The spread of novel Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) in Nigeria continue to record significant increase as the latest statistics provided by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control reveal Nigeria now has 30,748 confirmed cases.

On the 9th of July 2020, 499 new confirmed cases and 5 deaths were recorded in Nigeria, having carried out a total daily test of 2,302 samples across the country.

To date, 30,748 cases have been confirmed, 12,546 cases have been discharged and 689 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. A total of 171,931 tests have been carried out as of July 9th, 2020 compared to 169,629 tests a day earlier.

COVID-19 Case Updates- 9th July 2020,

• Total Number of Cases – 30,748
• Total Number Discharged – 12,546
• Total Deaths – 689
• Total Tests Carried out – 171,931

According to the NCDC, the 499 new cases were reported from 24 states- Lagos (157); Edo (59); Ondo (56); Oyo (31); Akwa Ibom (22); Borno (21); Plateau (19); Kaduna (18); Katsina (18); Bayelsa (17); FCT (17); Delta (14); Kano (11); Rivers (10); Enugu (8); Ogun (6); Kwara (4); Imo (3); Nasarawa (2); Osun (2); Abia (1); Ekiti (1); Niger (1); Yobe (1).

Meanwhile, the latest numbers bring Lagos state total confirmed cases to 11,827, followed by Abuja (2,365), Oyo (1,604), Edo (1,562), Delta (1,337), Kano (1,302), Rivers (1,294), Ogun (1,063),  Kaduna (907), Katsina (646), Ondo (606), Borno (584), Gombe (524), Bauchi (519), Ebonyi (503), Plateau (497), Enugu (439), Abia (401),  Imo (359), Jigawa (318).

Kwara state has recorded 311 cases, Bayelsa (299), Nasarawa (236), Osun (212), Sokoto (153), Akwa Ibom (134), Niger (125), Benue (121), Adamawa (100), Anambra (93), Kebbi (86), Zamfara (76), Yobe (62), Ekiti (46), Taraba (27), while Kogi and Cross River state have recorded 5 cases each.

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Lock Down and Curfew

In a move to combat the spread of the pandemic disease, President Muhammadu Buhari directed the cessation of all movements in Lagos and the FCT for an initial period of 14 days, which took effect from 11 pm on Monday, 30th March 2020.

The movement restriction, which was extended by another two-weeks period, has been partially put on hold with some businesses commencing operations from May 4. On April 27th, 2020, Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari declared an overnight curfew from 8 pm to 6 am across the country, as part of new measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19. This comes along with the phased and gradual easing of lockdown measures in FCT, Lagos, and Ogun States, which took effect from Saturday, 2nd May 2020, at 9 am.

On Monday, 29th June 2020 the federal government extended the second phase of the eased lockdown by 4 weeks and approved interstate movement outside curfew hours with effect from July 1, 2020.

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Following stern criticism by US President, Donald Trump, over their handling of the COVID-19 response efforts, the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced it will implement an independent panel to review said response efforts to the pandemic.

To this end, Liberia’s former President and West Africa’s first female President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, has been picked alongside former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark, to serve as co-chairs of the independent panel. They will be responsible for selecting the other members of the panel, according to the WHO.

WHO’s Director-General, Tedros Adhanom, announced the panel will produce an interim report in a November meeting of global health ministers. Meanwhile, the substantive report would be produced by May 2021.

Tedros also said that the size of the pandemic calls for the need for a “commensurate evaluation, an honest evaluation”, adding that the WHO would be very serious with the preparation of the report.

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The WHO members in May agreed to an independent review of the organization’s response to the pandemic. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said the review of the body’s response would be challenging but looks forward to her role in doing what she can contribute to the response of the pandemic’s challenges.

The panel will also report monthly updates on the body’s response and will not only review the WHO’s response but also the International community’s response. Tedros added that it’s time for an honest reflection on the global response, saying a response will help with lessons on the pandemic.

The office of the Vice President has reacted to a series of tweets accusing Professor Yemi Osinbajo of instructing the embattled acting Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, to release the sum of N4 billion out of N39 billion that was recovered from alleged looters. 

These allegations have been described as “false and baseless”. 

READ ALSO: UPDATE: President Buhari appoints Prof. Gambari as new Chief of Staff

A statement that was signed by the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, said, “with all emphasis at our disposal, let it be firmly stated that these are totally false and baseless fabrications purposing to reflect goings-on at the probe panel investigating Mr Ibrahim Magu”. 

Ibrahim Magu was relieved of his duties this week, after a probe was conducted on his activities as Acting Chairman of the nation’s anti-graft agency. He has since been replaced with Mohammed Umar. 

READ MORE: Just In: DSS invites EFCC’s Acting Chairman, Ibrahim Magu for questioning)

Meanwhile, the statement by the Presidency also complained about the recent rise in people being paid to “peddle blatant falsehoods” against the Vice President and says Mr Osinbajo “will not be distracted by these obvious campaigns of lies and calumny”. 

The statement added that the online publications “being criminally defamatory in nature”  have been referred to law enforcement agencies for investigation. 

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OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT

PRESS STATEMENT

VP @ProfOsinbajo WILL NOT BE DISTRACTED BY CAMPAIGNS OF LIES & CALUMNY pic.twitter.com/HjdGzEJVpI

— Presidency Nigeria (@NGRPresident) July 8, 2020