COVID-19 Deaths Rise Sharply As Nigeria Record Over 700 New Cases

By
Shalom Ekelaka
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395
COVID-19 Deaths Rise Sharply As Nigeria Record Over 700 New Cases
Medical workers in protective suits tend to coronavirus patients at the intensive care unit of a hospital in Wuhan, China.

The Nigeria Centre For Disease Control (NCDC) has documented 397 new COVID-19 infections in the country. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), which got the information from the centre’s verified website, reported that the nation has so far tested 932,327 people since the first confirmed case was announced on February 27.

The public health body said the fresh infections were reported from 17 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) bringing the country’s total number of infected people to 84,811.

The NCDC also stated that there were 12,126 active cases across the federation. The organisation added that deaths resulting from coronavirus complications had increased by 10, while 323 patients had been discharged nationwide after testing negative for the virus.

“Our discharges today (Monday) include 152 community recoveries in Lagos State, managed in line with the guidelines,” it stated.

The centre gave the breakdown of the latest cases to consist of 144 in Lagos, 83 in Plateau, 48 in Kaduna, 36 in Adamawa and 22 for Rivers.

While Oyo reported 16 incidents, Kebbi had 10, as Nasarawa and Sokoto recorded seven each.

Five cases each were confirmed in the FCT and Kano; four in Edo and Jigawa had three. Ogun and Akwa Ibom states had two cases each; Niger, Bauchi and Zamfara reported one each.

According to the NCDC, the 397 new cases and 10 deaths were recorded as at December 28. It stated that a multi-sectoral national emergency operations centre (EOC), activated at Level Three, has continued to coordinate response activities.

The NCDC stated that till date, 84,811 cases have been confirmed, 71,357 discharged and 1,264 deaths recorded in 36 states and the FCT. The health agency noted that it was important for parents to also encourage their children to wash their hands frequently with soap water, wear face masks in public and avoid large gatherings to reduce the spread of the virus.

“Young people account for over 50 per cent of COVID-19 cases in Nigeria. They have a role to play in reducing the risk of spread,” it observed.

The NCDC also advised Nigerians to stay at home if they felt unwell and call their state’s helpline to get tested.“Do not mingle with others if you have symptoms such as fever, cough or sudden loss of sense of taste or smell,” it further counselled.

MEANWHILE, Acting Secretary, Health and Human Services Secretariat of the FCT administration, Dr. Mohammed Kawu, has said: “only four doctors working in both public and private hospital regrettably succumbed to the disease and death since the first case of COVID-19 was reported in the nation’s capital on March 27,2020.”

He stressed that the latest, a female doctor from Gwarimpa General Hospital, died two weeks ago, adding that “it is important to mention that the fatalities have not in any way adversely affected the quality of services rendered in the hospitals and most certainly, not to the point of rendering skeletal services.” His remarks were contained in a statement signed yesterday by the Chief Press Secretary to the FCT Minister, Anthony Ogunleye.