The Health and Human Services Secretariat of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has expressed concerns over the conduct of officials and other individuals who attended the burial ceremony of the late Chief of Staff to the President, Mallam Abba Kyari at the Gudu Cemetary in Abuja on Saturday.
A statement by the Acting Secretary Health and Human Services Secretariat FCTA, Dr Mohammed Kawu, disclosed that all those who attended the burial without the recommended kits had been identified and would be isolated and tested.
Kawu stated: “FCTA has noted with concern the video trending on social media, showing a man pulling off his Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) unprofessionally after participating in the burial of the late Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Malam Abba Kyari, at the Gudu cemetery, Abuja.
“The Public Health Department has since taken necessary action.
“The said PPE left over by the individual has been professionally evacuated and the entire cemetery has been decontaminated. In addition, all the individuals including the man in question that participated in the burial and were not properly kitted have been identified and are being isolated.
“Necessary tests will (be) conducted on all of them to determine their level of exposure and ensure that they do not infect other people.
“The Administration has also taken steps to ensure that all future burials of victims of COVID 19 are conducted in line with protocols established by the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
“Residents are therefore urged to remain calm and rest assured that the FCT Administration will continue to do all that is necessary to curtail and eventually end the spread of the Coronavirus in the FCT”, he added.
Broadcast by several television stations at the burial showed attendees showing scant regard to the social distancing policy with mourners openly ignoring the lockdown ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari for the nation’s capital.
A video of one the officials who attended to the remains of Kyari who died early Saturday after contracting the coronavirus, discarding his Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in an unsafe manner, went viral in the social media, prompted the reaction from the FCTA.
