Over half of Nigeria’s COVID-19 cases recorded after easing of lockdown

Nigeria recorded more than half of its total confirmed COVID-19 cases within two weeks of easing the lockdown.

President Muhammadu Buhari had declared a lockdown in Lagos, Ogun and Abuja for a period of five weeks in order to check the spread of the disease.

But the lockdown was eased for two weeks from May 4 following a presidential directive.

This led to the partial reopening of the economy and the movement of persons within the mentioned states and the federal capital territory.

However, data from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) shows that the country recorded more than half of its total confirmed cases after the lockdown was eased.

Prior to the easing of the lockdown, Nigeria recorded 2,558 cases as of May 3.

The country also had on record, 400 discharged patients and 87 deaths.

Lagos, Kano, FCT, Gombe, Borno, Kaduna and Ogun made the top seven states with the highest number of cases as of the time.

170 new cases of #COVID19;

39-Lagos
29-Kano
24-Ogun
18-Bauchi
15-Kaduna
12-FCT
12-Sokoto
8-Katsina
7-Borno
3-Nasarawa
2-Adamawa
1-Oyo

2558 confirmed cases of #COVID19 in Nigeria
Discharged: 400
Deaths: 87 pic.twitter.com/oy3zTQ1hAy

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— NCDC (@NCDCgov) May 3, 2020

But two weeks after the lockdown was eased, the country recorded a spike in the number of cases from 2,558 to 5,959.

The figures have not only risen, the daily toll has also increased.

It should, however, be noted that COVID-19 test results take between one to five days to come back in. This means some of the numbers within the latter two-week period were tested during the lockdown.

On May 7, Nigeria recorded its highest daily toll with 381 confirmed cases, but the record now appears to be short-lived as 338 COVID-19 cases were confirmed on Sunday.

Although, the country has discharged 1,594 patients, 182 persons have died from the disease.

Lagos, Kano, FCT, Katsina, Bauchi, Borno and Jigawa are now the top seven on the list of 34 states and the federal capital territory with the highest number of COVID-19 cases.

338 new cases of #COVID19;

177-Lagos
64-Kano
21-FCT
16-Rivers
14-Plateau
11-Oyo
9-Katsina
4-Jigawa
4-Kaduna
3-Abia
3-Bauchi
3-Borno
2-Gombe
2-Akwa Ibom
2-Delta
1-Ondo
1-Kebbi
1-Sokoto

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5959 cases of #COVID19 in Nigeria
Discharged: 1594
Deaths: 182 pic.twitter.com/1nC9HjskN3

— NCDC (@NCDCgov) May 17, 2020

Compared to the data of May 3, Nigeria recorded an additional 3,401 cases during the two weeks the lockdown was eased. 1,194  patients recovered from the disease during the period, while 95 deaths were recorded.

Ghana had a similar record with more than 1,000 additional cases of COVID-19, 10 days after lifting its three-week lockdown.

The ministry of health and the NCDC attributed the rise in the number of confirmed cases in Nigeria to increased community transmission and improved testing capacity.

Buhari will address the nation on Monday following the end of the first phase of the lockdown relaxation.