Anxiety as COVID-19 Cases in Nigeria Nears 1,000

By Dipo Olowookere

Tension is already building among residents of Nigeria as a result of the rising number of cases of Coronavirus disease in the country.

On Thursday, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) announced 108 new cases, bringing the total of confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported in Nigeria to 981, just 19 shy of 1,000.

According to the NCDC, out of the 108 fresh cases, 78 were recorded in Lagos, 14 in FCT Abuja, 5 in Ogun State, 4 in Gombe State, 2 each in Borno and Akwa Ibom States, and one each in Kwara and Plateau States.

The agency further said as at 11:30pm of April 23, 2020 there have been 197 patients of coronavirus discharged, while 31 deaths have been reported.

As at yesterday, a total of 582 cases have been confirmed in Lagos, 133 in Abuja, 73 in Kano, 29 in Ogun, 21 in Katsina, 20 in Osun, 17 each in Oyo and Edo States, 12 in Borno, 11 each in Kwara and Akwa Ibom States, 9 each in Kaduna and Gombe States, 8 in Bauchi, 6 in Delta and 4 in Ekiti State.

In addition, Ondo and Rivers States have reported 3 cases each, Jigawa, Enugu, Niger and Abia States have had 2 cases each, while Benue, Anambra, Sokoto, Adamawa and Plateau States have recorded one case each.

One of the major concerns among residents of Nigeria is the inability of the NCDC to conduct COVID-19 tests in Kano State due of an alleged shortage of materials at the testing centres.

Another concern is the disregard for social distancing initiative in the state as seen in a video on Thursday, where residents were at a crowded market to purchase food items in preparation for the yearly Ramadan which started today.

Also, yesterday, at the burial of the father of former Governor of Borno State, Mr Ali Modu Sherif, social distancing was not observed and this heightened fears that cases of the virus could explode in the coming days.