Coronavirus - Nigeria: WHO trains additional personnel to support COVID-19 response in Kano state

TheCOVID-19index case was recorded on April 11 2020 and in about threeweeks, Kano statecases skyrocketed to over 300, with contact tracing still ongoing.As at05May,2020, the staterecorded342 active cases and 8 recorded deaths.

To quickly contain the spread of the disease, the World Health Organization (WHO) deployeda Rapid Response Team (RRT) to support Kano State Government instrengtheningthealready existingpillars of the COVID-19response and repositioning of resources to address identified gaps.

As part of the response strategy,WHO trained and deployed additional88 Local Government Facilitators (LGAFs) to support the ongoing COVID-19 responseat theLGAlevel.The training which lasted for three days(02-04 May 2020)hadin attendance,88newly engaged surveillance assistantswho willbedeployed tothe 44LGAs, to strengthen active case search, reporting and contact tracing, risk communication and infection prevention and control.

Theever rising numbers of positivecaseshave thrownupthe challenge offollowing up onseveral contacts within the state. The involvement of these officers will supportcontact tracing andactive case searchin both public and privatehealth facilitiesas well as in the community, which will lead to early detectionandnotification of cases.

“To have a pool of experts that will support response to COVID-19 particularly with respect to surveillance and risk communication, we have to train these facilitators to take the mandate to the lower level” Says Dr Jibrin Alkasim, theState Coordinator.

“The training has enlightened me on COVID-19, most especially onsurveillance,risk communication. Ihavelearnt howfalse information is being spread through social media and how people misinterpret information on social media. I have also acquired skills on how to protect myself, enlighten the community about the reality of the disease, self -hygiene and protection from infection” saysone of the trained LGAFs,Maimuna AuwalMuhammad.

Another LGAF,r Muhammad Habib Ibrahimexplains,“This is an eye-opener. We have gotten vast knowledge on all the important areas to deal with this pandemic. With all the training we have got, I am confident we will be able to curb the spread by enlightening people at the grassroots on Infection Prevention and Control (IPC).

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of World Health Organization (WHO) - Nigeria.