By Abiola Olawale
The Director General of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brigadier General Shuaibu Ibrahim, has debunked news reports, claiming that an official died at the Kano orientation camp after contracting Covid-19 infection.
The news had earlier raised concerns of the virus spreading among youths and camp officials at the Kano Orientation Camp, but the DG has come out to allay the fears.
He said contrary to report, the said official was not present at the orientation camp as a test carried out on him turned out to be positive prior the opening of camp activities, leading to his isolation at a Kano government facility outside of the camp.
The DG confirmed this while speaking with the Channels, on Wednesday.
He clarified that the official, after testing positive for Covid-19, could not join in the activities of the camp in compliance with the protocols laid down by the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on Covid-19.
He said: “It is not true that the officer died in the camp, in line with the PTF and NCDC guidelines all prospective corps members and camp officials that were invited for the orientation exercise were tested. It is mandatory that all must be tested. It is only those that tested negative that were allowed into the camp. Those that are positive were taken away by the NCDC and state officials for treatment and that was what happened. The officer concerned just like any other NYSC officials underwent the test and when he was positive he was taken by the NCDC to Kano State Isolation Center and that was where, unfortunately, he passed on, not in the camp.”
It would be recalled that following the opening of NYSC camp activities, many persons have contracted Covid-19.
Recently, 13 corps members were reported to have tested positive for the deadly virus in Cross River on January 25.
This has risen the concerns of many Nigerians over the possibility of youths and officials contracting the virus at the various orientation camps across the country.
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