COVID-19: Nigeria records lowest weekly infections in six weeks

Last week, Nigeria recorded its lowest weekly COVID-19 infections in six weeks, according to official data.

Between February 7 and 13, the country recorded 6, 422 new cases, which represents a 26 per cent drop from the 8,685 cases recorded in the previous week.

The last time Nigeria recorded such a low figure was in the December 27-January 2 week, when it reported 6, 037 fresh cases.

But the recent reduction in the number of cases may not reflect the level of spread of the disease in the country because the testing rate had also dropped significantly.

Recall that the NCDC stopped publishing daily testing figures and now provide weekly updates on Mondays.

While in the previous week (January 31-February 6), the NCDC said it collected 96, 220 samples, only 42,383 samples were tested last week. This indicates a 55 per cent drop in the testing rate.

The NCDC is yet to respond to PREMIUM TIMES enquiries on the rationale behind the cancellation of the daily testing updates.

Further analysis showed that the number of COVID-19 patients discharged reduced while mortality from the disease increased.

While 8,845 recovered and were discharged in the previous week, 7,842 patients were discharged last week.

On the other hand, 69 lives were lost to COVID-19 complications in the previous week but 100 deaths were recorded last week. This indicates that the second wave of the pandemic has been deadlier

As of the time of reporting, Nigeria has 145, 664 confirmed COVID-19 cases. Of this figure, 120, 399 have been discharged and 1, 747 deaths have been recorded in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

A breakdown of the confirmed cases shows that Lagos State has so far reported 53, 041 cases, followed by FCT – 18, 523, Plateau — 8, 661, Kaduna — 8, 056, Oyo — 6, 322, Rivers — 5, 972 Edo — 4,240 Ogun — 3, 688, Kano — 3, 473, Delta — 2, 465, Ondo — 2, 604, Kwara — 2, 527, Katsina — 1, 995, Enugu — 1, 901, Gombe — 1, 940, Nasarawa — 2, 090, Osun — 2, 116, Ebonyi — 1, 664, Abia— 1, 338, Bauchi — 1, 195, Imo— 1, 341, Borno — 1138, Akwa Ibom — 1, 253, Anambra — 1, 271, Benue — 1022, Sokoto — 763, Bayelsa — 718, Niger — 867, Adamawa — 725, Ekiti — 682, Jigawa — 488, Taraba — 584, Kebbi — 299, Yobe— 250, Cross River— 232, Zamfara — 215 and Kogi — 5.

Lagos State remains the epicentre for the disease with the highest number of confirmed cases and deaths in the country.

It is followed by the FCT. The other four states closest in number of confirmed cases are Kaduna, Plateau, Oyo and Rivers states.

Of the 36 states and the FCT, only Abia, Anambra, Zamfara and Kogi did not record a new case last week.(Premium Times)

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