The Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, has confirmed that hundreds of unexplained deaths recorded in Kano State in April 2020 may have been triggered by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Since its index case was announced on April 11, Kano has recorded the second highest number of COVID-19 cases with 999, as of June 7, behind Lagos.

Even though the state government downplayed the spate of unexplained deaths, it caused national concern in April, leading the Ministry of Health to send a task team to investigate.

During a media briefing on Monday, June 8, Ehanire said the team has sent in a report that indicated that a total of 979 unexplained deaths were recorded over a five-week period in eight municipal local government areas in the state.

"With the circumstantial evidence, investigation suggests that 50% to 60% of the deaths maybe have been triggered by or due to COVID-19 in the face of pre-existing ailments," he said.

This is between 490 and 588 coronavirus fatalities, even though Nigeria has officially recorded 354 coronavirus fatalities, with Kano officially recognising 48.

Ehanire said a significant number of the deaths was also triggered by an inability to access routine care at the time due to the scare of COVID-19.

Most of the fatalities, according to the minister, were over 65 years old.

He noted that Kano recorded 43 deaths per-day during the five-week period, but the figure has reset to the usual 11 deaths per day.

Ehanire praised the task team's efforts whose visit to Kano he described as a game-changer that significantly improved the state government's COVID-19 response.

He said the team restored confidence that led to the restoration of essential and routine case management and COVID 19 management in the state.

Nigeria has recorded a total of 12,486 coronavirus cases in 35 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.