For a second day running the Palace of the Emir of Daura, President Muhammadu Buhari’s hometown, remains sealed by the Katsina State government over the death of six persons for Coronavirus (COVID-19).
Apart from the six who are dead as a result of the virus infection, an unidentified number of people are under quarantine at various isolation centres in the State.
Governor Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State had confirmed the shutting down of the palace as “we got some positive cases of the Coronavirus disease at the palace so we decided to take control. So far, we have taken samples of 89 persons from the palace. You know that the palace is like a government house with a large concentration of people.”
In addition, a total of 14 medical personnel have tested positive to COVID-19 in the State.
Governor Masari said that the infected health workers include doctors, nurses and other auxiliary staff that attended to patients with regular ailments which later turned out to be COVID-19.
He explained that the 10 of the infected medical personnel were staff of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in Katsina while the other four worked in private hospitals.
The Governor said that he was worried at the alarming spread of the Coronavirus in the State in spite of the lockdown imposed on the area, stating that “the lockdown does not seem to be so effective so we must design ways to strengthen the lockdown. This is because in spite of the lockdown we had 23 new cases in Katsina town alone under 24 hours.”
The Governor explained that out of the latest samples returned from the NCDC laboratory in Abuja, 35 tested positive, bringing the total number of cases in the state to 75.
Masari, who emphasized on stricter enforcement of the lockdown, urged people of the state to obey the social distancing and embrace personal and environmental hygiene to prevent community spread of the virus in the State.