LARGE GATHERINGS PERSIST IN STATES
Despite closing their borders to check the spread of COVID-19, many state governments have not enforced physical distancing among their populations, checks by Daily Trust Saturday showed.
A number of states, since last week, ordered the closure of schools and asked civil servants not to go to work as cases of coronavirus infection rises. But investigation by our correspondents revealed that normal activities have continued among people in those states.
People not only continue to shun the advise to reduce physical contacts, but they have also used the opportunity of not being at school or work to form social groups and gatherings, channels that medical experts say are highly potent for spreading the deadly virus.
Five more people yesterday tested positive to the coronavirus disease in Nigeria, according to Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), bringing the figure to 70 .
The NCDC in a release via its Twitter handle said the five new cases include three in the FCT and two in Oyo State.
At the moment, Nigeria has 70 cases of COVID-19, out of which three have been discharged while one person has died.
With the new cases, FCT now has 14 cases, Oyo, three; Lagos, 44; Ogun, three; Bauchi, two; while Ekiti, Rivers, Osun and Edo have one case each.
The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Thursday said Nigeria’s COVID-19 cases rose to 65, with 4, 370 contact persons being traced. This is even as the pandemic continues to spread globally, with the United States surpassing both China and Italy in number of infected persons. Daily Trust Saturday observed that measures taken by state governments do not prevent coming together of so many people, even though such states have partially locked down markets and other areas attracting large gatherings.
Worshippers offered Friday prayers at mosques in several parts of the country yesterday despite the nationwide social distancing directive by the federal government as a preventive measure against spread of coronavirus.
People defied the preventive measure in some states, even as the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said Nigeria had only a short time to stop spread of the virus in the country as search for 4,370 people to check their status due to their direct or indirect exposure to the virus continued.
Mohammed said the 4,370 people had contact with suspected cases but could not be traced to any address, and urged them to immediately report to the relevant authorities, while the nation should maintain social distancing.
Re-echoing the concern on social distancing, a World Health Organisation (WHO) regional official said Thursday that about half of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa still had a “narrowing” opportunity to curb spread of coronavirus in the local populations, as the virus multiplied across Africa slower than in Asia or Europe, but more than 40 African countries have reported 2,850 with 73 deaths.
The WHO Africa head, Matshidiso Moeti, told a media teleconference Thursday that it had been a very dramatic evolution.
He added: “Governments across the region need to invest their efforts in aggressively tracing all those people who have been in contact with imported cases, in order to isolate them and prevent transmission of the disease locally.
“Countries need to work on this containment while preparing for a possible, broader expansion of the virus,” she said.
“We still have a window... it is narrowing every day as data on the geographic spread to more and more countries tell us,” Moeti added.
Despite those concerns, crowds were still noticed in mosques, markets and spots in several states yesterday.
Our reporter who monitored activities in Mararaba, Ado and Masaka areas of Nasarawa State close to the Federal Capital Territory said residents went about their normal activities oblivious of the prevailing emergency. The Friday Market at Masaka was a beehive of activities as thousands transacted businesses while commercial vehicles were overloaded as usual.
Several markets in parts of Gusau, Zamfara State and many other towns in the state remained open, even as people ignored guidelines to prevent or minimise infection.
In some crowded areas like markets and other business environments, the guidelines for social distancing were not observed, as there was nothing to suggest that they heeded the advice of authorities and medical personnel.
People were still shaking hands while hand washing etiquettes were not observed. Hand sanitizers were only available in a few government offices but many people who spoke to our reporter did not know about it, this is even as a small bottle costs N3,000.
On Thursday, Governor Bello Muhammad Matawalle announced the shutting down of all boundaries in the state with effect from today.
Last week, the state government banned all public gatherings as part of measures to check spread of coronavirus. The state authorities also ordered all schools to close and civil servants to stay at home.
The Nigerian Medical Association advised the state government to declare a total lockdown as part of the emergency response to the disease, saying a partial lockdown would not be enough. Juma’at prayers held in all mosques in Gusau. Governor Bello Muhammad Matawalle performed his Juma’at prayer at the Muslim Foundation Mosque in the state capital.
Plateau
Thousands of worshippers yesterday attended Juma’at prayers in Jos, the Plateau State capital in all mosques under the jurisdiction of the Jamma’atu Izalatil Bid’a Waikamatis Sunnah (JIBWIS).
The Plateau Central Mosque and other mosques under the jurisdiction of the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), however instructed members not to attend the prayers.
The spiritual leader of (JIBWIS), Sheik Sani Yahaya Jingir, at the Yantaya Mosque, said he and other members of the group attended yesterday’s prayers because Governor Simon Lalong didn’t ask them to stop the prayers.
Kano
Mosques in Kano yesterday held Friday prayers yesterday with thousands of worshippers attending.
At the Hudaibiyya Juma’at mosque, our reporters observed that Muslims observed their prayers with nothing like social distancing in the congregation.
The situation was the same at the Aliyu Ibn Abi Talib Juma’at mosque, as prayers were held without provision of sanitisers.
Similarly, residents observed no form of social distancing. The situation was the same at barbers’ shops, games shops and other places of social gathering.
Also, at ATMs, people were seen in dozens waiting to withdraw money without keeping any distance. Daily Trust also observed luxurious buses conveying passengers from other parts of the country, particularly Lagos. A visit to the Dawanau international grains market revealed that prices of foodstuff and other commodities had gone up.
People not only continue to shun the advise to reduce physical contacts, but they have also used the opportunity of not being at school or work to form social groups
Friday prayers were held yesterday across mosques in Gombe metropolis despite government’s directive suspending all forms of social and religious gatherings.
Governor Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya had on Monday banned any assembly of more than 50 persons until further notice.
However, our correspondent observed that the prayers were held in all major mosques in the metropolis yesterday.
At the Chikaire Jumu’at mosque adjacent the Government House, prayers were held and attended by hundreds of worshipers.
Also, at the Modibbo Bubayero Central Mosque and the Emir’s Palace, prayers were held around 1:30pm instead of the usual 2:15pm and attended by large crowds.
Prayers were also held at the FTH, Miyetti, AA Haruna, Bolari and ‘Yan Goro Jumu’at mosques, with the usual crowds.
Ogun
The Wakilu Muslim of Yorubaland, Edo and Delta states, Sheikh Iskeel Awwal, yesterday led an enforcement team to disperse defiant worshippers while Juma’at prayer was in progress at Najomo Mosque, Adatan, Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Sokoto
Muslims across Sokoto yesterday defied the advice against congregation in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
A visit to mosques at various locations across the metropolis showed that people came out en masse irrespective of the prevailing situation in the country.
Large turnouts of worshippers were witnessed at the Sultan Bello Jumuat Mosque, Sultan Abubakar Mosque, Shehu Juma’at Mosque, Arkilla Jumuat Mosque and Ali Akilu Jumuat Mosque, among others.
It was the same story at At Gagi Roundabout Jumuat Mosque where the Chief Imam Malam Bello Na Mallam Boyi, prayed to Allah to deliver the country from the Coronavirus scourge.
On why they decided to go ahead with the prayers, the Chief Imam of Ali Akilu Juma’at Mosque, Sheik Mustapha Sidi Attahiru, said: “The medical cycle did not see anything bad about businesses going on in our markets where people even go about in a disorderly manner, while in mosques where everything is orderly. Spacing is another factor which makes the mosque safer compared to other places where medics considered to be risky.”
“We reduced the duration of conducting our prayers. Today’s Friday prayer was conducted within 40 minutes unlike the previous time when we spent over an hour and a half including sermons.”
Ulamahs in the state had advised Governor Aminu Tambuwal against banning congregational prayers during a meeting.
A renowned Islamic scholar, Dr Mansur Ibrahim Sokoto, faulted the decision on the ground on the devastating nature of the disease.
“The Ulamahs ought to have been briefed adequately by medical experts before giving the verdict as this will guide them in making the decision,” he said.
The state government Thursday night announced the closure of all routes into the state as precautionary measures against coronavirus.
Kwara
Despite the lockdown in Kwara State, residents are not complying with the directive. A day after the directive, motor parks and markets in Ilorin metropolis and it’s environs were full of activities.
Checks by Daily Trust showed that people at motor parks were not complying with the call for social distancing and other measures as advised by the government.
At some of the parks in Ilorin metropolis, there were no hands sanitizers as people went about their normal activities. Even at the markets, people were busy with their business activities without any safety measures.
The Thursday Market at Ganmo area of Ilorin was filled. FRSC personnel and policemen controlled human and vehicular movement along the Ganmo /Offa road where the market is located.
A taxi driver who spoke to our correspondent said he was aware of the social distancing and other restrictions by government but he must fill his cab with the number of passengers to enable him to make profit.
“I came out to look for what my family would eat. If I don’t go out what will my family eat? We appreciate that the government directive is to save lives, but we also need to feed to survive”, he said.
Also a trader at the Ganmo Thursday market told Daily Trust that if she didn’t bring her foodstuff to sell it would spoil.
“I have to come out because it’s the only source of my livelihood,” she said.
Lagos
As at yesterday morning, it was observed that most inter-state parks had closed up in line with the government’s directive banning inter-state transportation, but other motor parks were still operating.
While the popular mass transit buses like the Lagos Bus Limited and the BRT Buses have banned passengers standing in the buses, other yellow buses were operating normally, carrying four passengers per seat.
Some of the parks visited by our correspondents are Agege Motor Park, Iyana Ipaja, Ogba and Ojota parks. Some passengers were seen with face masks while others used handkerchiefs to cover their noses. Others did not use anything.
A driver at Iyana Ipaja, Mr Abdullahi Afolabi, called on the government to provide the items for them because they are too expensive.
A passenger, Kola, said he had been to many parks in the state, but they were not providing any item to protect passengers from the pandemic.
Meanwhile, patronage of public transportation across the state is already dwindling as a result of the stay-at-home advisory issued by the government.
Borno
In Maiduguri, our correspondent who went round markets, shopping centres and other areas across the metropolis, observed that residents were going about their normal activities, and there was no panic for a possible lockdown due to COVID-19.
Having received salaries, many residents trooped to markets and stores to buy food and other items.
“As you can see, I have just done my end of month shopping. This is a routine, at this time of every month when I receive my salary, I go to the market to buy my foodstuffs,” said a female civil servant, Madam Kulu.
Asked if she heard of and consequently, prepared for a possible lockdown in the state, she responded: “I cannot deny having heard that some places are being shut down, and I don’t think this measure would be possible here in Maiduguri. This town has already been shut down, so to speak due to the Boko Haram crisis. The town has not been as lively as it used to be years before the crisis.”
Kaduna
Residents of Kaduna complied with the sit-at-home order following a 24-hour curfew imposed on the state by the state government on Thursday.
Daily Trust observed that major streets in the city were empty and the Friday Juma’at prayer was suspended as most mosques in the state capital were closed.
Our correspondent gathered that Juma’at mosques around Tudun Wada, Hayin Malam Bello, Sabon Gari, Hayi Rigasa, Hayi Dan Mani, Kurmin Mashi and Unguwan Sarki were locked.
Male residents converged in small clusters of five and six within residential areas to discuss events.
An Unguwar Sarki, many sat in clusters, while the old were mostly engaged in chats, the young played games.
Bello Idris Dallaji, who owns a provision shop at Tudun wada said he didn’t go to the mosque because of the curfew but prayed in his shop. He said some mosques performed Zuhur prayers in small congregations but turned down their loud speakers.
Edo
Muslims in Benin yesterday suspended Juma’at prayers in compliance with the state government’s directive to restrict public gatherings to 20 persons.
The Chief Imam of Benin, Abdulfatai Enabulele, who spoke on phone, said the closure of the mosques was due to government’s directive.
“There is no Juma’at service today. We are complying with the state and federal government directives because there is no way you can have less than 20 persons in service,” he said. He said they passed the message to all Muslims to observe prayers at home due to the Coronavirus epidemic.
Muslims did not observe the Friday prayers in Lafia, the state capital and parts of the state yesterday. It was observed in Lafia that no mosque observed the weekly prayer in congregation.
Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has restricted movement in the state from 6am to 8 pm.
This was contained in a statement he personally signed in Lafia, which said; “Entry into Nasarawa State is hereby restricted to between 6:00am and 8:00pm and all persons coming into the state shall be screened at various check-points/mobile clinics.”
The statement also banned social gatherings of persons above 50, including weddings and naming ceremonies.
Kogi
The Kogi State chapter of the Nigerian League of Imams suspended the weekly Juma’at prayers across the state with effect from yesterday.
In a press statement signed by its secretary, Imam Ibrahim Nyass Sheikh Yusuf Abdallah, the forum said the decision was taken after wide consultations with relevant stakeholders in the state.
The statement said: “The Nigerian League of Imams, Kogi State chapter, after consultations with government officials, traditional rulers and medical personnel hereby, unanimously agreed to suspend the weekly Jumaat prayers in Kogi State.” The statement urged all members and the Muslim ummah across the state to comply with the decision.
Ekiti
In Ekiti State, the lock down was yesterday observed by many residents, as the people took steps to observe social distancing.
At the Oja Oba market popularly called Erekansan, shops were closed. Security agencies on Thursday and yesterday went out to implement the order. At some strategic places in the state capital, security agencies were present to enforce compliance, even as many people looked for ways to get food, medicine and other consumables. Prices of food items remained the same but the people asked the government to provide some financial assistance.
Army designates 17 medical facilities for isolation, treatment
The Defence Headquarters has prepared and designated 17 medical facilities spread across the country for isolation and treatment of confirmed cases of coronavirus.
It also concluded plans to recall its retired medical personnel to active duty to help deal with the response to the pandemic.
The Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. John Enenche, disclosed this while briefing newsmen on the preparedness of the military to support the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to him, the Nigerian armed forces has developed a two-pronged approach to fight the pandemic, namely the medical and security approaches.
Enenche disclosed that the military had deployed military personnel to assist Ministries, Departments and Agencies through provision of land, maritime and air assets, for transportation of emergency cases and medical supplies.
On security related support, Enenche said the armed forces would activate its disaster response units across the country in conjunction with National Emergency Management Agency. He said those units would be responsible for security management of emergencies other than medicals.
He also urged the public to disregard the news of deployment of the military by the government to enforce a lockdown, describing it as fake news.
He added that it was the duty of the police to carry-out such function should there be any lockdown and the need to enforce such orders.
Nigeria’s testing, isolation centres
In January when the Lagos State government completed the Biosafety Laboratory at the Mainland infectious disease hospital, Yaba, little did they know that it would come in handy for coronavirus disease. After completion of the facility, the health commissioner, Prof. Akin Abayomi, said the facility had the capacity to process, rapidly identify and store samples of infectious diseases such as Ebola, Lassa fever and coronavirus disease.
There are three laboratory testing centres in Lagos State-the Lagos University teaching Hospital (LUTH), IDH and Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR). LUTH and NIMR are two out of the five testing centres by the federal government while the state owns and manages the IDH centre.
Lagos residents hardly go to the NIMR centre to ascertain their COVID-19 status. It was gathered from a reliable source that NIMR charges N30,000 to test people for coronavirus disease.
According to Dr Olayinka Ilesanmi, a COVID epidemiologist at the Africa CDC, the claim that NIMR charges for tests is true.
“The government supplies the reagents and test kits used in the five NCDC-managed laboratory centres in the country. Asides the testing kits, they use a lot of other reagents. They charge N30,000 because they need to be able to get the running cost of the other reagents they are using. Truly, the COVID-19 test is more expensive than that.”
He said out of all the testing laboratories for COVID-19 in Nigeria, NIMR is the only one that charges money. Arrangements are underway by the federal government through the NCDC to scale up such that, it will be possible for them to do the tests without making any charge, he said.
LUTH is believed to be redundant in its coronavirus testing, but Dr Ilesanmi, a member of the emergency operations centre (EOC) explained, “Once the specimen is collected from an individual at IDH in Yaba, it goes through a lot of processing which starts at the IDH in Yaba and a part of the specimen will be taken to LUTH, that is usually where the procedure is being finalised. This is not like pregnancy test or blood test that can be done anywhere and the result can be gotten instantly, this takes a lot of expertise and even those with such expertise are not many in the country. Samples are separated between IDH and LUTH so as to cover a large number of samples over a short period of time. LUTH and IDH are doing the tests together.”
The major equipment used in testing for COVID-19 in Lagos is a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machine, said Dr Ilesanmi.
Before now, Lagos had one isolation centre at the IDH. In the centre, there are private apartments, wards and tents.
The state government has partnered with Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) to set up a new isolation and treatment centre at the Mobolaji Johnson arena (formerly Onikan stadium) to manage more patients who test positive to COVID-19. Governor Babajide Sanwoolu has revealed plans to build isolation centres in Ikeja, Badagry, Lagos Island, Ikorodu and Epe.
Osun
The Covid 19 testing centre located at Redeemer’s University, Ede, Osun State known as African Centre of Excellence in Genomics of Infectious Diseases is fully equipped with necessary facilities according to medical experts.
The centre located in Asubiaro, Osogbo has just been built and furnished. When Daily Trust Saturday visited the isolation centre, there were security men guarding the building.
In Borno, the state government has prepared the Brigadier Abba Kyari Memorial Hospital, Maiduguri as the isolation centre for coronavirus cases.
The University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH), which has already been designated by the Federal Ministry of Health as the Northeast Zonal Center for Infection Control, has been prepared to collaborate with the state’s COVID-19 prevention and control team.
At the Abba Kyari Hospital, two wards of 20 beds each have been prepared for coronavirus cases, one for suspected cases, and the other for confirmed cases.
Medics have been trained to care for the confirmed cases. Kits called PPE (personal protective equipment) for the medics have been provided.
“Since we are yet to receive any suspected case in this state, whatever preparedness we have put in place is just a simulation, so that it will be very easy for us to mobilize the required equipment and medics to the isolation centre as soon as any suspected case is reported,” Dr Sule Mele, the Head of the Media Team of the state’s prevention and control machinery told Daily Trust.
Kaduna
The Kaduna State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Amina Mohammed-Baloni, said the Infectious Diseases Control Centre (IDCC) has been equipped with specialized equipment like ventilator, oxygen concentrators and monitors in preparedness of case management of COVID-19.
Baloni said Governor Nasir El-Rufai had made available funds to strengthen measures that would ensure that any case of COVID-19 is followed up.
She said the emergency committee on COVID-19 in Kaduna had developed a preparedness plan and undertaken an assessment of the IDCC which she said was ready to receive patients.
The Commissioner further said that a 24 hour call centre is being put in place to avail information to the populace.
In Katsina, a team constituted by the state government has identified two isolation centres at the Federal Medical centre (FMC) and General Amadi Rimi Specialist Hospital for any eventual outbreak of COVID 19.
The FMC is a 12-bed capacity with three ventilators while Amadi Rimi has two ventilators that are ready for use.
The permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Kabir Mustapha, said there was a serious challenge with regard to personnel and equipment in the ongoing fight against COVID 19.
“I cannot lie that we are fully prepared, we have only 12 beds at the Federal Medical Centre that will serve as an isolation centre. This is an ad-hoc thing, we used to have 10 beds in the state general hospital but we don’t want to use that facility,” he said.
“It is an unfortunate situation, people should not try to compare us to the USA or Italy. We all know the type and conditions of our health care system, we are not prepared for this kind of emergency, I’m a doctor and know what it is. I’m saying the truth, can’t lie about it,” he added.
The Executive Secretary, Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Shamsudden Yahaya, said any case established would be moved to the FMC just as another empty ward at Amadi Rimi is on standby should more people come in.
With contributions by Lami Sadiq, Mohammed Ibrahim Yaba & Faruk Shuaibu (Kaduna), Ahmed Tahir Ajobe (Lokoja), Shehu Umar (Gusau), Raphael Ogbonnaiye (Ado-Ekiti), Hameed Oyegbade (Osogbo), Uthman Abubakar & Ibrahim Sawab, (Maiduguri), Habibu Umar Aminu (Katsina), Romoke W. Ahmad (Minna), Victor Edozie (Port Harcourt), Risikat Ramoni & Abdullateef Aliyu (Lagos), Ismail Adebayo (Ilorin), Usman A. Bello (Benin), Haruna Gimba Yaya (Gombe), Peter Moses (Abeokuta), Ibraheem Hamza Muhammad (Lafia), Ado Abubakar Musa (Jos), Ibrahim Musa Giginyu & Tijjani Ibrahim (Kano), Rakiya A. Muhammad & Abubakar Auwal (Sokoto)
A taxi driver who spoke to our correspondent said he was aware of the social distancing and other restrictions by government but he must fill his cab with the number of passengers to enable him to make profit