Nigeria may experience a second wave of Covid-19 pandemic, Director-General, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, has said.
He disclosed this at a media briefing with reporters organised by the National Youth Service Corps(NYSC) today.
The DG said the country must abide by the protocols and guidelines developed to avoid a second wave of the virus.
He warned that the virus was still around and more dangerous despite the drop in recorded cases.
He may not be wrong.
This is because Nigeria on Sunday recorded its highest daily figure of confirmed COVID-19 cases in nearly three months, as the NCDC announced 300 new infections.
With the latest update, the total tally of infected people in the country rose to 64,090.
The new cases were reported from just six states with Lagos bearing the brunt with 255 confirmed cases. The commercial city is Nigeria’s coronavirus hotspot with nearly 22,000 infections, about a third of the country’s total.
The remaining five states are FCT (27), Oyo (10), Kaduna (5), Ondo (2), Kano (1).
Nigeria’s coronavirus daily infection rate had been below 300 for almost three months until Sunday’s figure which will now further fuel repeated concerns by the government and health experts of an imminent second wave.
Nigeria’s new COVID-19 infections have increased in the last two weeks, a review of official data shows, suggesting a possible resurgence in COVID-19 cases after weeks of low numbers.
Last week (November 1-7), the country recorded 937 new cases, a two per cent increase from the previous week’s record of 923 cases which was a 32 per cent an increase from the preceding week.
Some European and American countries that thought they had passed the worst stage of the pandemic are seeing an increase in new cases, raising concerns over a possible second wave with many countries imposing a second round of lockdown.
Both Nigerians and the government appear to be lax about adhering to and enforcing COVID-19 safety protocols lately, a situation health experts fear could trigger a dire outcome if a new wave of the disease eventually comes.
