* Warns against second wave of virus
Nigeria on Monday night recorded 288 fresh COVID-19 cases.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), which confirmed this on its Twitter handle, said the fresh cases were recorded in 14 states of the federation and Abuja.
It added that eight persons died from complications resulting from the virus on Monday.
Consequently, the number of COVID-19 fatalities increased from 888 to 896.
Also, the total number of confirmed cases increased to 44,129.
Meanwhile, 20,663 patients have been discharged from various isolation facilities across the country as at Monday night.
The breakdown of the figure on a state-by-state basis revealed the following: Lagos (88), Kwara (33), Osun (27), FCT (25), Enugu (25), Abia (20), Kaduna (17) and, Plateau (13).
Others are – Rivers (13), Delta (10), Gombe (8), Ogun (4), Oyo (3), Katsina (1) and, Bauchi (1).
The NCDC said: “44,129 cases of #COVID-19 in Nigeria.
“Discharged: 20,663 and deaths: 896.”
But the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on the COVID-19 has warned that allowing a second wave of the pandemic in the country can destroy the economy and lead to too many deaths.
Its National Coordinator, Dr. Sani Aliyu, gave the warning at a media briefing in Abuja.
“Specifically, we urge businesses that are reopening to align themselves to our efforts by establishing and practising COVID-19-sensitive business precautionary measures.
“We eventually have to reopen, but we can only do so if we reopen safely. It is quite clear, as we can see from the other parts of the world, that certain countries are now going back into lockdown because of the pandemic coming back, otherwise called recrudescence or what we call a second wave.
“We really cannot afford to have this happening in this country. It will destroy our economy and it will lead to a lot of deaths. Therefore, we have to reopen safely. We cannot risk another shutdown nor can we risk more lives being lost,” he said.
Aliyu said the PTF would provide data-driven and scientific advisories to help the country.
The coordinator said data analysis had shown that a large population of Nigerians was living in denial of the virulent nature of COVID-19, warning that it would be dangerous to be fooled into complacency.
He urged Nigerians to desist from drawing conclusions that the COVID-19 curve of the country had started to gradually wane, based on the decline in cases in the last few days.
Aliyu stressed that the decrease in the number of cases recorded were the result of reduction in the numbers of COVID-19 samples collected across the country, especially during the Eid-el-Kabir celebration.
In the last four days, a steady drop in numbers of confirmed cases was observed. The number of cases recorded on July 29, July 30, July 31, August 1, and August 2, were 404, 481, 462, 386, and 304.
NCDC’s Director General, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, said: “Concerning the decline in the cases in the last few days, we all know we have had a long weekend and have had an excellent Sallah break.
“Many of us have had to slow down a little bit and that slowdown has also happened such that many of those collecting samples across many states in Nigeria have also slowed down…”