Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State has directed the lockdown of Dutsin-ma Local Government Area with effect from 7a.m. on April 17, after a resident tested positive to COVID-19.
The Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr Mustapha Inuwa, in a statement on Thursday in Katsina, said that the directive was announced during the regular review meeting on Covid-19 in the state.
Dutsinma is the second local government area to be locked down after Daura, where the first COVID-19 patient in the state died.
“A report from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has confirmed one Covid-19 case in Dustin-ma town, which made it necessary to lockdown the local government area to prevent spread to other parts of the state,” he said.
Inuwa also said that the governor further directed the closure of weekly markets in the state with effect from April 17.
The affected markets are Mai’adua, Mashi, Charanchi, Jibia, Dustin-ma, Batsari, Kafur, Sheme, Dandume, Zango, Danja, Bakori, Kaita, Kagadama and Dankama.
Inuwa also stated that the governor had directed the suspension of Friday prayers at all Jumu’at Mosques in the state with effect from next week.
He further said that the government has suspended the annual Ramadan public ‘Tafsir’, and ‘Tarawiy’ (Ramadan night prayers) in mosques and all other centres and public places throughout the state.
Other decisions taken included the suspension of all activities in Cinemas, Event and Television Viewing centres in the state.
He said that the governor had directed security agents to ensure strict compliance with the restriction of movement of persons coming in through all interstate borders.
“All restrictions must be observed from the respective effective dates until further notice.
“All these decisions were taken in the best interests of the good people of Katsina State, country and humanity at large.
“People are, therefore, advised to remain law abiding, adhere to the health guidelines and continue to pray for the Almighty Allah’s intervention to bring an end to the Coronavirus pandemic.”
The state has recorded seven active COVID-19 cases, of which one patient died.
Meanwhile, Coronavirus active cases in Nigeria are now 277, with the majority in stable conditions, as the total number of cases rises to 442.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) gave the figure on Thursday night through its verified Twitter account.
It said that by 10:20p.m. on April 16, there were 35 new cases of COVID-19 recorded in four states – 19 in Lagos, nine in FCT, five in Kano State and two in Oyo State.
The agency said that 152 patients had been discharged, 13 deaths recorded while 20 states have recorded COVID-19 infection.
“As at 10:20p.m. on April 16, Lagos had a total of 251 confirmed COVID-19 cases, while FCT and Kano have 67 and 21 cases, respectively,” it said.
According to the NCDC, Osun has 20 confimed cases, Ogun – 9, Edo – 15, Oyo – 13, Bauchi – six, Kaduna – six, Akwa Ibom – six, Katsina – seven and Kwara – four.
It added that Ondo had three, Delta – four, Kano – 16 , Enugu – two, Ekiti – two, Rivers – two, Benue – one, Niger – two and Anambra – one.
The NCDC recommends treatment of every confirmed COVID-19 case in an isolation centre to mitigate the risk of spread in communities.
