TheCable

The Kaduna state government says a four-month-old child who tested positive for COVID-19 has been discharged.

The child is one of the 20 COVID-19 cases that were recorded in the state on May 15.

Amina Mohammed Baloni, Kaduna commissioner of health, made this known in a statement on Saturday.

She said out of “the total number of 232 cases reported, 149 have been discharged, while seven deaths have been recorded.”

Baloni said Kaduna has tested almost 2,000 samples, but added that the number of cases is expected to rise due to increased testing.

She said most of the cases either have a history of interstate travel or are contacts of infected persons.

According to her, the ministry has stepped up active case search and testing in communities as part of efforts to contain secondary infections.

“The state has tested almost 2000 samples, but case numbers are likely to rise further as more tests are conducted in more places,” the statement read.

“Covid-19 cases have been recorded in 33 wards in nine local government areas of the state: Chikun, Giwa, Igabi, Kaduna North, Kaduna South, Makarfi, Sabon-Gari, Soba and Zaria. The data shows that 80% of the infected persons are male.

“In addition to public health warnings to avoid interstate travel, state health officials have been engaged in vigorous contact tracing to contain the spread of the infections.”

The commissioner said the state has taken “delivery of a mobile testing truck a few days ago, while it awaits the delivery of equipment that would enable the mobile truck and 12 GeneXpert machines spread across several general hospitals to increase the number of testing labs in the state.”

She said the addition of the mobile testing vehicle and testing labs in local government areas “will enable the state to ascertain with greater accuracy its Covid-19 status and allow that data to inform further decision on reopening the state.”

Kaduna currently ranks 11th on the list of 35 states and the federal capital territory where the virus has been confirmed.