Nigeria’s COVID-19 cases doubles in a week

The COVID-19 pandemic is hitting the world hard and Nigeria is not spared from the scourge. In a week, the number of cases recorded in Nigeria doubled, a review of official data showed.

COVID-19 is a viral respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus.

As of Saturday, March 28, the tally of confirmed cases was 97 with a death recorded and three patients discharged after they fully recovered from the disease.

However, a week later, by the end of Saturday, April 4, confirmed cases had risen to 214. Also, four deaths have been recorded while 25 persons recovered and have been discharged.

According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Lagos State still tops the chart with the highest number of cases in the country.

A breakdown of states where cases have been confirmed indicates that Lagos now has 109 cases, followed by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) – 43, Osun – 20, Oyo – 9, Akwa Ibom – 5, Ogun – 4, Edo – 7, Kaduna – 4, Bauchi – 6, Enugu – 2, and Ekiti – 2. Ondo, Rivers and Benue have one case each.

Analysis revealed that the 117 new cases represent a 120 per cent increase in the figures when compared to what was obtained last week.

Meanwhile, the figures are not unprecedented as experts have predicted an exponential rise with contact tracing and conduct of more tests.

Following the clamour for the conduct of more tests, the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, had announced that Nigeria would be able to test up to 1000 suspected cases of coronavirus daily by the end of last week.