Bauchi State has recorded another positive case of Coronavirus bringing the number of infections to three including that of the Governor, Bala Mohammed, who is the index case.
The confirmation of the new positive case was announced by the State Deputy Governor, Senator Baba Tela, while briefing reporters in the state capital.
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He said that the patient is a 55-year-old man who had contact with one of the first two positive cases.
The Deputy Governor who is Chairman of the State Rapid Response Taskforce on COVID-19 and Lassa Fever explained that so far the samples of 100 people have been taken and tested out of which a substantial number have turned out negative.
He, however, assured that the state is ready to curtail the spread of the infection and declared that, “our isolation center here in Bayara General Hospital is 80 per cent ready by (Wednesday) it will be operational and ready to admit patients for management”.
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The Deputy Governor also disclosed that essential drugs and other management needs have been procured for case management and treatment regretting, however, that the distance between Bauchi and Abuja is an impediment to quick response to the test.
He appealed to the NCDC to as a matter of urgency give the state all necessary testing machines considering the number of suspected cases so far.
He then warned that the lockdown of the state which takes effect on Thursday will be total with only people on essential services allowed to operate. He added that security operatives have been instructed to enforce the lockdown appealing to members of the public to cooperate with the government in order to reduce the spread of the infection.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
