Coronavirus
COVID-19: Nigeria’s cases drops to 712, as Africa hits 2.579 million cases
The Nigeria Centre For Disease Control has announced that 712 new coronavirus infections were recorded on Christmas Day.
Business News
COVID-19 Update in Nigeria
On the 9th of April 2021, 71 new confirmed cases and 1 death was recorded in Nigeria
The spread of novel Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) in Nigeria continues to record significant increases as the latest statistics provided by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control reveal Nigeria now has 163,652 confirmed cases.
On the 9th of April 2021, 71 new confirmed cases and 1 death was recorded in Nigeria.
To date, 163,652 cases have been confirmed, 154,073 cases have been discharged and 2,059 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
A total of 1.8 million tests have been carried out as of April 9th, 2021 compared to 1.7 million tests a day earlier.
COVID-19 Case Updates- 9th April 2021,
- Total Number of Cases – 163,652
- Total Number Discharged – 154,073
- Total Deaths – 2,059
- Total Tests Carried out – 1,803,177
According to the NCDC, the 71 new cases are reported from 10 states- Lagos (24), Yobe (13), Rivers (9), Akwa Ibom (6), FCT (6), Kano (6), Osun (3), Delta (2), Jigawa (1) and Plateau (1).
Meanwhile, the latest numbers bring Lagos state total confirmed cases to 57,924, followed by Abuja (19,703), Plateau (9,030), Kaduna (8,984), Rivers (6,986), Oyo (6,838), Edo (4,892), Ogun (4,620), Kano (3,924), Ondo (3,226), Kwara (3,120), Delta (2,615), Osun (2,547), Nasarawa (2,378), Enugu (2,259), Katsina (2,097), Gombe (2,034), Ebonyi (2,008), Anambra (1,909), Akwa Ibom (1,794), and Abia (1,677).
Imo State has recorded 1,655 cases, Bauchi (1,538), Borno (1,337), Benue (1,188), Adamawa (1,051), Niger (930), Taraba (910), Bayelsa (871), Ekiti (868), Sokoto (774), Jigawa (525), Kebbi (450), Cross River (385), Yobe (365), Zamfara (234), while Kogi state has recorded 5 cases only.
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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. Also, on Monday 27th July 2020, the federal government extended the second phase of eased lockdown by an additional one week.
On Thursday, 6th August 2020 the federal government through the secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 announced the extension of the second phase of eased lockdown by another four (4) weeks.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State announced the closed down of the Eti-Osa Isolation Centre, with effect from Friday, 31st July 2020. He also mentioned that the Agidingbi Isolation Centre would also be closed and the patients relocated to a large capacity centre.
Due to the increased number of covid-19 cases in Nigeria, the Nigerian government ordered the reopening of Isolation and treatment centres in the country on Thursday, 10th December 2020.
On 26th January 2021, the Federal Government announced the extension of the guidelines of phase 3 of the eased lockdown by one month following the rising cases of the coronavirus disease in the country and the expiration of phase 3 of the eased lockdown.
On 28th February 2021, the federal government confirmed that the first tranche of Covid-19 vaccines will arrive in Nigeria on Tuesday, March 2nd, 2021.
On Tuesday, 2nd March 2021, the National Primary health Care Development Agency announced the arrival of the expected COVX Astrazeneca/Oxford covid-19 vaccines.
On Saturday, 6th March 2021, President Muhammadu Buhari and his vice, Yemi Osinbajo received vaccination against the covid-19 as the State House in Abuja.
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Covid-19: FG discloses why it is pausing vaccinations soon in some states
Minister of State for Health has disclosed why the FG may halt the vaccination process once 50% of the country’s proportion has been used up.
The Nigerian Government disclosed that it has ordered some states to pause their covid-19 vaccination drive once they have used up 50% of their proportions as Nigeria is not sure when it would receive the second batch of vaccines.
This was disclosed by Minister of State for Health, Sen. Olorunnimbe Mamora, at the Presidential Task Force (PTF) briefing on COVID-19, in Abuja on Tuesday.
What the Minister is saying
“We believe that in a situation where we still cannot specifically determine when the next batch of AstraZeneca vaccine will arrive, then I think wisdom dictates that it’s better for us to vaccinate people fully.
“And so, we can say that we have a pool of citizens that have been fully vaccinated since this vaccination comes in two doses.
READ: Nigeria, 8 other African countries receive Covid-19 vaccine from MTN
“So that’s what gave rise to that directive, rather than just going ahead with just single dose when the full dose should be two doses of the same.
“So we felt that it was proper for us in the circumstance to ensure that those who have been vaccinated have been fully vaccinated,” he disclosed.
On vaccine side effects so far
The Director-General of the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, disclosed that the FG is monitoring cases of blood clots as reported in Europe, however, he asserted that Nigeria’s vaccination drive has been efficient so far.
“In Nigeria, with every vaccine, we have a parallel system to measure and to monitor any side effects,” he said.
READ: UN says 26 countries in Africa have received 15 million vaccines
“We will continue to monitor patients in Nigeria. You know, every demography is different, the demography in taking vaccines in every country is different, the interaction between different drugs people are taking. So there are many circumstances that need to be fully evaluated, we will look at the data ourselves here in Nigeria and I will take action as needed.
“So I think, for now, we can be sure that we have an effective vaccination programme going on. And we’re very responsive to the concerns of Nigerians, I will respond to them as appropriate,” he added.
What you should know: Nigeria had vaccinated 964,387 people as of Tuesday, 6th of April 2020, using up 48.0% of vaccinations, reported by the NPHCDA.
