Over a month after Dangote Foundation announced the donation of a 300-capacity isolation centre for the management of COVID-19 patients in Kano, the facility is yet to be handed over to the state government for use.
The state as at Tuesday has 919 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 134 recoveries and a death toll of 38.
Spokesperson of Kano health ministry, Hadiza Namadi confirmed that construction work was ongoing at the facility, adding that no single COVID-19 patient has been admitted in the isolation centre.
Business mogul and chairman Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, donated isolation facility as part of his contribution to the fight against coronavirus pandemic in the state.
The material for the construction of the collapsible isolation facility arrived Kano in April , and since then construction work has been ongoing at the site at the Sani Abacha Stadium.
READ: COVID-19: CACOVID hands over remodelled isolation center to Kano
A reliable source who spoke to Daily Trust in confidence said only one of the three tents at the isolation facility has been completed.
Kano state government has over 10 isolation facilities across the state where coronavirus cases are treated based on their severity.
A video emerged on Instagram, with the recorder apparently walking through the empty isolation centre under construction, and questioning the location of Kano’s Covid-19 patients.
The exact date it was taken is unknown but the recorder mentioned May 24.
Instagrammers who viewed the video have been quick to point out Kano has nine other isolation centres.
The one cited at Sani Abacha stadium at Kofar Mata, which was captured in the Instagram video, is still under construction.
In a statement issued by the state commissioner for information, Malam Muhammad Garba the government said there is no iota of truth in whatever the video clips attempts to portray.
“Whoever is behind the filming does so to deliberately distort the datum considering that even in the clip, it shows that the project is still ongoing but calculatedly moves away from filming the exercise just to accomplish the task of garbling the fact,’’ the statement adds.
Malam Garba says the Sani Abacha Isolation Centre, which was initially billed to accommodate 500 beds, was later redesigned based on recommendation and standards set by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 (PTF) and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
He said while the project was reviewed and installation works continue, 218 out of the 500 beds planned for the centre were deployed to other new centres as follows: renovated Abubakar Imam Urology 77 beds; Daula Isolation Centre 10 beds; Karfi Sports Institute 213 beds, while 213 beds are retained at Sani Abacha Isolation Centre which account for the 500 beds capacity being delivered by CACOVID in Kano state.
The commissioner assures that the now 213 bed capacity Sani Abacha Isolation Centre as recommended by the relevant health authorities will soon be completed and put to use.
Malam Garba calls on the public to ignore the video clip which is a handiwork of mischief-makers and further assures that government would not be distracted from big picture which is serving the people.
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