COVID-19: NCDC Confirms 27 Additional Deaths, 1,114 New Infections

Coronavirus death toll spikes in Nigeria as government considers new lockdown.

The country's coronavirus death toll jumped above 1,550 on Friday as the health Institute reported 27 new deaths, taking the cumulative total to 1,577. The newly recorded fatalities is the highest so far since the first death were reported in March 2020.

Nigeria is continuing to report a rise in COVID-19 cases among states, as the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) announced 1,114 new Infections.

NCDC added that 1,269 people were discharged, while 27 person was confirmed to have died of COVID-19 complications on Friday.  Toppled the previous record of 23 deaths reported on January 14.

COVID-19 infections tally in Nigeria reached 128,674 on Friday, while the death toll from the virus stands at 1,577 and the number of recovered COVID-19 patients is now  102,780 in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory as the worst pandemic in a century escalated across the world.

The health agency noted that, a backlog of 26 discharged cases in Akwa Ibom State. Data from Ondo State reported over the last two days. 713 community recoveries in Lagos State, 124 in Plateau State & 118 in Kaduna state.

The newly recorded COVID-19 cases were reported across 21 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

Lagos recorded the highest number of new cases with 408 infections on Friday. The financial center of the metropolis is Nigeria’s COVID-19 hot-spot with a total of 47,879 infections, 39,571 recoveries and a total 311 deaths as at today.

Other states with new infections include FCT-95, Plateau-90, Ondo-66, Kaduna-63, Oyo-56, Borno-46, Imo-42, Edo-41, Ogun-37, Rivers-31, Ekiti-25, Yobe-20, Kano-18, Akwa Ibom-18, Delta-15, Osun-15, Kwara-11, Bayelsa-6, Nasarawa-6, Zamfara-4 and Bauchi-1. 

Today's report include:

✅A backlog of 26 discharged cases in Akwa Ibom State
✅Data from Ondo State reported over the last two days
✅713 community recoveries in Lagos State, 124 in Plateau State & 118 in Kaduna state

A breakdown of cases by state via https://t.co/zQrpNeOfet pic.twitter.com/4oRgXawh6M

— NCDC (@NCDCgov) January 29, 2021

Meanwhile the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 has indicated the possibility of a second lockdown in specific areas across the country, based on the level of cases in these areas, as the rate of infection continues to increase.

The PTF said the rate at which the infection was spreading was alarming, especially in Lagos, Plateau, Kaduna and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, which had recorded the highest cases of the infection in the country, during the second wave.

National Incident Manager, PTF, Mukhtar Muhammed, disclosed this on Friday on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme.

Hinting that these hotspots might face a fresh lockdown to contain the spread of the virus, Muhammed said, “We have been analysing the data and we have been looking at the geographical areas that have been most affected and the different age groups.

“Certainly, even if we are going to have a lockdown, it is not going to be a total lockdown. A couple of weeks back, we analysed the data and we identified the hotspot local government areas.

“Mostly, the areas affected are the urban local governments in Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna, Plateau. Even in most other states, it is the urban areas that are involved. So, if we are going to have any restriction, it will be in these areas.”

He said the urban areas were the most affected, noting that the PTF had advised the states, based on available data, to focus on these areas where he said transmissions were more than the others.

Lagos, Abuja and Plateau have recorded 47,879, 16,565, and 7,891 cases respectively in the last 11 months, according to data obtained from NCDC.

January 29, 2021