Nigeria on Monday confirmed 417 fresh COVID-19 cases as the country announced the date for the resumption of international flights.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) confirmed the new infections in a tweet on its official handle.
The new infections were reported in 16 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, taking Nigeria’s total COVID-19 pandemic figure to 49,485.
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The NCDC data showed that Lagos state, the COVID-19 hotbed in the West African country had 207 new cases – the highest for the day; Kaduna – 44; Ondo – 38; Abia-28; Anambra – 21 and Plateau – 20.
417 new cases of #COVID19Nigeria;
Lagos-207
Kaduna-44
Ondo-38
Abia-28
Anambra-21
Plateau-20
Bauchi-13
Oyo-9
Ebonyi-9
Delta-7
Edo-7
Enugu-6
Niger-3
Gombe-2
Ogun-1
FCT-1
Kano-149,485 confirmed
36,834 discharged
977 deaths pic.twitter.com/nNc9UYKU34— NCDC (@NCDCgov) August 17, 2020
Bauchi confirmed 13 fresh cases; Oyo – 9; Ebonyi – 9; Delta – 7; Edo – 7; Enugu – 6; Niger – 3; Gombe – 2; Ogun – 1; FCT – 1 and Kano -1.
Although 36,834 persons who contracted the disease have been discharged after successful treatment, 977 deaths have so far been reported from the pandemic in Nigeria.
International Flights To Resume
Despite the increasing number of infections, the Federal Government had on Monday announced a new date for the resumption of international flights.
During a briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, disclosed that international flights will resume in the country from the 29th of August.
“We are very glad today to announce that international flights will resume from August 29, 2020,” he said.
The Minister, however, said, “what we have become used to – physical distancing, wearing of masks, washing of hands, temperature taking, etc will continue.”
Sirika explained that the restart of international flights will follow the same pattern as that of the domestic flights resumption.
“Just like we did with the domestic (flights resumption), it will start with Lagos and Abuja,” he added. “The protocols, procedures, and processes, will be announced in due course.”
Worldwide View
The novel coronavirus has killed at least 770,429 people since the outbreak emerged in China last December, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 1100 GMT on Monday.
At least 21,719,870 cases of coronavirus have been registered in 196 countries and territories. Of these, at least 13,399,500 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.
On Sunday, 4,222 new deaths and 225,457 new cases were recorded worldwide. Based on the latest reports, the countries with the newest deaths were India with 941 new deaths, followed by Brazil with 620, and the United States with 596.
The United States is the worst-hit country with 170,052 deaths from 5,404,115 cases. At least 1,833,067 people have been declared recovered.
After the US, the hardest-hit countries are Brazil with 107,852 deaths from 3,340,197 cases, Mexico with 56,757 deaths from 522,162 cases, India with 50,921 deaths from 2,647,663 cases, and the United Kingdom with 41,366 deaths from 318,484 cases.
The country with the highest number of deaths compared to its population is Belgium with 86 fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Peru (80), Spain 61, United Kingdom 61, and Italy 59.
China — excluding Hong Kong and Macau — has to date declared 84,849 cases (22 new since Sunday), including 4,634 deaths and 79,603 recoveries.
