Pascal Arogorn Ibe
Nigeria’s daily case count of coronavirus infections dropped to a record low on Sunday with 138 new cases confirmed in 13 states and the federal capital territory (FCT).
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) confirmed the new cases in its update for August 30.
The Sunday figure is the country’s lowest daily count in over four months – the last time the country recorded less than 140 new infections was April 27, when 64 new cases were confirmed.
At the time — two months after Nigeria confirmed its index case of the coronavirus — out of 12,004 samples tested, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases stood at 1,337, out of which 255 recoveries and 40 deaths had been recorded.
However, two months after – on June 27 – as the testing capacity increased, the figure of confirmed positive samples had jumped to 24,077 cases with 8,265 recoveries and 558 deaths.
As of August 27, six months after the index case was confirmed, samples tested had risen to close to 400,000 with 53,317 positive samples, but the country hit a major record as the number of discharged patients crossed the 40,000 mark.
Meanwhile, it is not clear if reduced testing across states is responsible for the drop in the daily case count, although the country has lifted more restrictions, the latest being the opening up of the international air space for commercial flights from September 5, 2020.
After two days of recording no fatalities, two new deaths were confirmed on Sunday, increasing the toll to 1,013, while the number of discharged patients has now increased to 41,513.
A total of 53,865 confirmed cases have now been recorded in 36 states and the FCT.
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