The coronavirus pandemic is still spreading and official data shows that the scourge is not stopping yet. Nigeria, like many other countries of the world, is yet to flatten the curve as the country recorded its highest weekly figure last week.

Also, last week, Nigeria recorded 223 coronavirus cases, 41 per cent of the total 542 recorded since the index case in February. The country also recorded nine deaths, almost half of the 19 deaths recorded so far.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has ascribed the increased number of cases to increased testing of suspected cases.

Nigeria’s tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country rose to 542 cases on Saturday night.

Lagos State has now reported 306 cases, followed by FCT – 81, Kano – 37, Osun – 20, Edo – 15, Oyo – 16, Ogun – 12, Kwara – 9, Katsina – 9, Bauchi, Kaduna and Akwa Ibom – 6, Delta and Ekiti – 3, while Ondo has 3 cases. Enugu, Niger and Rivers have two cases each, while Benue and Anambra have recorded one each.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said so far, 542 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed. Of these, 166 have been discharged while 19 people have died.

An analysis by PREMIUM TIMES revealed that Nigeria recorded the highest number of its weekly figures last week. Before this week’s 223 cases, the highest weekly figure was 104, from April 5 to April 11.

Also, the average daily figure of confirmed cases rose last week when compared with the previous week’s average daily figure. The average daily figure for last week was 32 compared to 15 for the previous week.

Last week, Nigeria recorded 223 cases, 9 deaths and 96 discharged patients, while the country recorded 104 cases, 5 deaths and 45 discharged the previous week.

Lagos remains the epicentre of the outbreak in Nigeria, while confirmed cases in Kano have been on the rise since the first confirmed case was announced in the state.

As of the time of reporting, 19 states and the FCT have confirmed at least a case of the virus.

Nonetheless, the Director-General of the agency, Chikwe Ihekweazu, said Nigerians should expect the virus to spread to all states.

Chikwe Ihekweazu, CEO, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.

“We have responded to Lassa smoothly and nobody shut down the country because it wasn’t necessary, the response was fairly efficient.

“Now, COVID-19 is on a much larger scale – at the moment in 22 states but it will grow to every state in Nigeria, there is no reason why it won’t – it is a respiratory virus,” Mr Ihekweazu stated.

He said NCDC will continue to be transparent with its operations and emphasised that the virus “will circulate in Nigeria, absolutely no doubt.”

PREMIUM TIMES, in this article, takes a look at how the cases increased last week.

Timeline

On Sunday, five new cases of coronavirus were reported– 2 in Lagos, 2 in Kwara and 1 in Katsina.

As of 09:10 p.m. on April 12, there were 323 confirmed cases of #COVID19 reported in Nigeria. Eighty-five had been discharged with 10 deaths recorded.

On Monday, 20 new cases of coronavirus were reported as follows: 13 in Lagos, 2 in Edo, 2 in Kano, 2 in Ogun and 1 in Ondo.

As of 09:50 p.m. on April 13. there were 343 confirmed cases of #COVID19 reported in Nigeria. Of these, 91 had been discharged with 10 deaths recorded.

On Tuesday, 19 new cases of #COVID19 were reported as follows: 14 in Lagos, 2 in FCT, 1 in Kano, 1 in Akwa Ibom and 1 in Edo.

As of 09:20 p.m. on April 14, there were 362 confirmed cases of the pandemic reported in Nigeria. Of these, 99 had been discharged and 11 deaths recorded.

On the same day, eleven new cases were reported in Lagos State.

Thus, as of 11:00 p.m. April 14, there were 373 confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported in Nigeria. Of these, 99 had been discharged with 11 deaths recorded.

On Wednesday, 34 new cases of COVID-19 were reported as follows: 18 in Lagos, 12 in Kano, 2 in Katsina, 1 in Delta and 1 in Niger.

As of 11:20 p.m. on April 15, there were 407 confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported in Nigeria. Of these, 128 had been discharged with 12 deaths recorded.

Infograph showing the constant rise in coronavirus cases in Nigeria.

On Thursday, 35 new cases of COVID-19 were reported as follows: 19 in Lagos, 9 in FCT, 5 in Kano and 2 in Oyo.

As of 10:20 p.m. on April 16, there were 442 confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported in Nigeria. Of these, 152 had been discharged with 13 deaths recorded.

On Friday, 51 new cases of COVID-19 were reported: 32 in Lagos, 6 in Kano, 5 in Kwara, 2 in FCT, 2 in Oyo, 2 in Katsina, 1 in Ogun and 1 in Ekiti.

As of 10:10 p.m. on April 17, there were 493 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Nigeria; including 159 discharged and 17 deaths.

On Saturday, 43 new cases of the disease were reported: 23 in Lagos, 12 in FCT, 10 in Kano, 2 in Ogun and 1 in Oyo.

As of 10:40 p.m. on April 18, there were 542 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Nigeria. While 166 patients have been discharged, a total of 19 have died.

Lockdown continues

Last Monday, President Muhammadu Buhari officially extended the lockdown in Abuja, Lagos and Ogun by another 14 days.

President Muhammadu Buhari

He said the rise in the figures necessitated the extension, adding that one million households would be been added to the previous 2.6 million vulnerable households to benefit from the government’s palliatives.

Some states like Kwara and Osun also extended the lockdown by two weeks. They gave the residents at least two days to restock foodstuff and other essential commodities.

‘Too many’ deaths

Of the deaths reported last week are two medical doctors, Emeka Chugbo and Aliyu Yakubu. The Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Abba Kyari, also died during the week.

Abba Kyari laid to rest

Mr Chugbo was a medical doctor at a private facility who died after coming in contact with a coronavirus patient, PREMIUM TIMES reported.

Also, Mr Yakubu had travelled to Lagos and returned to Daura after which he fell sick and was later confirmed to be infected with the virus.

He was admitted at the Nigeria Air Force Reference Hospital, Daura where he died.

The Katsina State Government announced on Friday that the wife and two children of the medical doctor, had tested positive to the pandemic.

Mr Kyari, the presidential aide, died on Friday and was laid to rest after a private burial was conducted in Abuja on Saturday.

The death of the 67-year-old got attention from leaders across the world and major stakeholders who sympathised with Mr Buhari.

As of 9:38 a.m. on Sunday, 2,340,539 cases of the pandemic have been recorded globally leaving 160,896 persons dead, data from worldometer, a website dedicated to providing real-time statistics, showed.

Notwithstanding, 600,703 patients have recovered and have been discharged.