The Federal Ministry of Health confirmed it’s first case of coronavirus in the country on the 27th of February, 2020. The first case was confirmed in Lagos state, which according to the 2006 census conducted in Nigeria is the second most populous state in Nigeria behind Kano state. It has been fifty days since that index case in the country, and the cases has increased to four hundred and fourty-two, with two hundred and fifty-one of that in Lagos. This could be linked to the high population in the state, with the Lagos State Government taking measures to mitigate the spread and prevent a community spread.
Kano state recorded its first case of coronavirus on the 11th of April, 2020 and in just six days the cases have increased to twenty-one with 1 death being recorded. It was said that the index case in the state made several journies before he finally got to the state, and while in the state he also went about his affairs normally, without having tested himself for the novel coronavirus.
In doing this, he had risked the possibility of starting a very terrible slippery slope of contamination of the virus. In this case, It is a known fact that Mosques in the cities in Kano go for prayers regularly, and in their numbers on Fridays, so if a virus should start spreading from such gatherings, the damage it could do could be compared to that of populous cities in the world like new york.
The United States is presently bleeding badly from this pandemic, and the city suffering the most is one of it’s most busiest and populated states, New York. With an estimated population of eight million, it currently has over two hundred thousand cases and over fourteen thousand deaths, with the country in general, having over six hundred thousand confirmed cases and thirty-five thousand deaths. This means New York currently makes about a third of the confirmed cases in the country, with almost half of the confirmed deaths in the country also.
Taking this relation to Italy, the country as a whole has over one hundred and sixty thousand confirmed cases and over twenty thousand deaths. The most populous region in Italy is Lombardy, and they have been hit the most also with over sixty-four thousand confirmed cases and over eleven thousand deaths. This makes up over a third of the confirmed cases in the country and over half of the deaths in the country also.
This is a trend that the Kano residents and its government officials should do all they can to prevent happening in their state. Presently the estimated population of Kano is around the thirteen million mark which would make for a serious strain on the health sector of the state should an outbreak occur there.
The state Governor, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, on Tuesday, declared a total lockdown of the state, this move is highly welcomed, and hopefully is not too little too late. He said, “From Thursday, April 16, 2020, no going to Jumat mosque as all Muslims are mandated to pray in their homes. All markets would be shut as well as all marriage ceremonies. The lockdown would be total. I, therefore, appeal to all the good people of Kano to cooperate with the lockdown directive as it is for their own good. Anybody, who is conscious of having the virus, should go to the hospital, where he or she would be referred to the isolation centre.“
The Kano residents now really need to play their parts in preventing the further spread of the virus, because it would not do the government any good to be chasing down people in the streets while trying to mitigate the spread. social distancing is more important in the state, now more than ever.