The scourge of COVID-19 is again on the rise in Nigeria but nine states have not recorded a single infection in the past one month, PREMIUM TIMES’ review of official data shows.
According to official data from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Borno, Gombe, Ebonyi, Abia, Enugu, Adamawa, Kebbi, Zamfara and Kogi states have not reported a fresh coronavirus case between November 8 and December 6.
Between November 8 and 14, Delta, Enugu, Ebonyi, Gombe, Abia, Borno, Benue, Nasarawa, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Adamawa, Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara and Kogi states did not record at least a fresh case out of the 36 states and the FCT.
Between November 15 and 21, Enugu, Ebonyi, Osun, Gombe, Abia, Borno, Imo, Bayelsa, Anambra, Adamawa, Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara and Kogi states did not record at least a fresh case of COVID-19.
Between November 22 and 28, Delta, Ondo, Enugu, Ebonyi, Gombe, Abia, Borno, Anambra, Niger, Adamawa, Kebbi, Cross River, Zamfara, and Kogi states did not record at least a fresh case last week.
Of the 36 states and the FCT, only Delta, Ondo, Enugu, Ebonyi, Gombe, Abia, Borno, Anambra, Niger, Adamawa, Kebbi, Cross River, Zamfara, and Kogi states did not record at least a fresh case last week.
Although the public health agency is yet to respond to PREMIUM TIMES’s enquiries on the reason for the no-new-case status of the nine states in the past month, it had previously attributed dwindling figures from states to the low rate of testing.
Kogi, a state of almost 3.5 million people, has not recorded a positive case in several weeks. However, the state also had low testing figures and had tested just 268 samples by October, the national situational report published by the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in October showed.
Since the pandemic broke out in February, a total 791,539 samples have been collected for testing across Nigeria, a figure deemed insignificant considering Nigeria’s population estimated at close to 200 million.
Rising cases
This paper had reported how new cases increased for four weeks consecutively before reducing by 10 per cent in the previous week.
In the previous week (November 22-28), the country recorded 1,102 fresh cases, a 10 per cent reduction when compared to the preceding week’s record of 1,232 cases.
However, a total of 1,607 cases were reported last week (November 29 – December 3); this represents a 31.4 increase on the previous week’s record.
The increase in new cases last week might be as a result of the increase in the number of tests carried out.
A total of 35,302 samples were collected for testing last week as against the 17,021 tested the previous week.
Amidst the rising cases, the NCDC has warned Nigerians against the flagrant disregard for safety protocols, hammering on the use of face masks and adherence to social distancing rules.
More recoveries, deaths
PREMIUM TIMES’s analysis also showed that there was an increase in the number of COVID-19 patients discharged and deaths recorded last week.
A total of 1,831 persons recovered and were discharged last week, which represents a 48 per cent increase when compared to the previous week’s record of 935.
Also, Nigeria recorded nine deaths last week. Recall five persons died of COVID-19 complications in the previous week.
Nigeria so far
As of the time of reporting, Nigeria has 68,937 confirmed COVID-19 cases. Of this figure, 64,650 have been discharged and 1,180 deaths have been recorded in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
A breakdown of the confirmed cases shows that Lagos State has so far reported 23,746 cases, followed by FCT – 7,229, Plateau — 3,910, Oyo — 3,737, Kaduna — 3,328, Rivers — 3,028, Edo — 2,710, Ogun — 2,242, Delta — 1,824, Kano — 1,805, Ondo — 1,728, Enugu — 1,332, Kwara — 1,110, Ebonyi — 1,055, Katsina — 1,054, Osun — 947, Gombe — 938, Abia — 926, Bauchi — 782, Borno — 745, Imo — 681, Benue — 501, Nasarawa — 507, Bayelsa — 458, Ekiti — 381, Jigawa — 336, Akwa Ibom — 348, Anambra — 285, Niger — 298, Adamawa — 261, Sokoto — 166, Taraba — 172, Kebbi — 93, Zamfara — 79, Cross River— 90, Yobe — 100 and Kogi — 5.
Lagos State remains the epicentre for the disease with the highest number of confirmed cases and deaths in the country.
The other five states with the highest number of confirmed cases are FCT, Plateau, Oyo, Rivers and Kaduna states.
Only Kogi State has no active COVID-19 case currently.
Timeline last week
On Sunday, 82 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the country.
As of 11:55 p.m. on November 29, a total of 67,412 cases had been reported, out of which 63,055 had recovered but with 1,173 deaths recorded.
On Monday, 145 new cases of the pandemic were reported in the country.
On Tuesday, 281 new cases were reported.
On Wednesday, 343 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the country.
On Thursday, 122 new cases were reported in Nigeria, hence bringing the tally of confirmed cases to 67, 960.
On Friday, 324 new cases of the pandemic were recorded.
On Saturday, 310 new cases were reported in Nigeria, hence bringing the tally of confirmed cases to 68,937 as of 11:55 p.m. on December 5.
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