Kano: Expert explains why there may be rise in deaths, pleads for calm
People in Kano State have been urged to remain calm and await the outcome of investigations by experts into the alleged rise in deaths in Kano metropolis in the past few days.
The director, Centre for Infectious Disease Control at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), Professor Isa Abubakar, told Judicial Sketch that the information regarding the rise in incidences of deaths “emanated from speculations, not from experts in any field related to Medicine.”
He said the state ministry of health rose to the occasion when the rumour started circulating during the weekend, “conducted a very quick survey and discovered that the rise in the number of deaths is not significantly different from what has been happening all along.”
He said while “I agree that it is good to call attention to any issue of concern, I do not think it is wise to make an issue out of it unnecessarily.”
The professor of Medicine said he “will advise that everyone holds on to the press statement issued by the state ministry of health yesterday while, on our part, we will approach the issue in greater detail from a research point of view, since we are in a research institution.”
He however gave an insight into what he thinks may cause deaths during trying times like this, saying “one of the things we may consider for now is that apart from COVID-19, there are other reasons people may die.
“Under normal circumstances, hospitals are working, and people with other conditions like cancer, hypertension, diabetes and many others were getting full attention, but unfortunately, the condition we found ourselves does not allow hospitals to provide those services any longer,” he explained.
He added that “definitely people with those conditions are at great disadvantage. It will not be surprising if there are rises in incidences related to these conditions, including deaths unfortunately. This may be one explanation.”
According to him, “the second one is the fact that people are now home, not going to work and pay attention to information flying around, and even if there are no increases, the fact that they have time and pay attention to the number of deaths will give them the impression that the numbers are beyond normal.”
He advised that people should remain calm and allow health officials do their jobs as effectively as possible.
Meanwhile, Kano State ministry of health has issued a press statement to say that it “could not immediately verify the veracity of the claim going round” about the rise in incidences of death in the metropolis in the last few days.
In the statement, signed by the ministry’s information officer, Hadiza M. Namadi, the state commissioner of health, Dr. Aminu Ibrahim Tsanyawa, was said to have “assured the general public that investigation into the matter is ongoing verify the claim and possible causes of the deaths.”
The statement equally indicated that the commissioner has “assured that the public will be informed on the outcome of the investigation in due course.”
