November 13, 2020

Nigeria’s new COVID-19 cases increase for third day running

Nigeria’s new COVID-19 cases increased for the third consecutive day with 212 confirmed cases reported Thursday according to health authorities.

Nigeria had recorded 94 new cases on Monday, 152 on Tuesday and 180 new cases on Wednesday.

With the latest update, Nigeria’s COVID-19 total case count increased to 64,728.

The total death toll remains 1,162 since no new fatalities added to the tally in the last 24 hours.

This is according to an update Thursday night by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

Meanwhile, there has been significant improvement in recoveries even as fears over an imminent and more devastating second wave of infections gains momentum.

Of the over 64,728 total, about 60,790 persons have been discharged from hospitals, after treatment, while about 4, 000 active cases remain in the country.

The 212 new cases were reported from 17 states- Lagos (71), Imo (26), Plateau (26), FCT (19), Ondo (17), Kaduna (14), Rivers (9), Oyo (9), Katsina (6), Osun (4), Bauchi (2), Ekiti (2), Nasarawa (2), Ogun (2), Kano (1), Kwara (1), Taraba (1).

There have been concerns that the coronavirus second wave which is already causing havoc in parts of Europe and America could be well on its way to Nigeria especially now that citizens seem to have lowered their guard on observing safety protocols.

Drawing on historical pandemics, health experts believe second waves of viral infections are often more destructive.

The second wave of the Spanish flu pandemic during 1918-20 was particularly devastating and more lethal than the first, according to Full Facts, an international fact-checking network. The second wave of the H1N1 swine flu epidemic in 2009 to 2010 was also more lethal than the first.

Studies also show that natural defenses against viral infection like mucus and your nose’s cilia do not work as well in colder, dry climates, the very season we are about to enter.

Chikwe Ihekweazu, the director of Nigeria’s infectious disease agency, NCDC said a second wave was “inevitable” if citizens do not continue to adhere to measures put in place to contain the viral pandemic.

Chikwe Ihekweazu, Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) [PHOTO: @NCDCgov]

President Muhammadu Buhari had also said there is a need to avoid a new spike in the COVID-19 cases in the country as Nigeria’s economy “is too fragile “to endure a new lockdown.

“Looking at the trends in the other countries, we must do all we can to avert a second wave of COVID-19 in Nigeria. We must make sure that our cases, which have gone down, do not rise again. Our economy is too fragile to bear another round of lockdown,” Mr Buhari tweeted last month.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, is among the five hardest-hit countries on the continent, along with South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, and Ethiopia.

The country has not tested up to 1 million of its 200 million citizens since the virus was detected in the country in February. Only about 697,544 successful tests have been conducted thus far.