Coronavirus: Kwara Traces 75 Suspects As UITH Suspends Professor

The Kwara State Government, on Tuesday, said it had traced 75 persons suspected to have had contact with the two cases of Coronavirus (COVID-19) reported in the state on Monday.

Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq stated this in a series of tweets on Tuesday.

Abdulrahman said one of the confirmed cases was the wife of a man who recently returned from the United Kingdom, while the second case was a diabetic patient who also had a travel history to the UK.

The governor said the 75 suspects were traced by the Rapid Response Team of the medical advisory committee earlier inaugurated to help curb the spread of the virus in the state.

Meanwhile, the management of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) has announced the suspension of Professor Salami Alakija Kazeem who is the head of the Pulmonology Unit in internal medicine of the UITH for alleged misconduct.

Kazeem’s alleged misconduct was said to have led to the death of a suspected Coronavirus patient, Muideen Obanimomo, at the hospital.

Obanimomo was said to have returned to Nigeria on Friday, March 20, through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, and immediately went into self-isolation after experiencing symptoms of COVID-19.

Professor Kazeem, who was said to be Obanimomo’s family doctor, was accused of facilitating the deceased’s admission at the hospital.

He was also accused of releasing the deceased’s corpse to his family for immediate burial without following due process or having it undergo Coronavirus test.

Meanwhile, Governor Abdulrasaq, in his statement, frowned at Kazeem’s alleged conduct and had called for his suspension from the UITH.

“The government is utterly disappointed at the breach of trust that played out in the UITH case. Consequently, we demand immediate suspension of Professor loop l and every other official of UITH whose professional misconducts brought us down this path,” said the governor.

He said his administration had signed, “the newly prepared Kwara State Infectious Diseases (Emergency Prevention) Regulation 2020 on Monday April 6th to provide legal backings for the local management of the global health situation” as part of our efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the state.

“This is an emergency and the regulation, built around some enabling laws like the Quarantine Act of 2004, empowers us to invoke various drastic measures in the days ahead, if occasion calls for it.

“Highlights of the regulation include sanctions for anyone caught endangering public safety in whatever form or seeking to unfairly profit from our collective vulnerability and need for essential commodities at this time.”

Abdulrasaq further urged Kwara citizens to abide by medical advisories and restrictive measures put in place by the state government to prevent further spread of the virus.