In spite of the low infections recorded for the second week in a row, at least 43 persons died of COVID-19 complications last week,
This is a sharp contrast to the 14 persons who died the penultimate week.
For four weeks, the weekly figure has been fluctuating. In the first week of August, the cases reduced, followed by a week of increase and two weeks of reduction.
Last week marked the 36th week of the pandemic in Nigeria. A total of 1,822 new infections were recorded in the previous week (August 23 – 29), Nigeria recorded 1,179 new cases in the past week (August 30 – September 5) compared to the 3,137 cases recorded from August 16 to 22.
In the last four months, the lowest daily figure of confirmed cases (125) was reported on September 3, 2020.
The Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 explained that the recent reduction in the cases does not mean the country has passed the peak of the pandemic but it is as a result of low testing and collection of samples recorded in some states.
Data from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) showed that 20,031 tests were conducted last week while 24,047 samples were tested the previous week which shows there is a reduction.
So far, Nigeria has tested 422,100. 54,905 cases have been confirmed, 42,922 recoveries and 1,054 deaths.
It was reported that fewer people recovered from the disease last week and more deaths were recorded.
A total of 1,678 people recovered from the virus and were discharged last week compared to the 2,547 persons discharged in the previous week which shows there is a reduction.
Also, 43 deaths were reported last week compared to the 14 deaths of the previous week.
The Chairman of the Presidential Task Force, Boss Mustapha, urged caution and vigilance on the declining numbers as he noted that the virus is still potent and very dangerous.
“This position is informed by the fact in spite of our enhanced testing capacity, the numbers of samples collected for testing have not been encouraging, while we intensify our targeted testing strategy, we still urge the states to expand the scope of their sample collection,” he said.
