Nigeria’s tally of coronavirus (COVID-19) infections on Friday morning increased to 190 as six new cases were announced by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

The agency said on its Twitter handle that the six new cases were recorded in Osun State, bringing the number of Covid-19 in the state to 20.

The rise in cases in Osun has been attributed Nigerians who recently came back to the state from the nearby Cote d’Iviore.

The NCDC said as at 11:00 a.m. Friday, there were 190 confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported in Nigeria.

Twelve states and Abuja have so reported at least a confirmed case of COVID-19 in Nigeria.

A total of 20 people have been discharged after recovering from the virus, while two have died.

Nigeria has been struggling to contain the spread of the disease as the number of confirmed cases continues to increase. Lagos State still tops the chart with the highest cases in the country.

Lagos has 98 cases, followed by FCT – 38, Osun -20, Oyo – 8, Akwa Ibom – 5, Ogun – 4, Edo- 4, Kaduna – 4, Bauchi – 3, Enugu – 2, and Ekiti – 2. Rivers and Benue have one case each.

Contact tracing

The Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, on Thursday said the government had been ramping up with contacts tracing and testing capacity to detect more infected persons in the country .

He said, “more and more cases will be found and the number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases is expected to rise initially.

“We also worry about persons, especially Nigerians, returning to the country through land borders, who run a higher risk of infection while in a confined space for a long time, like transit in a crowded bus or car.”

The minister advised that all travelers should postpone non-essential travel, whether national, or international.

“In this regard, Nigerians are also advised to remain where they are resident and stay safe, except if returning home from a journey,” he said.

Mr Ehanire said about 71 per cent of the over presumed 6,000 or more contacts are now being traced and the number of confirmed cases will be rising dramatically.

“Contact tracing will still be intensified to reduce the number of outstanding cases,” he said.