Kano State’s latest wave of mass deaths isn’t getting any better and residents are very worried, not because it is an unusual situation, but because the State government continues to turn a blind eye.
had previously reported that Kano residents were left dumbfounded after reports of secret burials of over 150 bodies went viral on social media. Even more disturbing is the fact that the cause of these deaths remain unknown amid fears it could be covid-19 related.
Although the Ganduje led Kano State government has announced it would conduct an investigation into the cause of the deaths, it however, insists such massive deaths aren’t unusual in a state with over 15 million people.
However since the issue was first reported last week, the number of deaths continue to rise.
A report by Daily Trust suggested the cause of deaths according to residents particularly those affected, is typhoid and malaria instead of covid-19 as widely feared.
The report claims about 15 people died from severe malaria and typhoid fever within Zangon Barebari neighbourhood alone, between Wednesday and Friday. 67 more corpses were said to have been buried in Dandolo Cemetery between Wednesday and Thursday.
According to Daily Trust, some bereaved families said their relatives were on outpatient visitations to hospitals for various ailments but with the lockdown in force, coupled with the coronavirus scare at private health facilities, the deceased had some disruptions that kept them from accessing medical care, which might have resulted in their deaths.
Abdullahi Abdulhamid Kabir said, “Between Saturday and Monday, we had seen rampant cases of unexplained deaths within our neighbourhood at Zango. I know about twenty people who had died within our neighbourhood between Monday and Friday apart from other similar cases we hear from neighbouring communities. It is very destabilizing, what we see here almost every day is Janaza prayers being conducted for multiples.”
In factors contributing to the reported mass deaths, Dr. Usman Bashir of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), said there are many issues that need to be taken into consideration first before one would be able to tell the reason behind the mass deaths of the elderly in the state but the need for a proper investigation is essential.
“It is clear that during pandemics like this, a lot of other ailments are usually neglected and also people are usually scared of hospitals. Similarly, the weather is also too harsh these days and can serve as a catalyst to aggravate already existing ailments,” he said.
But the effect of covid-19 in the State cannot be entirely ruled out considering the rates at which the cases continue to rise, and fear of under reported cases. Number of confirmed covid-19 cases in state is still over 70, as total cases in the country crosses the 1000 mark.
114 new cases of #COVID19 have been reported;
80 in Lagos
21 in Gombe
5 in FCT
2 in Zamfara
2 in Edo
1 in Ogun
1 in Oyo
1 in Kaduna
1 in Sokoto
As at 11:30 pm 24th April there are 1095 confirmed cases of #COVID19 reported in Nigeria.
Discharged: 208
Deaths: 32 pic.twitter.com/NIDV1zTh9o
— NCDC (@NCDCgov) April 24, 2020
Meanwhile, former Aviation Minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode has voiced his concern over the situation saying “we are playing with fire”. He also said the situation in Kano State might just confirmed previous predictions by Mrs Melinda Gates who said she saw dead bodies littered across the streets of Africa.
He said, “If something is not done quickly by President Muhammadu Buhari and his Federal Government hundreds of thousands of people, particularly the elderly, will die of Covid 19 and related diseases in Kano and other parts of the north in the next few weeks and this will spread like wildfire to the Middle Belt and the south. Something drastic MUST be done to contain the plague.
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