In what appears to be the highest single day record since last December when COVID-19 was first discovered in Wuhan, China, Nigeria has recorded 930 new cases of the virus.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the number surpassed the previous record of 796 cases recorded on December 11.
This was reported by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control via its verified Twitter handle @NCDCgov late Thursday morning.
As cases of coronavirus continue to rise in the country, Nigeria appears to have entered the second wave of the pandemic as has been experienced in several countries around the world.
Perhaps fearing that foreign arrivals into the country this Yuletide season might worsen the national statistics, the Federal Ministry of Health has restated the order for those entering the country to self-isolate for seven days, and to present for COVID-19 test on the seventh day.
Lagos tops the list of 22 affected states with 279 cases.
The Federal Capital Territory comes second with 179 cases.
Others are Plateau-62; Kaduna-54; Kano-52; Katsina-52; Imo-42; Jigawa-42; Rivers-38; Kwara-30; Nasarawa-19; Yobe-15; Ogun-13; Borno-10; Oyo-9; Niger-9; Ebonyi-6; Bauchi-6; Edo-5; Taraba-4; Sokoto-2 and Cross River-2.
The agency said Nigeria has conducted about 859,357 tests since the first confirmed case of COVID-19 was announced in February this year.
NCDC said that no death was recorded from the virus in the past 24 hours in the country.
It said the 930 new infections were from 21 states and the Federal Capital Territory, adding that the new infections raised the total number of confirmed cases in Nigeria to 75,062.
The health agency said that 281 COVID-19 patients had recovered and were discharged from various isolation centres in the past 24 hours, raising the number of successfully recovered patients to 66,775.
“Our discharges today include 106 community recoveries in Lagos State managed in line with guidelines,” it said.
NCDC noted that till date, 75,062 cases have been confirmed, 66,775 patients discharged and 1,200 deaths recorded in 36 states and the FCT.
The public health agency said that a multi-sectoral national emergency operations centre (EOC), has been activated at Level 3, to coordinate the national response activities.
Meanwhile, the agency said that home care for COVID-19 patients, who are asymptomatic or had mild symptoms, must be based on the recommendation of a clinician and not on self-assessment.
The NCDC said that it was the duty of clinicians to recommend the use of designated treatment areas, according to the severity and the acute care needed by the patients.
“Home care should only be recommended for in-patients after an appropriate risk assessment has been done and following appropriate counseling.
“Key recommendation for health care worker, if hospitalisation is not feasible, consider home care for patients with no symptoms, mild symptoms or for patients without concern for rapid deterioration as determined by a managing physician.
“Home care may also be considered when in-patient care is unavailable or unsafe (e.g. capacity is limited, and resources are unable to meet the demand for health care services). Contacts should be advised to monitor their health for 14 days from the last possible day of contact,’’ the NCDC said.
The agency said that the key recommendation for patients at household level was that they should remain isolated and limit contact with other people, including household members, until all symptoms have resolved and until the patient have a repeat negative test or a healthcare worker has cleared the patient.
“Stay in a well-ventilated single room, limit movement in the house or minimise shared space, ensure shared spaces are well ventilated, follow cleaning and disinfecting guidance at home, limit the number of caregivers and seek care urgently if there is a change in your condition,’’ the centre advised.
For household members, the NCDC said they should assign one person who was in a good health without risk conditions to care for the ill person.
“All household members should regularly wash their hands with soap and water, stop receiving visitors into the house/accommodation where the ill person is staying, limit contact with anyone outside the household until 14 days after the ill person recovers.
“Provide and dedicate personal items such as toothbrushes, eating utensils, dishes, drinks, towels, wash cloths, or bed linen for the patient, respiratory hygiene should be practised always, discard tissue used to cover nose or mouth during coughing or sneezing into a lined bin which has a well-fitted lid,’’ the NCDC advised.
(NAN)
