TheCable

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has confirmed 245 new cases of COVID-19 in the country.

The agency made the announcement on Monday night via its Twitter handle.

Nigeria has now recorded a total of 2,802 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in 34 states and the federal capital territory (FCT).

245 new cases of #COVID19;

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76-Lagos
37-Katsina
32-Jigawa
23-Kano
19-FCT
18-Borno
10-Edo
9-Bauchi
6-Adamawa
5-Oyo
5-Ogun
1-Ekiti
1-Osun
1-Benue
1-Niger
1-Zamfara

2802 confirmed cases of #COVID19 in Nigeria
Discharged: 417
Deaths: 93 pic.twitter.com/IkHR3dpcVV

— NCDC (@NCDCgov) May 4, 2020

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Seventeen more persons were discharged, bringing the total to 417 recoveries, while the number of fatalities increased from 87 to 93.

Earlier on Monday, at the presidential task force on COVID-19 briefing, Chikwe Ihekweazu, director-general of the NCDC, expressed concerns about a possible explosion in the number of cases.

According to him, this could happen if Nigerians continue to flout physical distancing guidelines as witnessed in different cities on Monday, following a partial relaxation of the lockdown earlier declared on Lagos, Ogun and the FCT.

TheCable had reported that many residents openly disregarded physical distancing in banks and buses, thereby risking a possible spread of COVID-19 infections.

“Yes, we knew today would be a problem because for the first time, people were let out of their homes but now they are out and we have seen the sunlight again, the challenge for us as a society is how do we now organise ourselves to mitigate these risks and limit transmission?” he said.

“We might have a few extra infection today and tomorrow but what we don’t want is an explosion of new infections. If we do have that infection, there will be almost no choice left for the leadership of the country than to ask all of us to go back into our homes. So for the benefit of coming out to reopen parts of the economy, there is a price to pay which is to reorganise ourselves to do this safely.”