COVID-19 draws first blood in Kogi

Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi state’s illusion that the state is immune to the COVID-19 pandemic has been punctured as it recorded its first case of the deadly virus since it broke out in the country in February.

It would be recalled that the Kogi State Government had announced the refusal of the NCDC officials to observe protocols in line with the containment of the coronavirus pandemic when they arrived at the state.

This equally stirred up a drama between the two parties as the latter flee the state without adhering to the terms and conditions rolled out by the governor, Yahaya Bello.

Kogi and Cross Rivers State previously held the record as the only two states in Nigeria not to have recorded Coronavirus.

But on Wednesday, the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, reported that two people have tested positive for the virus in Kogi.

Chairman, Kogi State branch of the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, Dr Kabir Zubair, had few days ago said the body was not happy about the challenge over testing created by the state government.

Zubair had said despite the increasing numbers of suspected cases, his colleagues could not confirm any of the cases because laboratory tests were not ongoing.

He said: “People are presenting with the symptoms of COVID-19, even though it may not be all the symptoms of the disease but doctors are suspicious of COVID -19, and because we are not able to carry out tests, we could not confirm all the suspicions. Everything ends at the level of suspicion.

“We have been on their neck to see how they will resume the tests but they are not collaborating in any way with NMA. What the state government has done is that they have been able to procure their own antigen test kits approved by the US Food & Drugs Administration, FDA.

“That is what they said will be used to test any COVID-19 suspected case now, even though the World Health Organisation, WHO, did not recommend the use of test kits of an antigen or antibody. But for now, that is what we have and we will make do with it.”