Nigeria on Wednesday night reported an increase of COVID-19 infections with 409 new cases and 17 new deaths from 15 states and Federal Capital Territory.
This brought the total number of infections in the country to 13,873, and the number of deaths to 382, according to Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in its Twitter handle.
Unlike on Tuesday, Nigeria recorded its highest daily figure with 663 confirmed cases of COVID-19 which skyrocketed the number of confirmed cases to 13,464 from 12,801.
The health agency said Lagos, Nigeria’s economic hub, and epicentre for the pandemic, recorded the highest number of infections for the day with 201 cases.
“On the 10th of June 2020, 409 new confirmed cases and 17 deaths were recorded in Nigeria No new state has reported a case in the last 24 hours.
According to the statistics provided by NCDC, 82,935 samples have been tested, 13,873 cases have been confirmed positive, 9,086 cases still active, 4,351 cases have been discharged and 382 deaths have been recorded in 35 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
The new cases are reported from Lagos (201), FCT (85), Delta (22), Edo (16), Nasarawa (14), Borno (14), Kaduna (14), Bauchi (10), Rivers (9), Enugu (5), Kano (5), Ogun (4), Ondo (4), Baylesa (2), Kebbi (2), Plateau (2).
NCDC stated “409 new cases of #COVID19; Lagos-201 FCT- 85 Delta- 22 Edo- 16 Nasarawa- 14 Borno- 14 Kaduna- 14 Bauchi-10 Rivers-9 Enugu- 5 Kano- 5 Ogun- 4 Ondo- 4 Bayelsa- 2 Kebbi- 2 Plateau- 2 Total of: 13,873 confirmed cases 4,351 discharged 382 deaths pic.twitter.com/RDk2lvuKaG — NCDC (@NCDCgov) June 10, 2020.”
Relatively, NCDC stated on Wednesday that 100 days after the 1st COVID-19 case was recorded in Nigeria, the NCDC National Reference Laboratory has supported 29 more laboratories to develop capacity for COVID-19 testing.
Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic may lead to the loss of 13 million jobs in Nigeria, the World Food Programme of the United Nations declared on Wednesday.
Nigeria, according to the agency, needs urgent financial intervention to boost its economy, as millions of citizens across the country are currently suffering the harsh economic impact of the virus.
WFP’s Senior Spokesperson, Elisabeth Byrs, said in a statement from her agency that more than $182 million was needed to sustain life-saving aid to Africa’s most populous country over the next six months.
She explained that over 3.8 million citizens, particularly those in the informal sector, could lose their jobs, adding that the figure could rise to 13 million if the restriction on movements persist for long.
Byrs was quoted as saying, “We are concerned by conflict-affected communities in North-East Nigeria who already face extreme hunger and who are especially vulnerable. They are on life-support and need assistance to survive.”
The WFP official, however, stated that her organisation was distributing two months worth of food and nutrition assistance in Internally Displaced Persons camps and among vulnerable communities.
She also stated that three million vulnerable individuals in Abuja, Kano and Lagos would also receive assistance from the WFP.
“We are actually scaling up our operations in the North-East to serve more people in response to the new challenges of more food insecurity posed by COVID-19,” Byrs stated.
The WFP noted that job losses would further increase hunger, which was why it was supporting vulnerable citizens in Nigeria.
