By Adam Abu-bashal

ABUJA, Nigeria (AA): At least 979 people, including health care workers and high-level officials, died in North-Western Nigeria Kano State due to a mysterious disease, said the country’s health minister.

Speaking at the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 on Monday, Osagie Ehanire said all patients, including high-level officials and health staff, died only within the last five weeks.

According to the initial reports, most who died were over 65 years old, the minister added.

He said an investigation carried out by the special team sent to the state revealed that 50 to 60 percent of the deaths were associated with coronavirus.

He said, “With the observation and recommendations of the three-week assignment, the committee developed strategic incident management and coordination plan to strengthen capacity of the health workers and improve community engagement in line with our response plan.

“The healthcare workers in Kano and the northern part of our country had become very jittery at the advent of coronavirus disease and had stopped or slowed down attending to other patients which led to complications in the health delivery.

The government initially claimed that the “mysterious disease” was not COVID-19, and the deaths were due to other deadly diseases such as meningitis, hypertension, diabetes, and malaria.

The cumulative number of officially confirmed COVID-19 cases in Nigeria is 12,801, with the death toll standing at 361.

At least 999 of the deaths were recorded in the northwestern Kano state.

The pandemic has killed more than 406,500 people worldwide, with more than 7.11 million confirmed cases, while recoveries have surpassed 3.29 million, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University of the US.

After originating in Wuhan, China last December, COVID-19 has spread to at least 188 countries and regions.
* Writing by Fahri Aksut in Ankara

Additional report by The Muslim News

[Map of Nigerie by CIA/Public Domain]