Nigeria’s coronavirus infections have surpassed 90,000 as the country continues to battle the second wave of the pandemic.
About 917 more people tested positive for coronavirus on Sunday, taking the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 90,080
This is according to an update Sunday night by the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC).
Nigeria, on Sunday, also reported nine additional deaths from COVID-19 complications as the spike in new cases continues to feed through into fatalities.
One of the new deaths is believed to be Oye Ibidapo-Obe, a former vice chancellor of the University of Lagos, who PREMIUM TIMES reported died Sunday from COVID-19 complications.
The total death tally from the COVID-19 disease in Nigeria rose to 1,311 with the addition of the nine new deaths, the NCDC announced late Sunday.
In the past 16 days, there have been 99 recorded deaths from the coronavirus.
Since early December, there has been a spike in coronavirus cases in Nigeria.
Health experts believe the lowering of guard on safety and the weak enforcement of protocols especially in the country’s major airports in Abuja and Lagos could be responsible for the development, warning that the situation could get worse if citizens keep violating safety protocols.
Active cases in the country rose sharply from about 3,000 some weeks ago to over 11,000 due to a rise in new infections.
Of the over 90,000 cases so far, 75,044 patients have been discharged from hospitals after treatment.
Specifics
The 917 new cases were reported from 17 states – FCT (222), Lagos (214), Kaduna (119), Plateau (92), Nasarawa (50), Oyo (41), Adamawa (33), Ondo (32), Abia (28), Ogun (19), Rivers (17), Kano (16), Yobe (14), Edo (8), Anambra (6), Ekiti (5) and Jigawa (1).
The FCT led with 222 new cases followed by Lagos with 214 new infections on Sunday.
With the country into the second wave of the pandemic, federal authorities have ordered the reopening of all isolation and treatment centres in the country.
The Nigerian government has also reintroduced new restrictions to check the spread of the virus, including closure of bars and nightclubs and limiting the number of people allowed in a public gathering.
According to the NCDC, the failure of Nigerians to comply with the COVID-19 safety protocols during the festive period could lead to more spread of the disease.
So far, Nigeria has conducted over 950,000 COVID-19 tests.