SUN, JUN 14 2020-theG&BJournal-At least ten states saw more than 100 confirmed cases of the deadly coronavirus in the past one week, according to data from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
Besides Lagos the epicentre which reported a total of 1,268 in the past one week, FCT (260), Oyo (238), Ogun (190), Rivers (148) Edo (143), Gombe (120), Bauchi (115), Delta (99) and Kano (92) reported at least 20 confirmed new cases daily for one week to take their total in the period to well over 100 or close to 100 confirmed cases of the deadly infection.
Lagos total confirmed cases at 7,035 is still growing at worrying rate just as is the case for the FCT with 1,212 and Kano with 1091 cases in total respectively. Ogun State (553), Edo (544), Oyo (491), Rivers (482) Kaduna (429) Borno (425), Katsina (414) and Bauchi (410) are proving to be the next basket cases.
Majority of the confirmed cases are linked to unknown exposure or direct exposure to contact cases. The States just like the Federal Government have allowed partial ease of lockdown, but more importantly they are all ramping up their testing capacity.
The NCDC reported 501 more cases to add up to an upward trend in infection across the country in the past one week. Confirmed total of the COVID-19 cases in the country as at June 13 is now 15, 682 and chasing after Egypt and South Africa-both with the highest infection in the continent at 41,303 and 61,927 respectively, according to the Africa CDC data.
Fatalities in Nigeria have also climbed exponentially, now 407 but still not comparable to what is seen in South Africa or Egypt and Algeria. South Africa, Egypt and Algeria have all recorded 1,354, 1,422 and 751 deaths to date.
Meanwhile, the NCDC is currently validating the second batch of COVID-19 Rapid and RT-PCR test kits at the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN) owned Public Health In-Vitro Diagnostics Control Laboratory at Yaba, Lagos.
Test kits for quick identification of COVID-19 cases have become a major issue for some states with the Delta State Governor Dr Ifeanyi Okowa Saturday calling for the provision of more test kits across the country.
The Governor noted that the desired results of containing the virus would only be possible with simultaneous testing in all the states.
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