Nigeria’s COVID-19 cases, on Wednesday, exceeded 3, 000 as 195 new infections were announced by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
That brings the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 3,145.
The agency disclosed Thursday morning that 195 new cases were reported in 13 states. All the reporting states already have at least a case of the virus.
Wednesday marked one hundred days since the index case of coronavirus was reported in Nigeria.
NCDC said the new cases were recorded in Lagos, Kano, Zamfara, Sokoto, Borno, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Oyo, Kebbi, Gombe. Ogun, Katsina, Kaduna, and Adamawa states.
So far, 34 states and the FCT have recorded at least a case of the disease.
There was an increase in the number of infections reported for Wednesday (195) compared to 148 reported on Tuesday.
NCDC said on May 6, 195 new confirmed cases and five deaths were recorded in Nigeria.
“Till date, 3145 cases have been confirmed, 534 cases have been discharged and 103 deaths have been recorded in 34 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
The 195 new cases are reported from 13 states- Lagos – 82, Kano – 30, Zamfara – 19, Sokoto – 18, Borno – 10, FCT – nine, Oyo – eight, Kebbi – five, Gombe – five, Ogun – four , Katsina -three , Kaduna – one, Adamawa – one.
Lagos State still remains the epicentre for the disease in the country.
BREAKDOWN
Nigeria has so far tested 21, 208 persons since the beginning of the pandemic in the country.
A breakdown of all the confirmed cases so far shows that 3,145 infections have been reported in Nigeria since the index case in February. Of that number, 2,508 cases are still active, 534 have recovered and have been discharged, and 103 deaths have been reported.
A breakdown of the 3,145 confirmed cases shows that Lagos State has so far reported 1, 308 cases, followed by Kano – 427, FCT – 316, Borno – 116, Gombe – 103, Katsina – 95, Ogun – 95, Kaduna – 85, Bauchi – 83, Sokoto – 85, Edo – 65, Oyo – 52, Zamfara – 46, Jigawa – 39, Osun – 37, , Delta – 17, Akwa Ibom – 16, Kwara – 16, Taraba – 15, Rivers – 14, Adamawa – 15, Yobe – 13, Ondo – 13, Kebbi – 18, Ekiti – 12, Nasarawa – 11, Enugu – eight, Bayelsa – five, Ebonyi – five, Plateau – four, Niger – four, Benue – two, Imo – two, Abia – two, Anambra – one.
Since the government eased the lockdown the Monday, there have been reports of Nigerians flouting safety guidelines put in place to combat the spread of the disease.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha during the Presidential Taskforce briefing on Wednesday said early assessment of the ease of lockdown phase indicate that Nigerians are yet to come to terms with the deadliness and the virulent nature of the COVID-19.
He said this gives the government concerns on the high possibility of increased seeding of the virus to hitherto un-affected persons and populations.
Some of these areas of worries include the following: non-compliance with social/physical distancing guidelines evidenced by higher than advised congregation of people in banks, traffic gridlocks especially at entry points to metropolitan areas and disregard of guidelines on carrying capacity of motor vehicles;
Increased level of inter-state movements worsened by the dubious concealment of people in food carrying vehicles;
Unhygienic and ill-advised use and sharing of masks especially multiple fittings before buying from vendors.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, has explained why the Federal government will not give any COVID-19 patient to traditional medicine practitioners for treatment, insisting that they were no “human guinea pigs”, on whom drugs can be tried.
The minister, who said many traditional medicines that are being suggested by some herbal practitioners in the country as cures for COVID-19 have not been tested and might be toxic, gave the position of the Federal government during a press briefing by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Abuja.
Reacting to criticisms that the Federal government is not looking inward in search for the COVID-19 cure, Ehanire said the traditional cures must first be tested on animals and certified not to be toxic.
He said: “On the cure of COVID-19, the traditional medicines that have been given to us or rather that people said they had, we have referred to them to Traditional Medicine Complementary Department of the Federal Ministry of Health and to the Nigerian Institute of Pharmaceutical Research and Development to evaluate.
“But some of them, who have written to me that they have medicines, have asked me to give them 10 patients so that they can cure them. They say ‘give me 10, give me one and I will cure them, and you will see that it works.’
“But we don’t do it like that in medicine. We don’t have human guinea pigs. Anybody who knows that he or she has a cure must prove to me that it was tried and it worked. Many of the cures are not tested on anyone at all.
“Of course, I am not giving them anyone to go and carry out their tests. That is why they have to go through the research cycle to make sure that their medicines are not toxic and you can also check the efficacy. So, those are things that will be tested.
“Any kind of medicine can be toxic. The toxicity can be checked and you can also check the efficacy. And as you know, you have to try it on animals such as rats and mouse, before it is certified.”
The minister also disclosed that the Federal government would mandate states to improve the conditions of the isolation centres because of the complaints about the poor feeding and living conditions in some of the centres.
He also said the Federal government is making efforts to get more materials for COVID-19 treatment.
The minister stated: “We are increasing our intensive care units beds and ventilators. We have some on order and we are also getting from countries. The United States President promised Nigeria some ventilators. We also got a letter that the government of China is sending us another load of relief materials to attend to COVID-19. So it is a question of fixing them particularly in our teaching hospitals and federal medical centres.
“Without drawing any conclusion, the number of persons who have required ventilators so far is very few.
“The fatalities arising from COVID-19 are overwhelmingly connected to pre-existing conditions such as kidney disease, high blood pressure, cancer and tuberculosis. They are connected to age and underlying conditions.”