Breaking: Nigeria Hits 1,095 Coronavirus Cases, 80 in Lagos, Recovery Rate Falls to 19%

Nigeria has finally crossed the 1,000 mark as the country’s Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has announced 114 new cases of Covid-19 in the country. This brings the total number of confirmed cases in Nigeria to 1,095.

Lagos, the state with the highest number of cases in the country (657) saw its highest daily tally yet (80), breaking the record it set just 24 short hours ago (74). This represents a 14% increase from the previous figures.

Abuja in the second spot recorded 5 new cases, rising from 133 to 138 total confirmed cases. This represents a marked reduction from the 24 cases it recorded on the 23rd of April.

Kano occupying the third spot on the register with 73 cases, didn’t record any new case in the last 24 hours. This should come as a huge relief especially since lockdown has been relaxed by the Kano state government.

Gombe takes a huge leap

Gombe state registered 21 new cases in the last 24 hours. This means the northeastern state took a major leap on the Covid-19 log, jumping from only 9 cases to 30. This represents an increase of about 233%.

This is one of the highest rates of increase by any state on the log, only Kano came close to equaling that rate when it recorded 14 cases a day after it debuted.

Debutants

According to the NCDC update, Zamfara becomes the latest state to imprint its name in the national Covid-19 register when the northwestern state debuted with 2 cases. This means there has been at least one debutant state three days in a row.

As at 24th April, Nigeria has recorded #COVID19 confirmed cases in 27 states and the Federal Capital Territory

In the last 24 hours,number of new cases increased by 114. Number of deaths increased by 1

5 cases previously recorded in Lagos, are now recorded as Ogun state cases

— NCDC (@NCDCgov) April 24, 2020

As such, 27 states and the FCT have witnessed cases of coronavirus. Nine states that are yet unscathed include Cross River, Kebbi, Kogi, Nassarawa and Taraba. Others are Imo, Yobe, Ebonyi and Bayelsa.

Deaths and recoveries

According to the latest NCDC update, only one death was recorded within the last 24 hours. Compared to three deaths recorded in each of the previous two days, this seems like a pretty impressive one.

This brings the total number of Covid-19 deaths to 31 and further improves Nigeria’s death rate to 2.8%. Global death rate stands at 3.4% while the US has a death rate of 5.6%

The latest NCDC update also recorded 11 new recoveries. This means the total number of recoveries and discharges rose, for the first time in three days, from 197 to 208. This however, wasn’t enough to prevent the recovery ratio from dropping even further from 20% to 19%.

The US has a lower recovery rate of 10%

Effects of lockdown

As the second 14-day lockdown imposed by the federal government on Lagos, Ogun and the FCT drags to an end, there have been fears that the FG might decide to extend the lockdown nationwide in a new directive. This is as the number of cases continues to rise and the NCDC claims the country is weeks away from its peak.

Many observers, however, claim that the lockdown hasn’t been particularly effective and it is time the government looked for workable alternatives. Anyhow, Nigerians wait with bated breaths as they anticipate further directives and measures from the FG.