People who took part in the funeral of the chief of staff to President Buhari, Abba Kyari, will be isolated, the federal capital territory authorities have said.
The acting secretary of the FCT health secretariat, Mohammed Kawu, said workers at the cemetery had been identified and will be isolated and tested for coronavirus.
This comes amidst outrage over the disregard for social distancing and other health advisories at Mr Kyari’s funeral on Saturday.
The announcement also followed a trending video showing one of the burial attendants taking off his protective gear and disposing of it indiscriminately.
The video posted on Twitter showed the unidentified middle-aged man throwing glances around the vicinity, apparently to be sure nobody was in sight, as he slowly pulled off his coverall near the cemetery’s perimeter fence. He left the coverall on the ground, entered his SUV and drove away.
Experts say the carelessly discarded coverall could help spread the coronavirus if picked up and probably taken home by some ignorant persons.
The PPE, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), should always be removed under the guidance and supervision of a trained observer (colleague) and properly disposed of in infectious waste containers.
In a 43-second video sent to PREMIUM TIMES, Mr Kawu said all those who were active at Mr Kyari’s burial had been identified and will be isolated and tested.
“I also saw the video trending. I promptly contacted the department of health secretariat. They have gone there and taken the bag of the PPEs and disposed it professionally,” Mr Kawu said.
“The gentlemen that are working in the cemetery have been identified and we are going to follow them up, isolate them, test them and do what is right so that they won’t infect other people,” he said.
A senior official of the FCT also confirmed this to PREMIUM TIMES.
He said 11 persons who participated in the burial have been identified and will be isolated tomorrow.
“Please let’s encourage people to remain calm. A breach has happened but we are on top of it.”
The official also frowned at the presidential aides who announced the funeral arrangement as he said standard protocols do not provide for an elaborate funeral.
“What the recommendation is, is for five persons to prayer over the body which should be inside a vehicle,” he said.
Mr Kyari died on Friday at a private hospital in Lagos, about four weeks after he was confirmed positive for COVID-19 after he returned from a trip to Germany.
He was buried at the military cemetery in Abuja’s Gudu neighbourhood.
PREMIUM
