By AMEN GAJIRA

Fear-stricken residents of Kafanchan in Kaduna State on Sunday went into a state of panic following news of the arrival of a lady from Lagos.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that Lagos, with 59 confirmed cases, has the highest number of persons that had tested positive to the deadly Coronavirus. The pandemic has continued to spread across the country, with a total of 97 cases confirmed positive so far.

Governor Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai, and his Bauchi counterpart, Abubakar Mohammed, have both tested positive to the ravaging pandemic.

The lady was said to have traveled from Lagos to visit her friend at Ungwan Mission Area, Kafanchan, and arrived the town on Saturday evening.

A resident, Marcus Abu, told NAN that residents of the area got wind of the lady’s arrival and quickly mobilised to the friend’s house where they locked the duo in the room on the suspicion that the visitor may have the virus.

“Residents of the area rushed to the house of the girl upon hearing that a friend of hers had arrived from Lagos.

“They even threatened to pelt the two ladies with stones, if they didn’t go inside, when they found them sitting outside the apartment,” he added

The Chairman of Jema’a Local Government, Mr. Peter Averik, who led a team of medical personnel to evacuate the two ladies to the isolation centre at the General Hospital, Kafanchan, urged the residents to remain calm.

“Kafanchan residents should remain calm and not panic; the lady only came into town from Lagos without showing any symptoms of the virus.

“Besides, no case can be confirmed until proven so by the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC),” he told newsmen at the hospital.

Also speaking, the Chief Medical Director of the Hospital, Dr. Samuel Kure, said that the two ladies showed no symptoms of COVID 19.

“The two ladies showed no sign of being infected, but they have been put on isolation at the hospital as a precautionary measure,” he said.

Kure said that a team from the NCDC is expected on Monday from Kaduna, to take their samples for testing.

NAN correspondent reports that fear-stricken patients and other people scampered for safety when the two ladies were brought to the hospital. (NAN)