The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) officials dispatched to Kogi State to help confirm if it is truly Coronavirus-free have fled the state.
On arrival, the state governor, Yahaya Bello, who received the delegation said the team will have to isolate themselves for 14 days before being allowed to discharge their duties or return back from where they came from.
We learnt that Mr Bello gave the order after noticing that a member of the delegation violated the normal practice of the NCDC when he shook hands with an official of the state government.
But speaking during the press conference of the Presidential Task Force on Coronavirus disease on Friday, the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, said those sent to the state have returned without accomplishing their mission.
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“The Ministry of Health team sent to Kogi State has returned to Abuja without mission accomplished. New efforts will be made to engage Kogi authorities for resolution of differences,” Mr Ehanire said.
“Kogi State is one of the few states that have said that they do not have COVID-19 patients, and they seem to be sure of that.
“The agreement we have had with them after discussions with the governors (Kogi and Cross River) is that we should send a delegation to the states just to validate that fact and to be able to engage the state governors and commissioners of health and also other public health authorities for validation.
“Of course, we need that for our national records and to be able to report to the world what the situation is in our country because by now the whole world knows that we do not have any record from these two states.
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“We tried to send a team of the Ministry of Health and the NCDC into Kogi State yesterday (Thursday) but there were some differences there as to processes.
“This will mean that we need to re-engage the state governor again and work with him and his team to create the conditions under which the Ministry of Health and the NCDC can complete their job,” the minister said.
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