• Borno state government is tracking two residents of the state who fled after their coronavirus test came positive.

According to the state’s Commissioner for Health, Salisu Kwayabura, the patients, Abbas Kaka Hassan, a 24-year-old male, and Hauwa Mohammed, 42-year-old female fled the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital after learning they tested positive.

Hassan who was said to have been in contact with the COVID-19 response team via telephone after his sample was collected, reportedly switched off his phone.

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The commissioner also disclosed that a phone number through which the patient’s mother was contacting the team, has also switched off.

Kwayabura said, “When samples of patients with contacts to index cases are collected, they are normally advised to go on self-isolation. They give their contacts so they can be reached when the results are out.

“This is the standard medical procedure. You cant detain someone with suspected contact. We do not have the lawful powers to do that. Other patients were also allowed to leave but they came into isolation centres and we have 19 of them in two isolation centres. However, the young man in question chose to go into hiding.”

He, however, said that a “diligent surveillance and investigation” team is working hard to track the two patients.

In a bid to allay the fears of Borno residents over the coronavirus pandemic, Kwayabura assured them that the disease is not a death sentence, adding that majority of those who tested positive have recovered from the disease.