As the second wave of COVID-19 continues to spread rapidly across Nigeria, more people are dying from the disease, a situation health officials attributed to late referral of COVID-19 patients to treatment centres.
Nigeria on Tuesday logged one if its deadliest daily fatality toll with 12 people dying from the virus.
The figure has taken the total death toll to 1,373.
In the past 25 days, there have been 161 fatalities as a result of COVID-19 complications in Nigeria.
The Minister of State for Health, Olorunnimbe Mamora, speaking at the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 briefing last weej, said caregivers are holding on to suspected cases for too long before presenting them for treatment.
The second wave of the coronavirus has also continued to sweep across Nigeria with 1,270 new infections recorded in 22 states across the country on Tuesday.
On Sunday, Nigeria crossed the grim milestone of over 100,000 infections as health officials call for stricter enforcement of safety measures.
The 1,270 new cases on Tuesday pushed the total number of infections in the country to 102,601.
One in every six persons (16 per cent) tested for COVID-19 in Nigeria in the past two weeks tested positive for the virus, indicating how far the virus has spread,
PREMIUM TIMES’ review of official data showed that Nigeria set a weekly record of about 10, 000 cases in the past week.
Health experts believe the lowering of guard on safety and the weak enforcement of protocols especially in the country’s major airports in Abuja and Lagos could be responsible for the recent surge, warning that the situation could get worse if citizens keep violating safety protocols.
The federal government recently warned that a significant increase in coronavirus infections in Nigeria appears imminent this January due to continued violation of safety protocols during the Christmas period.
Active cases in the country rose sharply from about 3,000 about a month ago to over 20,000 due to a rise in new infections.
Of the over 102,000 cases so far, 81,574 patients have been discharged from hospitals after treatment.
Specifics
The 1,270 new cases were reported from 22 states – Lagos (435), FCT (234), Oyo (103), Plateau (86), Rivers (71), Enugu (51), Nasarawa (41), Delta (39), Edo (39), Osun (33), Niger (31), Sokoto (23), Ondo (16), Taraba (13), Ebonyi (12), Kano (10), Abia (9), Bayelsa (8), Bauchi (7), Imo (5), Katsina (3) and Gombe (1).
Lagos led with 435 new cases on Tuesday, more than half of the daily total. The commercial city is Nigeria’s coronavirus epicentre with a total of over 36,000 confirmed cases and more than 255 deaths.
The Minister of State for Health, Mr Mamora, warned Nigerians against complacency in containing the COVID-19 pandemic as the much-awaited vaccines may not arrive the country as soon as expected.
The Nigerian government has postponed reopening of schools which was initially slated for January 17 due to the spike in coronavirus infections.
The government also said it is expecting to start receiving vaccines for the disease by the end of the month.
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