Nigeria: COVID-19 cases cross 89,000 as US reaches new landmark

Nigeria on Saturday crossed 89,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases with five hundred and seventy-six new infections (576) as the US reached a landmark number of infections.

The new infections, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC)’s latest figures showed, were confirmed in fourteen states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), taking the total cases to eighty-nine thousand, one hundred and sixty-three (89,163).

Nigeria’s COVID-19 epicentre, Lagos had the highest number of persons infected with the virus for the day under review. It recorded two hundred and seventy-seven (277) fresh cases.

Other places with new COVID-19 cases are FCT – 90; Oyo – 51; Nasarawa – 49; Sokoto – 23; Anambra – 14; Bauchi – 11; Imo – 11; Kano – 11; Edo – 10 and Plateau -10. Ogun with nine new cases, Osun – 5; Jigawa – 3; and Rivers – 2, make up the remaining confirmed infections.

Of the number of cases in Nigeria, seventy-four thousand, seven hundred and eighty-nine (74,789) persons have been treated and discharged. “Our discharges today include 287 community recoveries in Lagos State and 60 community recoveries in Plateau State managed in line with guidelines,” the NCDC tweeted on its handle on Saturday.

The United States on Saturday saw its highest number yet of coronavirus cases recorded in one day, with more than 277,000 infections. The hardest-hit country in the world by the pandemic, the United States has marked 20.4 million cases overall and just under 350,000 deaths.

Infections have been surging in recent months, with top US government scientist Anthony Fauci warning just days after Christmas that the worst of the pandemic may be yet to come, driving the country to a “critical point” as holiday travel spreads the virus.

The country has floundered in its efforts to quell Covid-19, with its vaccination program beset by logistical problems and overstretched hospitals.

More than 4.2 million people in the US have already received their first jabs, with 13 million doses distributed, but that falls well behind the 20 million inoculations that President Donald Trump’s administration promised by the end of 2020.