THE Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Muhammad Bello has tested positive for COVID-19.
His Chief Press Secretary Anthony Ogunleye broke the news in a statement mailed to The ICIR on Friday.
The minister is the second among President Muhammadu Buhari’s appointees to be down with the disease this week.
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Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity Garba Shehu announced his recovery from the virus on Wednesday.
Garba’s colleague, the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity Femi Adesina, has made nine posts about events at the Presidential Villa. None of them was shared or published by Shehu, as it is the custom between the two officials.
Former Chief of Staff to the President Abba Kyari died of COVID-19 after contracting the disease on April 18, 2020.
However, other top officials of the administration, namely the Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama, and the Minister of Women Affairs Pauline Tallen also contracted but recovered from the virus.
According to the statement from the FCT on Friday, the FCT minister experienced some mild symptoms of sore throat, feverish feeling and mild running nose from December 28 and went for a COVID-19 test.
The statement said his result returned positive in the early hours of Friday.
“The Minister who remains in high spirits is isolating and receiving treatment at home and is currently doing fine.
“Malam Bello said that the medical personnel attending to him informed him that his case is mild because he has taken two shots of the COVID-19 vaccine,” part of the statement said.
The minister appealed to people who were yet to get vaccinated against COVID-19 to take the jabs.
He also praised all medical personnel in the FCT and beyond for their frontline role in containing the virus.
As of the time of filing this report, 3,030 persons had died from the virus in Nigeria from 241,513 cases.
There were 24,480 active cases, while discharged cases stood at 214,003.
Marcus bears the light, and he beams it everywhere. He's a good governance and decent society advocate. He's The ICIR Reporter of the Year 2022 and has been the organisation's News Editor since September 2022. Contact him via email @ [email protected].