Coronavirus Cases In Nigeria Hit 40 As Govt Urges Workers To Stay At Home
Nigeria confirmed four additional cases of the novel coronavirus on Monday night to record 40 cases in total.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said three of the new cases were in Lagos state while one was discovered at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
“Four new cases of #COVID19 have been confirmed in Nigeria. 3 are in Lagos State and 1 in FCT,” the NCDC tweeted late Monday night.
“Two of these cases are returning travellers
“As at 11:00pm on the 23rd of March, there are 40 confirmed cases of #COVID19 in Nigeria. 2 have been discharged with 1 death recorded.”
Breakdown of cases by states (as of Monday):
Lagos – 28
FCT – 7
Ogun – 2
Ekiti – 1
Oyo – 1
Edo – 1
The NCDC had earlier on Monday confirmed the country’s first death from Covid-19.
The deceased, Suleiman Achumugu, a former managing director of the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), died at 2am on Monday, according to the health agency.
Achumugu, 67, had recently returned from a medical trip to the United Kingdom after which he exhibited symptoms of the virus.
More than 341,000 people have contracted Covid-19 worldwide and at least 14,700 have died, according to a tally by John Hopkins University.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has advised residents of Lagos and Abuja to stay indoors in a bid to curb the spread of the virus.
“All Abuja and Lagos residents are strongly advised to stay at home, avoid mass congregation of any kind as well as non-essential outings, until further advice is given,” Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, said at a press briefing in Abuja.
The Nigerian leader also suspended the weekly Federal Executive Council meetings until further notice.
Furthermore, the president, who took the decision on the recommendation of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on Coronavirus, also approved the postponement of the meeting of Council of State.
It was also agreed that all land borders that have been hitherto under partial closure should now be closed to human traffic for four weeks effective from the 23rd of March, 2020.