Nigeria Logs 2 Deaths, 1356 New COVID-19 Infections

Active cases in Nigeria now stand at 19,479 — significantly increased from 16,569 it was in past 2 days.

On Friday, Health officials in Nigeria registered 1,356 additional COVID-19 infections in past 24 hours.

Friday's daily case count is down from the 1,940 infections reported on Thursday.

This brings the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country, since the start of the pandemic, to 234,709.

Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), disclosed the latest infection statistics on its official website late Friday night, also said 2 fatalities were recorded in past 24 hours.

In total, the health officials added that 2,993 people have died from complications after contracting the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic.

The country also reported 197 recoveries in the same duration taking the total recoveries to 212,237.

NCDC stated that today’s report includes 140 discharged cases (120 community discharges) reported from FCT on 24th December 2021

The report, citing NCDC, the new cases of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 were reported in 11 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

Of the new cases, Lagos the epicentre of the disease in Nigeria accounted for most of the cases – 822 infections, followed  by Rivers which registered 119 cases, Kwara had 107 cases,  FCT reported 103 cases and Edo had 97 cases.

Kano reported 29 of the new cases,  Imo had 25, Delta had 19, Plateau had 14, Borno reported 10, Gombe had 8 and Bauchi reported 3 cases.

While Sokoto states reported no cases of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 in past 24 hours.

However, the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 (PSC) has urged Nigerians to celebrate the Christmas and New Year holidays responsibly.

The Chairman, PSC on COVID-19, who is also the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha made the call in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.

“As we prepare to celebrate with our families and loved ones, it is important that we do so safely by taking the necessary precautionary measures to stop the further spread of COVID-19 in our country.

“Nigeria is now experiencing the 4th wave COVID- 19 as new cases have continued to rise.

“This is the result of a mix of very low vaccination coverage, increased travels and movements, reduced compliance to public health social measures and highly transmissible Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant now circulating in the country,” he added.

The PSC Chairman strongly appealed to Nigerians to imbibe the culture of citizen’s responsibility and observe the following safety measures to reduce community transmission of COVID- 19 during the festive period.

“Avoid activities that involve mass gathering especially in enclosed spaces, as follows; Families are advised to limit the number of visitors to their homes and put in place precautionary safety measures;

“Any gathering in excess of 50 people should be done in open spaces with physical distancing;

“Indoor religious congregation should be limited to 50 per cent capacity with full compliance to public health social measures; and Face masks and hand sanitizers should be used at all times regardless of vaccination status while in public spaces;

“Avoid non-essential interstate travel at this period as this increases the risk of spreading infection from one place to another.

“People who intend to travel are encouraged to take a rapid COVID-19 test to confirm status as many infected persons are asymptomatic;

“Ensure that you have taken the full dose of COVID-19 vaccination including the booster dose to reduce your risk of severe infection and death in case of exposure to COVID-19.

“Seize the opportunity provided by the mass-vaccination campaign to ensure that your family and loved ones receive their COVID-19 vaccines including the 3rd dose (booster shot) at the nearest vaccination centre,” he said.

December 25, 2021