A coronavirus [Covid-19] patient who fled a hospital in Kebbi State has died from the disease, the government said on Saturday.

The deceased, a 60-year-old man who suffered from diabetes and hypertension, was said to have absconded after his samples were taken to be tested for the dreaded virus on April 25.

The man died at home the following day on April 26.

The state governor’s Special Adviser on Media, Yahaya Sarki, in a statement made available to journalists, said the deceased was the second case of the virus in the state.

Quoting the state Commissioner for Health, Alhaji Jaafaru Mohammed, Sarki said,

“The second case (of COVID-19 in the state) was a patient from the Federal Medical Centre, Birnin Kebbi. He was a 60-year-old man, a known diabetic and hypertensive patient.

“He was brought to the centre from the Usman Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto, by his relatives.

“After reviewing the case by a consultant, COVID-19 was suspected and our Rapid Response Team swung into action.”

He added,

“The corpse was taken to UDUTH mortuary, contrary to earlier claim that it was taken to Benue State for burial.

“On April 29, 2020, the result of his test turned out to be positive and the contacts tracing team swung into action.”

According to the commissioner, the team had traced 12 close contacts and 17 other contacts of the deceased.

He said samples of the contacts had been taken to the reference laboratory in UDUTH, Sokoto, while the Sokoto State Epidomologist and the management of UDUTH were contacted.

He appealed to the people of the state to remain calm as everything humanly possible was being done by the task force, other relevant health professionals and stakeholders, to contain the spread of the disease.

Mohammed said the task force was receiving technical support from the Nigeria Centre For Disease Control on the matter.