To address the ugly situation in Kano State, the test laboratory centre at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) was reopened yesterday, after suspending operations and testing for over a week.
Director-general of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Chikwe Ihekweazu, who confirmed the reopening, said a national response team made of 16 people had been deployed to the state, and the state will continue to receive support from the Federal Government.
“During a pandemic, the risk of spread is to those areas where the population density is the highest. We are all aware of the population density in Kano, so Kano has always been very high on our radar.
“The high number of cases that we are now seeing in Kano is really not a surprise and we are very concerned about this and we are doing everything we can.
“Despite our strong commitment to quickly control the spread of the coronavirus, there is no magic bullet; if anyone has one, I will be happy to get it. But as much as there has been this conversation, our role is to continue to work very hard on behalf of everyone, for the people of Kano and the people of state and the country.
“So what exactly are we doing? Firstly, is to mention that Kano has been one of the states we have had strongest relationship with at NCDC. There is no single state I have visited more often since I became the NCDC DG in 2016 than Kano. Just last week, I visited Kano and met with the governor of Kano State, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, and we had very fruitful discussion.
“We did everything possible to activate the Kano lab, but sometimes speed also has consequences. So, we had to pause and shut the lab for the safety of workers at the lab. The Kano lab will go functional today. Everybody is working hard to get the lab working. We remain focused on our targets, which is to increase testing across the country. We are also working hard to investigate the causes of the deaths in Kano.
“This is a time for leadership, solidarity and not the time to point fingers. We understand it is a marathon and not a sprint,” Ihekweazu said.
