…nabs 75 contacts of victim
By Joe Adedeji, Ilorin.
Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State has called for an immediate official sanction against Professor Alakija Kazeem Salami of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) for allegedly admitting Kwara COVID-19 index case, a UK returnee under the guise of food poisoning into the hospital where the patient died few hours later.
The case had caused strong panic in the hospital, Ilorin; the state capital and Offa where the deceased COVID-19 patient was hurriedly buried, all without officially notifying the NCDC.
Addressing a press conference yesterday, the governor said: “We demand immediate suspension of Professor Alakija Kazeem Salami and every other official of UITH whose professional misconducts brought us down this path pending the outcome of the ongoing probe.”
Governor AbdulRazaq told the press conference that he had subsequently “signed the newly prepared Kwara State Infectious Diseases (Emergency Prevention) Regulation 2020 to provide legal backings for the local management of the global health situation”.
He said the regulation was built around some enabling laws like the Quarantine Act of 2004 which empowers the state to invoke various drastic measures in the days ahead, if occasion calls for it.
Highlights of the regulation, he said, include “sanctions for anyone caught endangering public safety in whatever form or seeking to unfairly profit from our collective vulnerability and need for essential commodities at this time.
“The government is doubling down in the ongoing sensitisation of the public across all media platforms on the danger of this virus. We need everyone to join this public advocacy in their various localities without exposing themselves or others to danger, he added.
Meanwhile, the government through the Rapid Response Team of the Medical Advisory Committee had done a contact tracing of 75 persons who have had contacts with COVID-19 cases and the suspected ones at the UITH.
The governor pleaded with the people of Kwara State not to panic or see the pandemic Corona Virus as a death sentence but that it is a global challenge that was being tackled by competent scientists the world over.
He implored the people to strictly observe personal hygiene, avoid crowded places and call the State Task Force on COVID-19 on the designated numbers being regularly aired on radio and television channels.