The Kaduna State Ministry of Health has commenced active case search within communities in the nine local government areas where COVID-19 infections have been confirmed.

The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Amina Mohammed-Baloni, said in a statement on Monday that health officials were going into communities to search for and test persons who might be showing any COVID-19 symptom.

“As part of the active case search, 29,771 households have so far been visited. Health officials have tested 297 persons with symptoms such as fever and sore throat,’’ she said.

The commissioner explained that the search for probable cases within communities was combined with targeted testing of contacts of confirmed cases and testing of persons with symptoms that met the case definition.

She warned that the number of COVID-19 cases in the state was likely to increase, as more tests were conducted in more areas.

“Expanded testing will enable early identification of new cases and will help prevent further spread of the virus by getting infected persons to be isolated and treated earlier.

“It will also provide more accurate data to inform government’s decisions, going forward,’’ she added.

The commissioner further said that the active case search had given the ministry the opportunity to search for other medical conditions and provide services to the communities.

She said that as at May 31, the state had recorded a total of 258 cases, out of which 93 were active cases, with 157 discharged 157 and eight fatalities. (NAN)