State govt to investigate reports on mass deaths in Kano

The Kano State government has said it will investigate the reports of the alleged mass deaths. It was reported on national television that a large number of people were buried across various cemeteries in the state recently.

However, the Kano State Ministry of Health has commenced an investigation into the matter.

According to a statement issued on Monday by Hadiza Namadi, the image-maker of the ministry, the state Commissioner for Health, Aminu Tsanyawa, assured that investigation into the matter is ongoing to verify the claim and possible causes of the deaths.

The statement, however, assured that the public will be informed on the outcome of the investigation in due course.

It would be recalled that the trending increasing death in the ancient city of Kano is creating tension as many residents are scared and relating it to the COVID-19 pandemic as most of the deceased are middle age and old people.

Professor Isa Abubakar, of Public Health and Community Medicine, however, said that the reports on mass deaths could be attributed to one of three issues.

According to him, it could be attributed to COVID-19 patients who were not tested, though this is insignificant because even in the countries with COVID-19, the percentage of deaths among infected persons is low.

He also disclosed that there are some people who need treatment for different health challenges, besides COVID-19. However, the attention of major hospitals has been shifted to COVID-19 and some patients may not even have access to the hospitals due to the traffic restrictions.

Professor Abubakar noted that the third reason was that most people are now idle at home and therefore are free to take note of the number of deaths around them.

“That is why people assume there is an increasing death rate while probably there is none at all,” he said.

The state government said it has asked an investigation committee to unravel the circumstances leading to alleged mass deaths and has promised to furnish members of public on the findings of the committee.

Conflicting reports trail the mass deaths said to have occurred in the state, even as there is no authoritative source that keeps track of deaths in Kano.

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