Kaduna State has recorded its first casualty to the coronavirus pandemic, the government said on Saturday.
Commissioner for Health, Dr Amina Mohammed-Bolani, said the state also recorded three active cases of the virus.
The commissioner said the first fatality was among the additional three COVID-19 cases confirmed in the state.
According to her, the state now has 28 confirmed cases and awaits results of 350 samples, mostly almajiris, which it sent to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) for tests.
“Testing of 167 almajiris who returned from Kano has now been completed, and the number of positive cases from this group may rise. Cases in the state rose to 28 on Thursday.
“The three patients that increased the number from 25 include two males and the first female COVID-19 case in the state,” the official said.
She added that the female patient was a health worker not involved in the treatment of COVID-19 cases.
“One of the two males was a retired civil servant with underlying medical conditions, who concealed his recent travel to Kano when he visited a public hospital and a private hospital.
“He was eventually admitted at the isolation centre with respiratory distress.
“He died before his positive test result was released. He is the first COVID-19 fatality in Kaduna State,” she said.
The official said that the family of the deceased had been informed of his demise, and he had been buried according to the NCDC’s burial protocol.
