Borno Government Breaks Silence On Suspected COVID-19 Death

The death of an unnamed man, who may have died from COVID-19 at the University of Teaching Hospital, has been confirmed by the Borno State government.

Deputy Governor of Borno state, Umar Kadafur, who heads the State High Powered Committee on the Control of Coronavirus, while briefing the press on the matter, said the cause of the man’s death has not been officially confirmed.

HumAngle had earlier reported how an unnamed health official working with an international aid agency died at the Teaching Hospital two days after he was brought in from Gwoza local government in critically ill condition.

Medical personnel at the hospital said the patient who died at the Male medical ward was symptomatic.

HumAngle learnt that physicians who treated the victim at UMTH, apparently did not subject him to a COVID-19 test, raising fears in both the hospital and the IDP camp where he worked.

Kadafur said, “the blood sample (of the deceased) has been taken and the result has been communicated to the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) who are mandated to make a statement on that.”

“But as a committee we are working and reviewing things in the town so for now, I assure you that if there is anything from the outcome of the NCDC, we will make it public,” he said.

On claims that the suspected death patient who came from Pulka IDP camp in Gwoza local government had shown symptoms of the COVID-19 before he died, the deputy governor said “I have to caution our press when it comes to COVID-19.

“You are supposed to run a test and there are a lot of processes involved. So if you are not a member of that team, you cannot preempt a result without official confirmation.

“What we are saying now is that we have a patient who has passed away and that the patient is tested but the result is sent to NCDC that they can send us an official confirmation,” Kadafur said.
The deputy governor added that regardless of the outcome of the result from the NCDC, the committee “has evaluated a lot of things, we have started putting our house together in the event of any outbreak.

Kadafur said despite the total movement restriction placed on all the entry gates of Borno state, “there were no restrictions in the metropolis for now.

“If there is a need to do so, we will do that but for now, we only have the Interstate lock down into the state.”

He called on the residents to “adhere strictly to rules especially the social distancing advice and safe hygiene practice.”

Borno state has not recorded any case of the new coronavirus pandemic so far.