Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi state has raised an alarm over an attempt to declare fictitious cases of Coronavirus in the Northcentral state.
POLITICS NIGERIA had reported that the state government said it will not hide any case of Coronavirus if the pandemic breaks out in the state.
In a statement on Tuesday by the state Commissioner for Information and Communication, Kingsley Fanwo, alleged plan to import the disease into the state through illegal means.
Fanwo said Kogi and Cross River are the two states yet to confirm a single case of the disease. reiterating that it will not hide any case of COVID-19 if it occurs in the state.
Reacting to a case of an expatriate who suspected that she had symptoms similar to those of COVID-19, Fanwo said the case was considered suspicious because the said lady confessed that she had stopped feeling the initial symptoms and her body temperature is back to normal.
He added that the said case does not fit the criteria set by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) for actual or suspected cases.
“The expatriate, an adult female, sent message to the Kogi State COVID-19 Squadron Committee, expressing fears that she was exhibiting symptoms similar to those of COVID-19,” the statement read.
“Immediately the message was received, the Incident Manager who is also the Kogi State Commissioner for Health, Dr Saka Haruna, led a team of medical experts to assess the situation with a bid to ascertaining if the alleged symptoms fit into the criteria set by the National Centre for Disease Control for CoviD-19 testing.
“Upon arrival at the residence of the expatriate, she narrated to the team in an interview captured on video how the symptoms she earlier communicated in her phone call had disappeared.
“The Incident Officer still went ahead to take her temperature using the recommended infrared thermometer and her temperature was at a healthy 36.8°C.
“The temperature readings fell totally within normal range and she did not exhibit any of the other symptoms which by the latest NCDC guidelines ought to have paired her nonexistent fever to necessitate further tests for COVID-19.
“Curiously, the said individual still insisted that her case be escalated to the NCDC for CoviD-19 testing.
“The Kogi State Government is genuinely suspicious of the motive behind her insistence, especially as we strongly suspect there are attempts to import the disease or declare fictitious cases in Kogi State.
“In view of the fact that Kogi State is one of only two states still CoviD-19 free in Nigeria and having regard to recent pressures from some interesting quarters for Kogi State to find and declare cases of the disease, we are wary of an unholy conspiracy to declare COVID-19 in all states of the federation.”
