#COVID19: Nigeria Records Lowest Cases In Third Wave

Nigeria recorded 357 new COVID-19 infections, the lowest daily tally since the start of the third wave of the disease driven by the surge of the Delta variant.

Rivers State reported 170 infections, followed by Ondo State with 38 cases, on  Tuesday, Aug. 17 , according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). Ogun and Ekiti states had 20 cases each. The NCDC however did not include the data for Lagos State which has been the epicenter of the pandemic.

Gombe State and  the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) recorded 18 cases each while Anambra State had 16 cases. Oyo has 13 cases and Kwara State, 10 cases. Edo, Imo and Bayelsa recorded six cases each.

This brought the total confirmed cases to 183,444. At least 13,756 people are currently being hospitalised across the country, contributing 7 per cent of the total infections since the pandemic began.

With  167,459 people being discharged, the country’s recovery rate has, however, dropped to 91.2 per cent from 93.3 per cent in the previous week. The death toll has also climbed up to  2,229 with six new fatalities.

Nigeria has tested more than 2.5 million samples for the virus out of its roughly 200 million population.

Until now, the country had been reporting a spike in cases above 400, with the  COVID-19 average test positivity rate standing at six per cent, according to the NCDC.

The agency said slowing down infections requires Nigerians to observe the COVID-19 preventive protocols.

The agency added that a multi-sectoral national emergency operations centre (EOC), which had been activated at Level 2, continues to coordinate the national response activities.

So far, Nigeria has administered 3.94 million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines so far, with 2.5 million persons receiving at least one dose. Less than one per cent of its 200 million population has been fully vaccinated – 1.4 million.

The country received a donation of 4.08 million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine from the United States on Aug. 1 and began its rollout on Aug. 16.

“Vaccines are just one part of our COVID response and we must continue to rely on public health measures to keep our populations and our country safe,” the NCDC said.

“While we have all been affected by this pandemic, we have not been impacted equally. To fight COVID-19 effectively, we must address these inequalities and support the most vulnerable as they struggle to protect themselves.”