COVID-19: Nigeria records 10 new cases; total confirmed number now 184

By ABUJAH RACHEAL

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has confirmed 10 new cases of Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak in the country.

The confirmed cases are three in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and seven from Lagos State, making Nigeria’s confirmed cases 184.

NCDC, through its verified Twitter account on Thursday, said that as at 08:00 pm April 2 there were 184 confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported in Nigeria.

It said 20 had been discharged with two deaths.

NCDC said that currently, there were 92 cases in Lagos; Abuja 38, Oyo – eight; Osun – 14; Oyo – eight Ogun – four; Kaduna – four; Akwa Ibom – Five, Edo – four, Bauchi – three Enugu and Ekiti  with two cases each, while Rivers and Benue had one case, respectively.

Meanwhile, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, Director General of NCDC, told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the agency had started to see early signs of community transmission of COVID-19.

Ihekweazu said the lockdown in Lagos, Ogun and the FCT would be helpful as the NCDC continued to intensify efforts to detect and confirm cases of COVID-19.

He disclosed that the agency had the largest number of positive cases yesterday, adding that the NCDC had also the largest number of people tested ever yesterday.

The DG said that 71 per cent of all the 5,000 contacts they were tracing had been reached.

“Lagos has been transformational in this area. Tracing Teams have been able to take advantage of the restrictions to move very quickly in Lagos to reach all those listed,” he said.

He noted that the NCDC now had 15 Rapid Response Teams deployed in 15 states, for COVID-19.

He, however said that It was the largest ever deployment of public health resources in the country.

“And we are adding new states everyday.

“Our teams are building critical skills and gaining experience in a wide range of fields, not just Contact Tracing, but also Supply chain management, Laboratory Deployment,” he explained.

Ihekweazu, reassured the 36 states of the federation that the NCDC was here for them, to support them.

“I also want you to know that President Muhammadu Buhari has called on us to have one response across the country, a single lead coordinated response,” he added. (NAN)