By Haruna Gimba
No fewer than 95 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded in Gombe State in four days, between last Tuesday and Friday according to the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
The higher number of cases being recorded which indicated the resurgence of the Coronavirus in the state as a result of neglect from the authorities concern and residents of the state.
For instance, about 35 new cases were recorded on Tuesday, 52 cases on Wednesday and eight cases on Friday.
According to reports, there was a day when out of 23 suspected cases taken for sampling, 22 were found to be positive.
Officials at the testing centre inside the State Specialists Hospital claimed that about 400 samples are taken daily for testing at the COVID-29 laboratory located in the state.
Even though samples are taken daily for the free test, only few members of the public voluntarily present themselves for testing, apparently due to lack of awareness on the part of the authorities.
The state Deputy Governor Dr Manassah Daniel Jatau, who chaired the committee, had recently warned residents to comply with COVID-19 protocols following resurgence of the virus in communities across the state.
He expressed fear that not complying with the virus safety protocols could lead to serious consequences for the state and members of the public during the second wave of the pandemic.
Dr Jatau added that many people had ignored the prescribed precautionary measures like regular hand washing, use of sanitisers, face masks and observing physical distancing.
The state’s Commissioner for Health, Dr Ahmed Gana also warned that resurgence of cases in Gombe might lead to a crisis, if residents continued to ignore the precautionary measures.
“A classical example is the active case search that we embarked on in one of our communities, out of 23 active cases suspected, 22 came back positive and since then we have seen a very rapid rise in the numbers, and if we don’t take measures now, we may run into trouble,” he warned.
The commissioner said the harmattan weather was helping the spread of the disease, revealing that the COVID-19 was responsible for most of the big figures that died recently in the state.
