Coronavirus Update – Up to 120,000 Cases May be in Lagos by July; Nigeria Records 386 new cases

Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) on Friday recorded 386 new cases of Covid-19 across 19 states and FCT. This is the highest daily toll recorded in the country. The details of the new cases are as follows;176-Lagos, 65-Kano, 31-Katsina, 20-FCT, 17-Borno, 15-Bauchi, 14-Nasarawa, 13-Ogun, 10-Plateau, 4-Oyo, 4-Sokoto, 4-Rivers, 3-Kaduna, 2-Edo, 2-Ebony,i 2-Ondo, 1-Enugu, 1-Imo, 1-Gombe, and 1-Osun state.

This brings the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 3,912. However 679 persons have been discharged with 117 deaths recorded.

As at 21:30 GMT on Friday, Nigeria has tested a total of 23,835 samples for Covid-19 since the out break began. Several people have expressed concern that the country is not doing enough in terms testing. There are fears that the virus could be spreading in the country undetected.

According to the Director General of NCDC, Chikwe Ihekweazu, Nigeria has about 30,000 tests kits at the moment. However, “we have a supply chain that is established, you don’t buy and store these kits, so we bought as we need” he added.

Ten States with the highest number of confirmed cases are;

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Ihekweazu also said that, it is a challenge to provide facilities and venues for hundreds of cases recorded daily, especially in Lagos, Kano and Zamfara states, where the number of cases being confirmed are overwhelming the capacity of the health institution and isolation facilities.

In Lagos, the state commissioner for health, Akin Abayomi, in a media briefing on the update of Covid-19 in the state, held at Alausa, Ikeja predicted that Lagos state may record between 90,000 and 120,000 cases of Covid-19 by July or August 2020. He said the state will probably reach the peak of the outbreak around July and August 2020.

The commissioner also said that plans to commence, hydroxychloroquine clinical trial, for the treatment of Covid-19 patients next week have been concluded.

Nigeria remains the worst affected country in West Africa. While South Africa has the highest number of confirmed cases in the African continent.

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On Friday British Airways, Boeing 747, evacuated 253 Nigerians from the United Kingdom. The flight arrived Murtala Muhammed International Airport at 1345hrs. This follows the evacuation of 256 Nigerians from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Wednesday via Emirates airline.

There are total of 54,434 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Africa, with 18,857 recoveries and 2,080 deaths recorded, according to the African Center for Disease Control.

In another development, the press secretary of US Vice President Mike Pence, Katie Miller tested positive for Covid-19. She is the wife of President Trump’s aide, Stephen Miller. This is coming after two of President Trump’s aide tested positive for the virus.

Remdesivir, which has been approved by The US food and Drug Administration for emergency treatment of Covid-19 patients is available for about 200,000 only according the drug manufacturer, Gilead.

On Friday, Honk Kong began easing lockdown measures after going for 2 weeks without recording new cases of Covid-19. The measures will see fitness centres, beauty salons, cinemas and some schools reopen, and larger groups will be allowed to gather.

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Five countries with highest number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 are;

1. US has 1,279,546 cases, 195,036 recoveries and 76,706 deaths.
2. Spain has 221,447 cases, 128,511 recoveries and 26,070 deaths
3. Italy has 217,185 cases, 99,023 recoveries and 30,201
4. UK has 212,628 cases, and 31,315 deaths
5. Russia has 187,859 cases, 26,608 recoveries and 1,723

There are 3,918,316 confirmed cases of Covid-19 globally, with 1,306,920 recoveries and 273,034 deaths as at 21:45 GMT according John Hopkins Corona Virus Resource Center.

Written by

Ifunanya Ikueze