Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has ordered the total lockdown of all the communities in Kabba/Bunu council areas following the outbreak of COVID-19 in the area.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) had on Wednesday said two persons from the state, the Chief Imam of Kabba Land and his son, tested positive to the virus. But the state government rejected the results, saying that the state is COVID-19 free.
However, in a statement on Monday at the government house, Lokoja, Governor Bello said the state was forced to take the lockdown decision as the situation has snowballed into a political angle.
Bello said the lockdown starts 12am of June 2nd to 15th June, 2020, adding that all the communities in the area where the patients reside should stay indoors permanently for two weeks.
He also said all doctors who have contacts with the patients be ordered to go into self-isolation. The governor, however, maintained that the state is still free from the virus until the centre claims are verified.
The statement read: “During the lockdown, there shall be no house-to-house movement within the Local Government Area. street movement is completely prohibited within the local government area for the period.
“Palliative would be distributed from house to house within the Local Government Area. Contact tracing should be carried out house-to-house to identify those who might have made contact with the alleged Kogi COVID-19 index persons; the Chief Imam of Kabba and his son within the local government.
“The Kogi State incident management team should continue to thoroughly carry out the contact tracing. The contact tracing and enforcement of the lockdown order shall be fully covered by the mainstream media.
“Health workers who might have made contact with the alleged index case should proceed on self-isolation. All security agencies in the state are to enforce total compliance with the lockdown order.
“All citizens and residents of the state should continue to adhere to the NCDC guideline as the state still remains COVID-19 free”.
