As the country’s infections from the virus crossed 45,000, Nigeria on Thursday reported three more deaths from COVID-19.
This is as Akwa Ibom State has recorded fresh 13 cases, bringing the total infections to 234.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) which revealed the latest figure, also said the West African nation had 354 fresh COVID-19 cases for the day.
Nigeria’s latest COVID-19 infections were confirmed in 16 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), taking the country’s tally to 45,244.
A breakdown of the new infections from the virus indicated that the FCT had the highest number of fresh cases – 78 – and is followed by the country’s COVID-19 epicentre, Lagos – 76 – and Kaduna-23.
Other states with confirmed cases of COVID-19 include Ebonyi – 19; Oyo – 18; Nasarawa – 17; Rivers – 17; Delta -16; Kwara – 15; Akwa Ibom – 13; Edo – 12 and Ogun -12.
Plateau – 11; Kano – 9; Bauchi – 6; Borno – 6 and Ekiti -6, reported the remaining COVID-19 cases for Thursday.
Although 32,430 persons who contracted the virus have been successfully treated and discharged, 930 deaths have so far been confirmed, according to the NCDC data.
Lagos State, so far, has the highest number of infections from the disease with 15,627 cases, 13,119 discharges and 192 deaths, followed by the FCT – 4,241 confirmed infections.
Not Yet Over
Despite the declining daily infections in the country, the NCDC has told Nigerians not to abandon some of the protocols in place to curb the spread of the pandemic.
The Director-General of the agency, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu who said this during the briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, reiterated that Nigeria has not flattened the curve yet.
The PTF had also, during the briefing, said President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the extension of the second phase of the eased lockdown for another four weeks.
This extension is the third for the second phase of lockdown currently observed across the country.
Global Outlook
The novel coronavirus has killed at least 585,750 people since the outbreak emerged in China last December, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 1900 GMT on Thursday.
At least 13,660,780 cases of coronavirus have been registered in 196 countries and territories. Of these, at least 7,442,700 are now considered recovered.
The tallies, using data collected by AFP from national authorities and information from the World Health Organization (WHO), probably reflect only a fraction of the actual number of infections.
Many countries are testing only symptomatic or the most serious cases.
Since 1900 GMT on Wednesday, 5,604 new deaths and 236,985 new cases were recorded worldwide. The countries with the most new deaths were Brazil with 1,233 new deaths, followed by the United States with 997, and India with 606.
The United States is the worst-hit country with 137,897 deaths from 3,536,658 cases. At least 1,075,882 people have been declared recovered.
After the US, the hardest-hit countries are Brazil with 75,366 deaths from 1,966,748 cases, the United Kingdom with 45,119 deaths from 2,925,52 cases, Mexico with 36,906 deaths from 317,635 cases, and Italy with 35,017 deaths from 243,736 cases.
The country with the highest number of deaths compared to its population is Belgium with 84 fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by the United Kingdom with 66, Spain 61, Italy 58, and Sweden 55.
China — excluding Hong Kong and Macau — has to date declared 83,612 cases (1 new since Wednesday), including 4,634 deaths and 78,719 recoveries.
