannot hide your navel.’”
PUNCH