Nigeria Records 195 New COVID-19 Cases As PTF Disburses N1bn To States

 

Nigeria has recorded 195 fresh cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) disclosed this in its latest update on Monday night.

According to the agency, the new cases were recorded in Lagos, the FCT and nine other states.

While Lagos reported 39 cases, the FCT recorded 15 fresh infections respectively.

Others include Enugu – 51, Gombe – 40, Plateau – 23, Rivers – 12, Kaduna –8, Ondo – 3, Bauchi – 2, Edo and Ogun each reporting 1 case.

On a positive note, the country has been able to manage 48,674 cases effectively since the initial outbreak of the virus on February 27.

Unfortunately, over 1,000 persons have died from the virus.

 

N1bn Disbursement To States

Meanwhile, the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 has disbursed N1billion each to 32 states in the country amid the pandemic.

PTF Coordinator, Dr Sani Aliyu announced the disbursement of the sum today during a briefing in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

“We have released money to the state governments recently, to 32 state governments. Each state government was given a billion naira.

“This is for the purpose of driving their COVID responses and we are asking them to prioritise testing in addition to surveillance activities linked to COVID-19,”  he said.

Decline In Cases

On his part, the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, lamented the decline in confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country.

Ihekweazu, who briefed reporters earlier today in the nation’s capital, said the Federal Government observed a decline of 36 per cent in the infections recorded in August compared to those reported in July.

He, however, explained that the government cannot celebrate yet, adding that testing in many states is very low.

“The number of reported cases daily has declined nationally in the last few weeks. We have seen a 36 per cent decline in August compared to July on national figures.

“Unfortunately, we cannot celebrate this until we test sufficient figures in every state,” the NCDC boss maintained.