Viral Video of empty Kano Isolated center: Govt claims is under renovation

Reacting to the viral videos of which aroused controversy that it had no functional isolation center as it had claimed, the Kano State Government has rebuffed belief, saying that the center is under renovation.

As reported by Channels television, a statement signed by the state Commissioner for Information, Malam Muhammad Garba, noted that the Sani Abacha Isolation Center, Kofar Mata as shown in the said footage is currently under renovation by the Coalition Against COVID (CACOVID).

According to Garba, the isolation centre which was initially billed to accommodate 500 beds, is being redesigned based on recommendation and standards set by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 (PTF) and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

He said while the project is being reviewed and installation works continue, 218 out of the 500 beds planned for the centre were deployed to other new centres as follows: renovated Abubakar Imam Urology, Daula Isolation Centre and Karfi Sports Institute, while the remaining were retained at the Sani Abacha Isolation Centre.

Speaking further, the commissioner assured that the now 213 bed capacity Sani Abacha Isolation Centre as recommended by the relevant health authorities will soon be completed and put to use.

He stated that there is no iota of truth in the video and it is an attempt to discredit the effort by the coalition in the fight against COVID-19.

“Whoever is behind the filming does so to deliberately distort the datum considering that even in the clip, it shows that the project is still ongoing but calculatedly moves away from filming the exercise just to accomplish the task of garbling the fact,” the statement read in part.

Garba, therefore, called on the public to ignore the video clip, saying it is the handiwork of mischief-makers as the government stays committed to serving the people of the state.

However, NewsTrack checks showed that there were some hospital equipment that seemed to have been in use in the former arrangement. It is most probable that the government reaction is factual going by the things on ground.