In another upsurge of pandemic second wave, Nigeria on Monday recorded more deaths from COVID-19 as the country continues to battle the second phase of the infection.
On Monday, 10 more people died from the virus as Nigeria recorded 397 new cases, one of the lowest daily figures in December.
Nigeria has now recorded 1,264 deaths, according to the country’s infectious disease outfit, NCDC.
In the past 10 days, there have been 52 recorded deaths from the coronavirus.
The NCDC in an update on its microsite Monday night said 397 new cases were found in 18 states over the previous 24 hours, indicating a sharp decrease from the 838 infections on Sunday.
With the latest figure, the country’s total infections is now 84, 811.
Since early December, there has been a spike in coronavirus cases in Nigeria.
Health experts believe the lowering of guard on safety and the weak enforcement of protocols especially in the country’s major airports in Abuja and Lagos could be responsible for the development, warning that the situation could get worse if citizens keep violating safety protocols.
Active cases in the country rose sharply from about 3,000 some weeks ago to over 11,000 due to a rise in new infections.
Of the over 84,000 cases so far, 71,385 patients have been discharged from hospitals after treatment.
Specifics
The 397 new cases were reported from 18 states – Lagos (144), Plateau (83), Kaduna (48), Adamawa (36), Rivers (22), Oyo (16), Kebbi (10), Nasarawa (7), Sokoto (7), FCT (5), Kano (5), Edo (4), Jigawa (3), Ogun (2), Akwa Ibom (2), Niger (1) , Bauchi (1), and Zamfara (1),
Lagos led with 144 new cases on Monday. The commercial city is Nigeria’s coronavirus epicentre with over 28,000 cases and more than 240 deaths.
With the country into the second wave of the pandemic, federal authorities have ordered the reopening of all isolation and treatment centres in the country.
The Nigerian government has also reintroduced new restrictions to check the spread of the virus, including closure of bars and nightclubs and limiting the number of people allowed in a public gathering.
Nigerian authorities say they are expecting to receive in January one of the vaccines developed globally for COVID-19 but evidence on the ground at the country’s National Strategic Cold Store suggest the January target may be unrealistic.
So far, Nigeria has tested over 910,000 of its 200 million people.
