The government of Kaduna State has confirmed its 6th COVID-19 case as a man who just returned from Lagos via public transport.
The state commissioner for health, Amina Baloni, said in a statement that the case, which is the sixth in the state, has no connection to the first five cases.
Baloni said the latest case is a male who worked as a gateman in Mando area of the state and recently returned from Lagos.
“[He] travelled to Kaduna on public transport and made contact with the authorities as his symptoms worsened. The patient has been evacuated to the state’s Infectious Disease Centre,” she said.
According to the commissioner, the latest case presents a “nightmare scenario of possible community transmission of COVID-19 in the state.
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“It is very difficult and complicated to trace the contacts of a patient who came from Lagos via public transport and has had some instance of local commuting since his arrival,” she said.
“The Rapid Response Team is trying its utmost to elicit from him a list of his contacts, so that they can be traced and monitored. He does not know who his fellow passengers from Lagos are. But the team is working to develop an idea of his local contacts in Kaduna, including any vehicles he commuted in and people he met at the hospital he visite within his neighbourhood.
“It was in order to prevent and avert a scenario like this that the government has consistently appealed to the public to practice social distancing and directed commercial buses to carry no more than two passengers per row.
“The instances that have now been recorded of people spreading COVID-19 from one state to another further reinforces the need to stop all inter-state travel. People need to stay in one place and help reduce the footprint of COVID-19.”
The commissioner said the state banned motorcycles, taxis and tricycles because they do not satisfy the conditions for social distancing.
She also emphasised government’s advice against large gatherings and congregational prayers, adding: “now that there is a case of possible community transmission of COVID-19, residents must begin to take more seriously the quarantine conditions”.
