COVID-19: Nigeria Records 838 New Cases, Seven Deaths

The Nigeria Centre for Disease and Control (NCDC) on Sunday confirmed 838 new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) disease and seven deaths, making the total number of death recorded so far rise to 1,254.

AllNews understands that as the world globally experienced the second wave of coronavirus, Nigeria's COVID-19 complications have increased over the last few weeks, and notable individuals are dying from the virus.

It could be recalled that in the past nine days, there have been 42 recorded deaths from the coronavirus (COVID-19) in the country. 

However, the NCDC in their update on Sunday night via its verified Twitter handle said 838 new cases were found in 16 states in the last 24 hours.

With the latest figure, the country’s total number of infections is now 84,414. Since early December, there has been a spike in coronavirus cases in Nigeria.

Health experts believe the lowering of guard on safety and the weak enforcement of protocols especially in the country’s major airports in Abuja and Lagos could be responsible for the development, warning that the situation could get worse if citizens keep violating safety protocols.

Active cases in the country rose sharply from about 3,000 some weeks ago to over 11,000 due to a rise in new infections.

Of the over 84,000 cases so far, 71, 034 patients have been discharged from hospitals after treatment.

According to the NCDC, the 838 new cases were reported from 16 states – FCT (297); Lagos (253); Plateau (82); Kaduna (57); Katsina (32); Nasarawa (31); Kano (25); Gombe (24); Oyo (8); Rivers (8); Zamfara (7); Ogun (4); Bauchi (4); Edo (4); Anambra (1); and Sokoto (1).

Abuja and Lagos led with 297 and 253 new cases respectively which is more than half of the daily total of the new cases recorded.

With the country into the second wave of the pandemic, federal authorities have ordered the reopening of all isolation and treatment centres in the country.

The Nigerian government has also reintroduced new restrictions to check the spread of the virus, including the closure of bars and nightclubs and limiting the number of people allowed in a public gathering.

Nigerian authorities say they are expecting to receive in January one of the vaccines developed globally for COVID-19 but evidence on the ground at the country’s National Strategic Cold Store suggests an exaggeration of the claims.

This online news platform understands that Nigeria has tested over 900, 000 of its 200 million people so far.