Nigeria’s coronavirus daily figure falls below 300 for third day

For the third day on Thursday, the number of daily coronavirus infections in Nigeria was less than 300.

Continuing a trend that began Tuesday, the latest figure is 296, one of the lowest in at least two months.

According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the 296 infections were recorded in 17 states, bringing the total number of infections in the country to over 53, 317.

Only one patient died from the virus in the past 24 hours, dragging the number of confirmed deaths from the virus to 1,011.

The new cases, according to the NCDC, were found in the following 17 states – Plateau (85), Enugu (46), Oyo (31), Lagos (21), Rivers (20), FCT (15), Kaduna (13), Bauchi (12), Delta (11), Ekiti (11), Akwa Ibom (7), Ebonyi (6), Kwara (5), Ogun (4), Osun (4), Gombe (3), Niger (2).

Again, Plateau had the highest of the daily reported cases with 65 infections on Thursday. Enugu and Oyo followed with 46 and 31 cases respectively.

Though Lagos came fourth in the daily tally with 21 new infections, the city remains Nigeria’s coronavirus hotspot with over 18,000 infections and 202 deaths.

Abuja, Nigeria’s capital is the second most impacted with a total of over 5,000 cases and 50 deaths.

The latest update came barely hours after authorities postponed the resumption of international flights in Nigeria.

International flights, earlier scheduled to resume on August 29, will now commence on September 5.

The Director-General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Musa Nuhu, explained that the postponement is to ensure all non-aviation logistics are put in place.

The NCDC update also came amid reports that some Nigerian students participating in the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examinations examination have tested positive for COVID-19.

On Thursday, the Permanent Secretary, Bayelsa State Ministry of Health, Inodu Apoku, said 20 students have tested positive for the contagion in the state.

Nigeria has tested nearly 400,000 since it reported its index case on February 28 in an Italian traveler.

A total of 40,726 infected persons have recovered and have been discharged after treatment in the country’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.