60 percent of Kano deaths linked to COVID-19 – Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire

Dr Osagie Ehanire, Nigeria’s Minister of Health, today disclosed that 60 percent of recent deaths recorded in Kano State have been linked to COVID-19 infection.

Recall that in April, Nigerians took to social media to express worry over the mysterious deaths in Kano state which reportedly rose to 640 in one week.

This prompted the constitution of a Ministerial task force that was sent to Kano to investigate the causes of the mysterious death and to also ascertain if it is related to COVID19.

Speaking at the daily briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID19, Ehanire said that the ministry have received the report of the Ministerial Task Team.

According to the Minister, it was observed that 50 to 60 percent of persons above the age of 65 died of COVID-19 related cases while others died due to neglect or delay in treatment. The minister added that about 979 strange deaths occurred in eight Municipal Area Councils of the state.

“The team confirmed from graveyard records, that a total of 979 deaths were recorded in 8 municipal LGA in the state at a rate of 43 deaths per day, with a peak in the second week of April.

By the beginning of May, the death rate had reduced to the 11 deaths per day it used to be.  The verbal autopsy revealed that about 52 per cent of deaths had occurred at home while 38 per cent were in a hospital.

If circumstantial evidence are all to go by, investigation suggests that between 50-60 per cent of the deaths may have been triggered by or due to COVID-19 in the face of preexisting ailments. Most fatalities were over 65 years of age” he said