The Kaduna State government has confirmed 16 new cases of coronavirus in the state.
The Commissioner of Health in the state, Dr. Amina Mohammed-Baloni, announced this on Thursday in a statement.
He explained that the cases were Almajiris who returned to the state from Kano, saying their test results returned positive from a sample of 40 people whose test results were released on April 30.
This comes hours after the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control said 196 new cases were reported across the country.
According to the health agency, Kaduna confirmed 17 new infections and the total number of cases in Nigeria has risen to 1,728.
Mohammed-Baloni stressed that the high figure of positive cases with travel history from outside Kaduna has confirmed the government’s concern about the danger of infection from neighboring states.
He clarified that one of the 17 cases announced by the NCDC was a repeat test from a COVID-19 patient and the agency has been informed about it.
The commissioner noted that health officials were monitoring suspected cases said to have sneaked into the state amid the ban on interstate travel.
He added that the State Standing Committee on COVID-19 has appealed to the security agencies to accelerate the blocking of entry points into Kaduna.
“We wish the new cases speedy recovery as they receive the usual high standards of care from our medical professionals,” Mohammed-Baloni said.