Nigeria records 500% increase in Covid infection rate within 14 days - NCDC


It's official! Nigeria is now in the fourth wave of Covid-19. 


The not-so-cheering news was confirmed by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Monday, which reported 500 per cent increase in infection rate within the last fortnight.

On Monday, 1,368 new Covid cases threw the recorded number of the infection up to 225,255 from February 2020 till date.

Sunday had brought the recent daily high count down to 404, but an additional 964 new cases came in over that in 24 hours.

The last time a consistent four digits were recorded in Nigeria was in January, this year.

NCDC attributed the situation to Delta and Omicron variants of the virus.

Commenting on the increasing Covid cases, the NCDC advised Nigerians to be cautious during the Yuletide season.

“The country is now in a fourth Covid-19 wave. The Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19, the Federal Ministry of Health, as well as NCDC and its partners, are therefore intensifying risk communication efforts to remind Nigerians of the risk we face and need to take collective responsibility to reduce transmission of the virus", says Ifedayo Adetifa, the head of the federal agency. 

The NCDC again warned the citizens to be cautious during the Yuletide which usually witnesses super spreader activities, including travelling.

“We urge Nigerians to take all precautions necessary to ensure we and our loved ones live to celebrate many more events and festivities”.

Out of the 1,368 fresh cases, Lagos recorded 844, returning the state to No 1 on the infection chart.

The Federal Capital Territory contributed 209, while the remaining Top 10 are: Oyo 58, Abia 51, Ondo 39, Ogun 30, Kaduna 26, Delta 20, Akwa Ibom 17 and Osun 15.

The other states are: Ekiti 12, Anambra 7, Zamfara 7, Cross River, Kano, Kwara, Rivers (all 6 each), Bauchi 5, Gombe 3 and Plateau 1.

In all, 211,660 Covid patients have been discharged across the country, with 2,985 fatalities leaving the active cases at 10,610.

Meanwhile, 3.7 per cent of the population has been injected with the Covid-19 booster shot.

The National Primary Healthcare Development Agency says 17 out of 36 states and the FCT have started  administering it.

The agency's Executive Director, Faisal Shuaib, had earlier announced that the citizens would be free to take booster shots to activate more protection against the Omicron variant.

NPHCDA data show that apart from the FCT, the states in compliance include Anambra, Bauchi, Benue, Cross River, Ebonyi, Edo, Enugu, Gombe, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Lagos, Nasarawa, Ogun, Oyo, Plateau and Sokoto.

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