Nigeria’s coronavirus infections rise again with 999 new cases

In the last 24 hours, about 999 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases were found in Nigeria, the latest second-highest daily tally ever.

This is coming after Nigeria’s daily coronavirus infections fell for two consecutive days after over two weeks of high numbers across the country.

On Monday, 356 new cases were confirmed, one of the lowest recorded this month. About 501 new cases were reported on Sunday.

But with the 999 new cases reported Tuesday in 18 states, infections seem to have picked pace again.

Health experts are raising serious concerns over the recent resurgence in infections which they believe could be more dangerous if citizens keep violating safety protocols.

Last week alone, 5,176 infections were reported – the highest weekly figure so far.

With the 999 new cases, Nigeria’s total coronavirus cases rose sharply to 79,789.

This is according to an update Tuesday night by Nigeria Centre For Disease Control (NCDC).

Deaths

According to the agency, there were four additional deaths in the last 24 hours, raising the overall casualty in the nation since the start of the pandemic to 1,231.

Active cases in the country had risen from about 3,000 some weeks ago to over 9,500 due to a rise in new infections.

READ ALSO: Coronavirus: Nigeria records 179 new infections

Of the over 79,000 infections recorded in Nigeria, 68,879 patients have been discharged from hospitals after treatment.

So far, Nigeria has tested nearly 900, 000 of its 200 million people.

Specifics

The 999 new cases were reported from 18 states- FCT (416), Lagos (324), Kaduna (68), Plateau (42), Kwara (32), Kano (24), Gombe (14), Sokoto (12), Yobe (12), Akwa Ibom (11), Bayelsa (10), Rivers (7), Bauchi (7), Ogun (6), Oyo (5), Edo (4), Taraba (4) and Jigawa (1).

Again, Abuja and Lagos led with 324 and 416 new cases respectively on Monday – more than half of the daily total.

Nigerian authorities say the country has slid into the second wave of the pandemic and has ordered the reopening of all isolation and treatment centres in the country.

The new variant of the coronavirus currently causing panic and concern in the United Kingdom and the European Union has been identified in Nigeria by scientists at the Africa Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID).

With the foregoing, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) made a “passionate appeal” to all Nigerians to take the COVID-19 prevention advisories very seriously now more than ever, especially during Yuletide festivities.

This, the doctors said, was the much-needed remedy to interrupt the transmission, reduce ill-health and deaths from the dreaded disease.