Kogi raises alarm over intentions to infect state with COVID-19

Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State

The Kogi State Government has raised an alarm over intentions to infect the state with the deadly coronavirus.

With almost 3,000 cases in Nigeria, the Kogi government has claimed that there is a plot to ascribe non-existing cases of the virus to the state.

Kingsley Fanwo, State Commissioner for Information and Communication, made the allegations on Tuesday after a suspicious distress call from a woman who claimed to have COVID-19 symptoms.

Fanwo said the woman told the team in an interview captured on video how the symptoms she earlier communicated in her phone call had disappeared.

In a statement made available to reporters in Lokoja, he said, “A distress call from an expatriate working with an international organisation in Kogi State who suspected that she had symptoms similar to those associated with COVID-19 had generated widespread speculation and it is therefore pertinent that we set the records straight.”

“Immediately the message was received, the Incident Manager, who is also the Kogi State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Saka Haruna, led a team of medical experts to assess the situation with a bid to ascertaining if the alleged symptoms fit into the criteria set by the National Centre for Disease Control for COVID-19 testing,” he explained.

“The Incident Officer still went ahead to take her temperature using the recommended infrared thermometer and her temperature was at a healthy 36.8°C,” he revealed.

Fanwo said the woman’s temperature readings fell totally within normal range and there were no symptoms to necessitate further tests for the virus, adding that the individual still insisted her case be escalated to the NCDC for COVID-19 testing.

Following the development, the Commissioner said the state government was “suspicious of the motive behind the woman’s insistence to be tested by the NCDC officials “especially as we strongly suspect there are attempts to import the disease or declare fictitious cases in Kogi State” He alleged.

Daily Post