The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), on Wednesday, recorded 184 new cases of COVID-19 in the country, bringing the total number of infections in Nigeria to 4,871.
The NCDC also said that six new patients have been confirmed dead to the virus in the country, bringing the total number of deaths to 164.
The NCDC noted that no new state had reported a case in the last 24 hours.
The agency said that to date, 4,787 cases have been confirmed, 3,737 Active Cases, 1,070 cases have been discharged and 158 deaths have been recorded in 34 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
“The 184 new cases are reported from 22 states- Lagos(51), Jigawa(23), Bauchi(16), Katsina(16), Kano(14), FCT(10), Rivers(10), Kwara(9), Delta(5), Kaduna(5), Sokoto(4), Oyo(4), Kebbi(3), Nasarawa (3), Osun(3), Ondo(2), Ebonyi(1), Edo(1), Enugu(1), Anambra(1), Plateau (1), Niger (1).
Nigeria has crossed over 1,000 in treatment and discharged cases.
NCDC has continued to urge Nigerians to take responsibility to prevent the spread of the disease by supporting one another.
The body said that the best way Nigerians could protect themselves and their community was with everyday preventive actions, including staying at home when they were sick and washing hands with soap and water, to help slow the spread of respiratory illness.
NCDC is mandated, in the Act establishing it, to support states in responding to disease outbreaks.
One way in which the agency support states is by training the laboratory scientists responsible for carrying out testing for COVID-19.
In Enugu State, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has disclosed that all the 12 positive cases of COVID-19 in the state flouted Presidential order on restriction of inter-state movement.
Ugwuanyi made the disclosure in Enugu on Wednesday during a statewide broadcast on COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the governor, the 11th confirmed positive case, announced by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on May 12, was a 40-year old male who had been in Kano since April 2020 and came back to Enugu on May 4.
The governor declared that “it has become imperative that we all take responsibility to protect our dear state from illegal influx of people into the state”.
He, therefore, asked all those charged with the responsibility of protecting all land boundaries in the state “to put more efforts to ensure that the boundaries were properly secured to curb this unfortunate importation of the COVID-19 into the state”.
Meanwhile, a new confirmed case of COVID-19 in Enugu State on Thursday emerged.
The new case has brought the number of cases in the state to 12 that have tested positive in the state with two cases discharged while 10 are currently positive and on treatment.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr Ikechukwu Obi, who confirmed the case, said the new case was an indigene of Ebonyi State resident in Enugu.
Obi said the woman, who was married, had been in Kano for the past two months and then returned on May 4.
“Her sample was taken as the State Ministry of Health was alerted about her and the result came out on May 12.
“Thus far, all cases reported in Enugu State have had positive travel history.
“All efforts to stem the influx of persons who are not on essential services through our borders are welcome and encouraged,” the commissioner said.
Ugwuanyi urged the people of the state to continue to abide by the protocol of the NCDC, including the mandatory use of face masks/ covering in public, maintaining social/physical distancing and high level of personal and respiratory hygiene.
He reassured the people that his administration will continue to do all within its powers to effectively contain the spread of the pandemic in the state.
In Kwara State, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has sacked a driver and queried COVID-19 team for the mishandling a COVID-19 case and evacuating the victim without following safety protocol.
The misconduct of the COVID-19 ambulance driver and the team’s failure to apply caution and expertise in handling the situation was recorded in a video footage that had gone viral on the social media.
Abdulrazaq frowned at the action in a statement by Mr Rafiu Ajakaye, his Chief Press Secretary on Wednesday in Ilorin.
He said that the driver evacuated COVID-19 patient with the help of the public without safety protocols.
The governor also directed the issuance of queries to top officials of the State Ministry of Health.
The governor totally condemned the shoddy handling of the patient, who was clearly going through a hard time.
He directed the immediate sack of the driver when investigation revealed that he failed to heed clear directive not to take any action until the Rapid Response Team (RRT) arrived a scene.
He said the driver evacuated the suspected patient with the help of members of the public without waiting for the arrival of the RRT.
The governor further directed that members of the RRT be queried, while other steps were being taken to forestall a repeat of such incident.
”Involving just anybody in the evacuation of a suspected case, as was seen in the footage, was a clear and dangerous violation of COVID-19 safety protocols.
“That incident was avoidable, and we sincerely apologise to the gentleman and to the residents for the embarrassing development and assure them that this will not happen again,” he said.
NCDC has confirmed that nine more people have tested positive to Coronavirus in Kwara.
The NCDC on its platform noted that three patients have twice tested negative and have been discharged.
This brings the total of confirmed cases to 53, with 12 patients discharged and one death recorded in the state.
The update table as at 9p.m on Wednesday showed that the number of active cases is now 40, while 12 have so far been discharged and one death recorded.
Meanwhile, the Borno State Government has suspended the lockdown imposed on non-essential movement, following significant progress recorded in the fight against Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the state.
The Deputy Governor, Alhaji Umar Kadafur, who doubles as the Chairman of the state’s High Powered Response Team for the Prevention and Control of COVID-19, announced this in a statement on Wednesday in Maiduguri.
He said: “In furtherance of the efforts to contain and eradicate this deadly scourge, the High Powered Committee wishes to announce the indefinite suspension of the Lockdown for the time being.”
He attributed the successes recorded in the state to the stringent measures adopted to contain the virus which had yielded the desired result.
Kadafur said that the suspension of lockdown was to study the situation, noting that government will not hesitate to revert to statue quo if the pandamic escalate.
He declared use of face mask in all public places to be mandatory in the state.
He directed all government officials, traditional rulers, religious leaders, community and opinion leaders to adhere strictly to the enforcement of social/physical distancing in places of worship and social gathering.
He reminded residents that funeral processions, weddings and naming ceremonies were restricted to 20 persons only.
He explained that all civil servants of Grade level 1-12 should continue to work from home except directed otherwise.
The chairman also directed that all medical consultations by pharmacists and patent medicine stores related to COVID-19 should be referred to designated government hospitals.
He warned that defaulters of such directives would face the full wrath of the law.
“Henceforth, Jumma’at prayers and five daily prayers shall be observed in all mosques as recommended by the Borno State Council of Ulamas.
“Churches shall also conduct services as recommended by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
“All congregations must be observed based on strict principles of COVID-19 preventive measures which included social distancing, use of face mask and hand sanitiser,” he said.
According to him, the ban on sales and consumption of all alcoholic substances is still enforced, defaulters would be dealt with severely in accordance with extant laws.
Kadafur said also that all vehicle and tricycle operators must use facemask while appropriate measures must be put in place to enforce restrictions at all entry and exit points across the state.
He added that all drivers of essential commodities must be subjected to COVID-19 test at the point of entry into the state.
“The Government has also considered the recommendation of the Borno State Council of Ulamas which clearly stated that Eid Prayers is Sunnah (non-obligatory) hence, there should be no Eid Prayers. Muslim faithful should remain at home during the period,” he said.
He lauded the residents for supporting government policies and programmes aimed at containing the spread of coronavirus.
The state has so far recorded 16 deaths in 188 positive COVID-19 cases, while 12 persons had recovered and discharged after being tested nagative as at May 13.
The state COVID-19 response team had earlier said that all contacts related to the first and second index cases which resulted to the spread of the pandemic had been successfully traced and were being managed.
