Nigeria confirms eight new cases of coronavirus, total now 89

Nigeria’s National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Saturday confirmed eight new cases of coronavirus in the country, bringing the total to 89.

“As at 04:00 pm 28th March there are 89 confirmed cases of #COVID19 reported in Nigeria with 1 death,” NCDC tweeted.

Seven of the new cases are in Lagos while the remaining one is in Benue State.

Currently, Lagos has 59 cases with three discharged. Abuja has 14 confirmed cases. Ogun and Oyo State both have three cases.

Enugu, Edo and Bauchi State all have two cases each while Osun, Ekiti, Rivers and Benue State have all recorded one case each.

Saturday makes it a month since Nigeria confirmed its first case of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Lagos State on Thursday, February 28.

The first index case, an Italian businessman, and two other persons have since been discharged.

The Nigerian Government has announced different measures to curb a further spread of the virus in the country.

Many states have banned interstate travels and have closed schools while scaling down activities in government offices.

Airports in the country are currently closed to all international flights after it initially placed a travel restriction on 15 countries with a high prevalence of coronavirus.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, March 26, ordered an immediate release of a 5 billion Naira special intervention fund to the NCDC to equip, expand and provide personnel to its facilities and laboratories across the country.

A N10 billion grant was also released to Lagos State, which is the hardest-hit state in Nigeria.