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Nigeria Confirms 648 Fresh COVID-19 Cases As Country Mulls Int’l Flight Resumption

    Advertisement Nigeria on Monday confirmed additional 648 cases of COVID-19 cases as the country earlier in the day said it is considering the … Continue reading Nigeria Confirms 648 Fresh COVID-19 Cases As Country Mulls Int’l Flight Resumption


A patient who is suspected of suffering from COVID-19 coronavirus undergoes testing at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital isolation centre on May 10, 2020. Audu MARTE / AFP
File photo: A patient who is suspected of suffering from COVID-19 coronavirus undergoes testing at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital isolation centre on May 10, 2020. Audu MARTE / AFP
A patient who is suspected of suffering from COVID-19 coronavirus undergoes testing at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital isolation centre on May 10, 2020. Audu MARTE / AFP
File photo: A patient who is suspected of suffering from COVID-19 coronavirus undergoes testing at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital isolation centre on May 10, 2020. Audu MARTE / AFP

 

 

Nigeria on Monday confirmed additional 648 cases of COVID-19 cases as the country earlier in the day said it is considering the resumption of international flights. 

The country’s Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, had said Nigeria is mulling the resumption of international flights.

 

A file photo of passengers at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja on July 8, 2020.

 

Sirika spoke during a briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 in Abuja but admitted that resumption of international flights can only happen when it is safe to do so.

But with the rising number of persons infected with COVID-19 in Nigeria, it appears there is more work to be done before international travels restart.

 

 

In a late-night tweet, the agency saddled with curtailing the rampaging pandemic, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), said the fresh COVID-19 infections now take the nation’s tally to 41, 180.

As usual, the COVID-19 epicentre, Lagos, reported the highest number of persons infected with the virus – 180 – according to the data from the health agency.

The NCDC data showed also that the latest COVID-19 cases were confirmed in 20 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

A further breakdown of the new infections revealed that they were confirmed as follows: Plateau -148,  FCT – 44; Ondo – 42; Kwara – 38; Rivers -32; Oyo – 29; Kaduna – 21; and Osun – 20.

New COVID-19 cases were recorded in other states as thus: Edo – 17; Ogun – 17; Ekiti – 11; Kano – 9; Benue – 9; Delta – 9; Abia – 9; Niger – 7; Gombe – 3; Borno – 1; Bauchi – 1; Imo -1.

Of the confirmed infections in Nigeria,  860 persons have died due to complications from the disease while 18,203 cases have been successfully managed and discharged.

 

Waiver For ‘Exiting’ Students

 

Despite calls for the reopening of schools, the Federal Government had insisted it is not safe to do so but gave a waiver for students in “exiting classes.”

Following a meeting of the Federal Ministry of Education, Honourable Commissioners of Education of the 36 states, the Nigerian Union of Teachers, (NUT), the proprietors of private schools, and Chief Executives of examination bodies, Nigeria confirmed on Monday that it will reopen secondary schools for JSS3 and SS3 students from August 4, 2020.

 

 

File photo of students writing an exam

 

The West African Examinations (WAEC) will commence on August 17, 2020, leaving students with only two weeks for preparations.

Despite the gradual reopening of the economy, large gatherings including those in religious centres have remained closed since the government introduced a lockdown to curtail the spread of the pandemic in late March.

 

A Global Pandemic

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 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.

 

File photo: Workers carry a bag with the body of a COVID-19 victim out of a refrigerated container before its cremation at the El Angel crematorium, in Lima on May 21, 2020. (Photo by Ernesto BENAVIDES / AFP)

 

After the US, the hardest-hit countries are Brazil with 75,366 deaths from 1,966,748 cases, 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.