In The Midst of Rumors: Kano State’s Response at the Onset of COVID-19 Pandemic
In response to the World Health Organisation (WHO) declaration of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEOIC) in January 2020, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) organised a 2-day simulation exercise for states on the outbreak response in Abuja. On February 27, 2020, the first day of the exercise, Nigeria confirmed its first case of COVID-19 in Lagos, making it the first confirmed case in sub-Saharan Africa and the third on the continent after Egypt and Algeria . “ On the next day of the exercise we found no one in attendance except a few of us because most of the major stakeholders have been deployed to Lagos for a cogent response ,” says Dr. Bashir Lawal Muhammad, the Kano State Epidemiologist and representative in the simulation exercise. “ The preparedness in Kano State started even before Nigeria recorded any case of COVID-19. But with the first case through Lagos, we even became more v...