The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 has declared Kogi State a high-risk zone for failing to acknowledge the existence of the virus. The PTF said that the Kogi government had failed to report testing, lacked isolation centers and therefore cautions Nigerians to be wary of visiting the state. It said having analysed the pandemic in the country, 22 high burdened Local Government Areas within 13 states in the country had been identified. The National Incident Manager (NIM) of the PTF COVID-19 pandemic, Mukhtar Muhammad who said this yesterday, urged Nigerians to avoid traveling to the State.
Muhammad said: "In addition to these, we have states where data is not coming forth. If we don't test, your data will not be analysed and if your data is not analysed, we won't know the level of the pandemic in your state.
"Notable among the states are Yobe, Jigawa, Zamfara, and Kebbi and of course Kogi that has not been reporting at all.
"States that are not testing are probably at much higher risk than the states that are currently known as high burdened states.
"A state that is not testing at all is an absolute high risk for Nigerians to visit because, there is no testing facility and even if you fall sick, there is no isolation center and they don't even acknowledge that the disease exists. So for that reason, we put that state at the top of high-risk states."
According to Muhammad, the 22 high burdened Local Government Areas (LGAs) within 13 states in the country, mostly in the cities of the state capitals contributed over 95 percent of new cases recorded in the last six weeks.
He mentioned the states and LGAs as Nkanu West (Enugu); Abuja Municipal (FCT); Gwagwalada FCT; Gombe (Gombe); Chikun (Kaduna); Kaduna North; Kaduna South; Nassarawa (Kano); Katsina (Katsina); Ilorin South (Kwara); Ilorin West (Kwara); Eti-Osa (Lagos); Ikeja (Lagos); Kosofe (Lagos); Lagos Mainland (Lagos); Keffi (Nasarawa); (Lafia) Nasarawa; Ibadan North (Oyo); Jos North (Plateau); Jos South (Plateau); Port-Harcourt (Rivers); and Wamako (Sokoto).
Muhammad also said the PTF was working currently to provide support to various states through their task forces towards contextualising and implementing the regulation signed by President Muhammadu Buhari.
"As mentioned earlier, the regulation covers places of worship, public transport, banks, workplaces, sports, and so on and so forth," he added.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government on Monday said no Nigerian is safe until everyone is vaccinated against the dreaded COVID-19. Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha said this in Abuja while meeting with leaders of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN.
