Speaker of Taraba State House of Assembly, Joseph Kunini, on Tuesday urged the people of the state to strictly follow the hygiene protocol given by the World Health Organisation to curb the spread of the pandemic in the state following Sunday night’s discovery of three new cases in the state.
After a nearly two months since the last case of COVID-19 in the state was treated and discharged, the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Sunday night announced the discovery of three new active cases of COVID-19 in Taraba State, raising concern from a cross section of the public.
Kunini, who spoke in a telephone interview, said that there was no need to panic over the new cases but instead, residents should continue to observe the lockdown imposed by the state government, observe social distancing, and other hygiene procedures.
He assured that the state government was working hard to protect the lives of the people and would not hesitate to take even more proactive measures to keep the state safe.
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“I can see a lot of panic already since the announcement of the three new cases in the state. The concern of the people is quite genuine but I think the people need not panic. This is not the time for panicking. The state government has already put in place a lot of measures to ensure that any cases of COVID-19 in the state is contained timely.
“What we need to do now is to ensure that we follow even more strictly all the advice that has been given both by the state government and the WHO. people should ensure social distancing, washing of hands and use of face masks in public places, use of hand sanitizers and the lockdown,” he said.
Kunini called on the Federal Government to quickly provide testing kits and a testing centre in the state so that the true situation of the pandemic can be ascertained.
Meanwhile the Taraba State government has confirmed the result released by the NCDC on the two new active cases of COVID-19 in the state.
The commissioner for health, Innocent Vakai, who is also chairman Taraba State Technical Committee on COVID-19, also announced the cases on Tuesday to journalists in Jalingo.
Vakai said the two patients have already been quarantined at the isolation centres of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) and the Specialist Hospital, Jalingo.
Vakai while emphasising the Taraba state government’s readiness to ensure safety of the citizens from the pandemic, quoted the technical committee as blaming the citizens for not adhering to the safety measures on COVID-19.
According to him, the technical committee observed that public activities of over 20 persons like football matches and wedding ceremonies were being held in different parts of the state without the use of facemasks.
