25 Gombe Corps Members Test Positive To COVID-19

No fewer than 25 prospective corps members, including a nursing mother, have tested positive for COVID-19 at the Gombe NYSC camp ground located in Amada, Akko LGA.

Confirming the matter on Saturday in an exclusive telephone chat with our correspondent, Commissioner for Health, Dr. Habu Dahiru, said that the 25 corps members were tested in the last three days, adding that they have been moved to the state-owned isolation centre in the Idris Mohammed Infectious Disease Centre, Kwadon.

He said, “Out of the 1,291 that were tested using the Polymerase Chain Reaction, 25 persons were positive, and one is a nursing mother.

“For the sake of coordination, the incident management system in Gombe has conducted a meeting at the Public Health Emergency Operation Centre and we have also moved as required by the guideline to Kwadon isolation centre.

“At the isolation centre, we have made provision for their feeding, medication and their security.

“We have drafted Police to provide security to the place. They will be managed at the isolation centre until they are negative and they will be returned to join their fellow corps members.

“We have also provided psychosocial support because some of them may be asymptomatic and may wonder why they are kept there. So, we had to educate them that they pose a risk to the general public because unconsciously, they will be infecting others.”

Dahiru urged members of the public to observe the protocols, adding that the virus is still raging.

He added, “Now that we have got details about their states and local governments, we will call the affected states and ask them to go to their homes for contact tracing.”