Kano shuts down private hospital for ‘treating patients with severe COVID-19 symptoms’

The Kano government has shut down UMC Zahrir Hospital in the state, for allegedly admitting and treating severe cases of COVID-19.

Muhammad Garba, Kano commissioner for information, announced this in a statement on Tuesday evening.

According to Garba, the facility refused to refer cases to designated isolation centres in the state.

The commissioner noted that the closure of the hospital was in accordance with the guidelines issued by the state task force on COVID-19, which requires such facilities to attend only to patients with mild symptoms.

“As a result of its inaction, two confirmed patients with severe cases died, one at the facility and another on the way to the hospital,” the statement reads.

Garba, who was said to be in the company of Aminu Tsanyawa, the commissioner for health, during a visit to the hospital on Tuesday, said it would remain closed, pending the resolution of the matter between the management and the state government.

The commissioner stated that two patients with severe symptoms found at the hospital have been transferred to an isolation centre, while other patients on admission were taken to Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital and Muhammadu Abdullahi Wase Specialist Hospital.

As of February 1, 2021, Kano had confirmed over 3,000 coronavirus cases, and more than 80 deaths have been recorded.