The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has announced that 1,145 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 1 death were recorded in Nigeria yesterday, taking the total number to 76,207 confirmed cases and 1,201 deaths.
This represents the highest number of daily cases recorded since the outbreak. A 23.1% increase compared to the initial record 930 cases recorded yesterday.
The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 said there were indications that the country had entered the second wave of infections.
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Boss Mustapha, the chairperson of the PTF and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), lamented the risk of not just losing the gains from the hard work of the last nine months, but also losing precious lives of citizens.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the PTF’s concerns were being expressed ahead of next week’s submission of its end of term report to the President on December 22, 2020.
Speaking at the national briefing on Thursday, the PTF chairperson, who was represented by the Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, said: “the events and statistics of the last two weeks, within and outside Nigeria, have been very mixed.”
“On the one hand, the cheering news of the COVID-19 vaccine, while on the other hand, we have witnessed spikes in the number of infections at home and abroad.”
“The real threat is upon humanity and the progress made in the global health sector in the last five decades or more.”
”In Nigeria, the indication is that we have entered a second wave of infections and we stand the risk of not just losing the gains from the hard work of the last nine months but also losing the precious lives of our citizens.”
Mr Mustapha further stated: “we are in a potentially difficult phase of the COVID-19 resurgence; accessing the hope offered by the arrival of the vaccine is still some time ahead.”
”Vaccines alone cannot cure the virus, rather, but a combination of initiatives, including the NPIs; that more than ever before, we need compliance.”
The recent increase in the number of COVID-19 cases is alarming and a call for immediate action. So far in December, the average monthly cases jumped by 224.6% from an average of 157 cases recorded in November to stand at 509 cases in December
Compared to an average of 129 cases recorded in October, it has grown by over 294% in December. The discovery of a COVID-19 vaccine has seen many take the pandemic as a mere sickness that can be easily treated, which has reduced the fear of the disease nationwide.