As Nigeria Relaxes Curfew, Country Records Highest Daily COVID-19 Cases

As Nigeria Relaxes Curfew, Country Records Highest Daily COVID-19 Cases

On the day Nigeria relaxed a lockdown of major cities, the country announced its highest number of daily coronavirus cases yet, with the figure for Monday at 245.

The announcement was made by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Monday night. The figure brings the total tally for the country to 2,802, the agency said.

“On the 4th of May, 245 new confirmed cases and 6 deaths were recorded in Nigeria,” it said.

The breakdown of the new cases showed that Lagos leads with 79 cases, followed by Katsina 37, Jigawa 32, Kano 23 and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) with 19 cases.

On Monday, 16 states reported at least a case of the virus.

“245 new cases of #COVID19 reported; 76-Lagos, 37- Katsina, 32 – Jigawa, 23 – Kano, 19 – FCT, 18- Borno, 10 – Edo, 9 – Bauchi, 6 – Adamawa, Oyo and Ogun reported 5 cases , Ekiti, Osun, Benue, Niger and Zamfara reported one case each.

“As at 11 :46 pm 4 May – 2802 confirmed cases of #COVID19 reported in Nigeria. Discharged: 417 Deaths: 93,” the health agency wrote.

The 245 cases on Monday brings the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 2,802 including 417 patients who have been discharged after recovery, and 93 deaths.

BREAKDOWN

Nigeria has so far tested 18,536 persons since the beginning of the pandemic in the country.

A breakdown of the 2,802 confirmed cases shows that Lagos State has so far reported 1,183 cases, followed by Kano – 365, FCT – 297, Borno – 100, Gombe – 96, Kaduna – 81, Ogun – 85, Bauchi – 80, Sokoto – 66, Edo – 62, Katsina – 83, Osun – 37, Oyo and Jigawa – 39, Delta – 17, Kwara and Akwa Ibom – 16, Rivers – 14, Yobe, Zamfara and Ondo – 13, Ekiti, Adamawa, Kebbi – 13,Nasarawa – 11, Enugu and Taraba – 8, Ebonyi and Baylsa – 5, Plateau – 3, Niger – 4, Imo, Benue and Abia – 2 while Anambra has one case.

The number of infected people in the country is expected to rise as the country has entered into the community transmission phase. The country has also increased its testing capacity.

Relaxing lockdown

After five weeks of a lockdown of three major cities – Lagos, Ogun and Abuja – the government eased the lockdown on Monday and replaced it with a night curfew.

The government also announced mandatory safety precautions including wearing of face masks and social distancing.

However, the precautions were largely breached in the major cities as thousands thronged banks and other public places.

The government Monday evening admitted the violations and appealed to residents to comply with the directives so as to limit the spread of coronavirus.