Five of the Almajiri students returned to Kaduna from Kano have tested positive for the COVID-19.
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Last week, governors in northern Nigeria agreed to ban the Almajiri system as part of efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19.
The governors agreed to evacuate the children back to their parents or states of origin to minimise their exposure to the disease that has infected over 3 million people across the world.
The Kaduna State Ministry of Health announced on Monday that five of the Almajiri children sent to the state from Kano were infected.
The state’s Commissioner of Health, Dr Amina Mohammed-Baloni, said:
The new cases are among Almajirai who were recently repatriated from Kano.
The contacts of the new cases are being traced so that they can be monitored and tested if they meet the case definition.
The new patients have been moved to the Infectious Diseases Control Centre, the state’s premier isolation centre.
The commissioner noted that the state’s testing capacity has improved with two labs accredited by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, to conduct COVID-19 tests.
The Ministry of Health wishes to remind 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. It is important to stay home, stay safe and save lives.
Kaduna has now recorded 20 coronavirus cases, including the state governor, Nasir El-Rufai, who recently recovered.
Kano has recorded a total of 77 coronavirus cases, the third-highest in Nigeria, behind Lagos- 731 and the Federal Capital Territory- 141.
The outbreak has led to the crippling of social and economic activities across Nigeria with many states imposing a partial or complete lockdown in a desperate attempt to contain the spread.
El-Rufai, on Sunday, announced that the lockdown in Kaduna has been extended for another month till the end of May.
According to the governor, the wearing of face masks in public is also compulsory.
