Nigeria coronavirus cases rise above 3,000

Nigeria Centre for Disease Control on Wednesay confirmed a total number of 195 new coronavirus cases and five deaths in the last 24 hours.

Nigeria’s populated city Lagos and Kano states have the highest numbers. While Lagos recorded 80 new cases, Kano recorded 30 new cases.

Zamfara State again witnessed a spike with 19 new cases announced while Sokoto recorded 18 new cases.

Borno continue to record more cases as ten new cases were confirmed in the state while Abuja confirmed nine new cases.

Oyo State recorded eight new cases each while Kebbi and Gombe have five new cases each, NCDC also announced four new cases in Ogun State.

Three new cases were found in Katsina while Kaduna and Adamawa had one new case each.

In total, Nigeria has now confirmed 3145 cases of COVID19, discharged 534 persons, while 103 persons have died.

Nigeria began a “phased and gradual” easing of more than four weeks of lockdowns in the national capital and the largest city on May 4, President Muhammadu Buhari said in an address on Monday.

Lagos and Ogun states and the federal capital territory of Abuja entered lockdowns to tame the spread of the new coronavirus on March 30.

Buhari said the lockdowns had come at a “very heavy economic cost,” stripping many citizens of their livelihoods.

“No country can afford the full impact of a sustained lockdown while awaiting the development of vaccines,” Buhari said.

Millions of Nigeria’s 200 million citizens, more than 20 million of whom live in Lagos, live on daily wages, and the lockdown left many without money to buy food.