Sokoto Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has confirmed the death of three COVID-19 patients in the state.

Tambuwal, who made the disclosure in a statewide broadcast, according to a statement by his Special Adviser Media and Publicity, Muhammad Bello, said the deceased had underlying sicknesses, including diabetes , asthma and high blood pressure respectively.

Tambuwal said: ” It is with heavy heart that I have to break this news of the results of tests carried out by the National Center for Diseases Control (NCDC) at the laboratory here in Usman Danfodio University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH), whereby 18 tests were carried out.

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”Unfortunately, out of them nine turned out to be negative. Most of them, if not all, are persons that have had previous contacts with the two index cases that we have had initially.

“And, unfortunately, so far, out of the 54 tests carried out from Sokoto state, it means that we have 19 positive cases.

“Out of these, unfortunately again, we have recorded today 3 COVID-19 associated deaths. All of the 3 are patients having history of some other diseases-diabetes, asthma and high blood pressure.”

The Governor appealed to the communities to continue to cooperate and support security agencies keeping vigil at borders- interstate and Niger Republic with the sole aim of protecting residents.