There has been a moderate increase in confirmed cases recorded in the country and this is as a result of the low testing carried out by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, the agency at the frontline of battling the virus in the country.
As of April 9, Nigeria has 288 confirmed cases of Coronavirus, a 55 per cent increase in the figure recorded at the end previous week (April 2).
There has been a moderate increase in confirmed cases recorded in the country and this is as a result of the low testing carried out by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, the agency at the frontline of battling the virus in the country.
In the last week, the agency has come under intense pressure due to perceived refusal to test average Nigerians with priority given to influential individuals or politicians.
This has also been fuelled by the decision of the agency to stop updating the number of screening and tests it has carried out.
There have been an additional 104 cases in the last one week spread across Lagos, Edo, Osun, Ondo Oyo, Kaduna, Kwara, Rivers, Delta, Katsina, Bauchi States and the Federal Capital Territory.
Of the 104 cases, Lagos recorded the highest number with 60 cases followed by FCT that has 16 cases and Edo with eight cases.
Other cases were recorded in Osun, six cases; Oyo and Bauchi with three cases each; Kwara and Delta have two cases each while Kaduna, Ondo, Rivers and Katsina all had single case each.
While states like Edo, Katsina and Kwara recorded their first cases, other states with high cases enforced lockdown and restriction of movements in a bid to curtail the further spread of the virus.
In enforcing the order, Lagos and Ogun governments began the sharing of relief materials to cushion the effect of the lockdown.
However, in what seems like a reckless move, some state government are beginning to relax the ban on large gatherings.
While these states have only recorded few cases, there exists a fear that the lifting of the ban on social gatherings could lead to the spread of the virus.
The Nigerian Government approved the move for 15 Chinese doctors to be brought into the country to fasten the process of fighting the virus in the country.
The 15 personnel were shipped into the country by and through the singular efforts of the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation.
The medical personnel would be training health workers at the frontline of the battle against COVID-19 and also oversee activities of the health workers.
In preparation for a possible influx of infected persons, the NCDC is overseeing the setting up of new COVID-19 isolation centres.
The agency has also increased the number of tests done in Lagos and Abuja to 2,000 and 1,000 respectively.
On the bright side, over 58 persons have so far been discharged from isolation centres in different parts of the country.