12 health workers test positive for COVID-19 in Sokoto

By NASIRU SULEIMAN, Sokoto

The Sokoto State government said twelve health workers have tested positive to COVID-19 in Sokoto.

The State Commissioner for Health and chairman of COVID-19 Taskforce team in the state, Dr Mohammed Ali Iname, made this disclosure at a press briefing shortly after the technical committee had briefed the state Governor Aminu Tambuwal.

Dr Iname said out of the 19 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Sokoto, 12 are health workers. According to him, “I know you are aware that we have 19 confirmed cases and out of this number majority are health workers that have been affected about twelve of them.”

He said these 19 confirmed cases are part of the fifty-four persons so far tested for COVID-19 in Sokoto State.

He further revealed that “as at yesterday (Tuesday), we have been able to carry out contact tracing and we have been able to identify one hundred and seventy-one persons expected to submit their samples.”

He said the state has geared up efforts and preparing to ensure the upgrade of the state Isolation centre with an additional fifty beds to be ready at the weekend.

He said “then we also have thirty bed capacity at Murtala Mohammed Specialists Hospital, then we have six-bed capacity at the Usmanu Danfodio University Teaching Hospital for isolation centres.

He commended the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto for donating a twenty-bed hospital, the Holy Family Clinic and thirty-bed hotel accommodation of the Catholic known as the cultural centre to serve as an Isolation centre.

Iname said the state is considering to convert the two-state own hotels; Giginya and Shura hotels to isolation centre in anticipation of the increasing cases of COVID-19 in Sokoto. “Also in the meeting, we discussed extensively and considered converting the Giginya and Shura hotels as isolation centres just to add up space as the cases continue to rise. (Vanguard)