Kano State governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, says his administration is winning the fight against COVID-19 pandemic as evidenced by statistics which indicate a downward movement in the spread of the disease.
According to the governor, statistics have shown a gradual movement of the spread of the pandemic from the initial growth of 7.3 percent at the beginning of the pandemic to less than 1 percent as of today.
Governor Ganduje, who made this observation at a news briefing organised by the State Task Force on Covid-19 at Government House in Kano, stated that his administration would continue to strengthen all the measures put in place to curtail the disease.
Giving an insight into the present state of the pandemic in the state, Sabitu Shu’aibu Shanono, deputy-technical coordinator of the State Task Force on Covid-19, disclosed that the state is recording a major breakthrough in the curtailment of the pandemic.
“As it is today in Kano, we have seen the beginning, the peak and we are now experiencing the descending down of our cases. Our cases are largely contained within a particular geographical space. 83 percent of our cases are within the eight metropolitan local government areas.
“From March to April a total of 1,700 tested samples were collected, while in May alone a total of 4,600 tested samples were collected, and 14,000 tested cases were recorded in the month of June,” he revealed.
Shanono further explained that over 20,000 people of different cadres were trained in various communities in the state.
He said the bulk of those trained were health personnel as well as non-health personnel, noting that out of the total number of trained workers, over 9,000 are health workers, while the remaining are frontlines workers including media professionals and community leaders.
“We want to assure everybody that COVID-19 pandemic in Kano is under control. Want we are soliciting from the people is continuing support for the state government in the fight against the disease and this is by ensuring they continue to observe all the protocols provided by health professionals,” he said.
Corroborating the statistical presentation, Ganduje disclosed that on the 7th of July there were 252 samples and only 3 were positive, adding that on 8th July the samples collected were 845 with 20 positive cases and on the 9th July, there were 1,176 samples with only 11 cases tested positive.
He stated further that on the 10th on July there were 344 tested samples with only 1 positive, on 11th July there were 323 samples with zero positive, on 12th July there were 280 samples with only 6 positive cases, and on the 14th July 354 samples were collected with only 5 positive cases.
He added that from all indications the positivity rate revealed in the data collected shows that Kano’s total cases stand at 7.3 percent which is far less than that of a country that stands at 18.6 percent.
“Comfortably, we can say we are winning the war against the pandemic. And we thank Almighty Allah for that. I also have to commend our State Task Force and our frontline health workers alongside media for their all-important role in this response,” he noted.
