Kaduna State has confirmed one new case of COVID-19, raising the active cases to four, Commissioner of Health Dr Amina Mohammed Baloni has disclosed.

A statement by the Commissioner on Saturday said that the new case is a close contact of one of the three new cases announced earlier in the week.

Baloni reiterated that ‘’contact tracing is ongoing to identify persons the new case has interacted with so that they can be monitored and tested if they meet the case definition.’’

‘’Our medical professionals are attending to the four active cases in the state. They are receiving treatment at the Infectious Diseases Centre, the state’s premier isolation centre, and we wish them speedy recovery,’’ she assured.

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The Commissioner reminded that ‘’ medical professionals in the Ministry of Health have already successfully managed the first six Covid-19 cases in the state to full recovery and discharge.

‘’The index case, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, was discharged on April, 22, 2020, after two consecutive negative test results. Five cases were earlier discharged in the one week, starting from 14 April 2020,’’ she added.

According to Baloni, Governor El Rufai has acknowledged ‘’ the sterling efforts of our medical professionals. I appeal to them and the other stakeholders involved in the efforts of the Ministry of Health to manage and contain Covid-19 in Kaduna State to remain dedicated.’’

The Commissioner said that the testing capacity is improving, adding that Kaduna state has ‘’one lab that has been accredited by NCDC to conduct Covid-19 tests.’’

‘’Two other labs, one in Kaduna and the other in Zaria, are undergoing NCDC verification and are expected to secure test accreditation shortly’’, she further said.

‘’As at Friday, 24 April 2020, Kaduna State has tested 133 persons tested, out which 10 have tested positive,’’ the Commissioner added.

The statement reminded the general public of the importance of hand-washing, personal hygiene, social distancing and the avoidance of large gatherings in helping protect us all from Covid-19, adding that ‘’it is important to stay home, stay safe and save lives.‘’