Lock down speculations, as Nigeria’s COVID-19 Cases Cross 40,000

Nigeria has now confirmed more than 40,000 COVID-19 cases, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

Since February 27 when the first case of the virus was confirmed in Nigeria, the country has witnessed a steady rise in infections despite efforts to curtail its spread.

Late on Sunday, the NCDC confirmed an additional 555 cases and two deaths, lifting total infections in the country to 40,532 and fatalities to 858 from Friday’s figures of 39,977 and 856, respectively.

Data from the centre shows that Lagos had 156, followed by Kano, Ogun, and Plateau with 65, 57, and 54 cases.

Others are Oyo – 53, Benue – 43, FCT – 30, Ondo – 18, Kaduna – 16, Akwa Ibom – 13, Gombe – 13, Rivers – 12, Ekiti – nine, Osun – eight, Cross River – three, Borno – two, Edo – two, and Bayelsa – one.

With daily infections in the country now averaging more than 500 cases added to repeated complaints about people across states failing to comply with protocols, there have been concerns about the effectiveness of current measures to tackle the pandemic and speculations that the Federal Government may have to impose tougher measures, including re-imposing lockdowns