Nigeria’s COVID-19 Cases Cross 48,000 With 373 New Infections

 

 

Nigeria’s COVID-19 infections on Thursday crossed 48, 000 with the country reporting 373 fresh cases of the virus. 

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) disclosed this in its latest update about the pandemic.

They take Nigeria’s COVID-19 infections to 48,116 with 34,309 discharged and 966 deaths confirmed from the figure so far.

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The cases on Thursday were confirmed in nineteen states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Nigeria’s COVID-19 epicentre, Lagos State, had 69 fresh cases, while Osun and Kaduna states witnessed 40 and 41 infections respectively.

 

 

Other states with new cases include Oyo – 40; FCT – 35; Plateau – 22; Rivers – 19; Kano – 17; Ondo – 17; Ogun – 15; Abia – 14; Gombe – 12 and Imo – 9.

Enugu confirmed 7 more infections, Kwara – 6; Delta – 5; Niger – 2; Borno – 1; Bauchi – 1; and Nasarawa – 1.

 

‘Stimulus Package’

Although the country had in the wake of the pandemic imposed a lockdown to curb its spread, the government later allowed for the gradual reopening of some sectors to keep the economy afloat.

During a briefing by the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 on Thursday, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, restated the government’s resolve to keeping businesses afloat amid the pandemic.

 

 

While noting that the United Kingdom would be going into a recession after its economy suffered a slump in growth by a record 20 per cent in the second quarter, he said the Nigerian Government had put in place an Economic Sustainability Plan to prevent such occurrence.

“I, therefore, urge our businesses to take advantage of the stimulus package to revive and/or boost their businesses. We cannot afford to let our economy slide,” he said.

‘Serious Battle’

Even though the country has had fewer cases of the virus for weeks running, Mr Mustapha has called for caution, warning that it should not be “misconstrued for victory” as there is still “a serious battle to be fought.”

Global Tally 

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 newest 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.