Nigeria’s coronavirus cases hit 174 as Akwa Ibom record first five cases

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has announced 23 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total cases in Nigeria to 174.

In a tweet via its handle on Wednesday evening, the agency gave a breakdown as nine in Lagos, seven in the federal capital territory (FCT), five in Akwa Ibom, one in Kaduna and one in Bauchi.

“As at 08:00 pm 1st April there are 174 confirmed cases of #COVID19 reported in Nigeria. Nine have been discharged with two deaths,” the tweet read.

Twenty-three new cases of #COVID19 have been reported in Nigeria; 9 in Lagos, 7 in the FCT, 5 in Akwa Ibom, 1 in Kaduna and 1 in Bauchi State

As at 08:00 pm 1st April there are 174 confirmed cases of #COVID19 reported in Nigeria. Nine have been discharged with two deaths pic.twitter.com/Wy9MzX1lsr

— NCDC (@NCDCgov) April 1, 2020

At a media briefing earlier on Wednesday, Chikwe Ihekweazu, director-general of NCDC, had said the cases were expected to rise as a result of the increase in capacity to test patients.

Nigeria’s capacity to test for COVID-19 increased after Jack Ma, Chinese billionaire, donated some kits.

Also speaking at the briefing, Osagie Ehanire, minister of health, said over 2,000 people have been tested for coronavirus.

“As of now, well over 2,000 persons have been tested with the hope of further expanding and improving diagnostic capacity across the board to shorten turnaround time and increase the volume,” he said.

“Since this week, two more laboratories were added to the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control network of the molecular laboratories for COVID-19 at University College Ibadan and Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, increasing our test sites to seven, to start scaling up testing capacity with the hope of further increase when human resources are mobilised for round-the-clock shift duty.

“As part of preparedness in the Abuja metropolis, we have over 1,000-bed spaces ready for isolation and treatment of mild to moderate cases, which we can expand if the need arises.”