COVID-19: Nigeria crosses the 1000 cases threshold
With a total of 114 new COVID-19 cases uncovered countrywide yesterday, Nigeria now has a total of 1095 confirmed cases of infected persons.
The number of those successfully treated and discharged stood at 208 while the dead stood at 32.
Lagos continues to lead with the number of new cases discovered followed by 114 new cases of #COVID19 have been reported;
The total for Lagos and the other states of the federation is given below:
As at 11:30 pm 24th April:
Lagos-657, FCT – 138, Kano – 73, Ogun – 35, Gombe – 30, Katsina – 21, Osun – 20, Edo – 19,
Oyo-18, Borno – 12,
Kwara-11,
Akwa Ibom-11
Kaduna-10,
Bauchi-8, Delta – 6,
Ekiti-4, Ondo – 3,
Rivers-3, Jigawa – 2,
Enugu-2, Niger – 2,
Abia-2, Zamfara – 2,
Sokoto-2, Benue – 1,
Anambra-1,
Adamawa-1
Plateau-1
Crossing the 1000 threshold raises the spectre of community transmission and calls to question the efficacy or otherwise of the lockdown policy of the Federal and State governments.
The haphazard and disjointed manner the Federal and State governments have implemented and or violated lockdown will now have to come under scrutiny.
So also the various reckless infractions of lockdown by the authorities themselves and the embarrassing way all manner of governmental and non-governmental persons and organisations have gone about distributing palliatives in ways that breach social distancing while helping the spread of the virus.
With a restive population agitating for the suspension of lockdown to stem widespread hunger and sharp rise in criminal activities, figures that point in the direction that community transmission is on the rise is evidence enough that we are not yet out of the woods.
And maybe not very soon!
Innovative and proactive measures by government and the buy-in of the generality of the Nigerian people will be needed to defeat COVID-19.
And soonest, too, before matters get out of hand!
In the finally analysis, quickly finding an effective vaccine against the virus from the rash and rush of researches all over the world may become the saving grace of a flustered world at its wits end.
Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin
President, Centre for Change.
