Chidi Samuel| Abia state on Sunday edged out Lagos from the top position of the country’s daily coronavirus infection table by recording 67 new infections as Nigeria’s tally rose to 12,486.
The Nigeria Centre For Disease Control in a Tweet via its verified twitter handle said 260 new cases were recorded across the country.
According to the health agency, Abia state recorded 67 new cases, FCT 40 and Lagos, the epicentre of the pandemic with 38 cases, a good development for a state that for the second day running recorded lower number of infections.
Other states that recorded new infections include, Ogun 19, Gombe 16, Edo 14, Imo 9, Kwara 8, Katsina 8, Narawa 8, Borbu 8, Kaduna 6, Bauchi 5 and Ekiti 4.
Niger, Ondo, Plateau, Kano and Sokoto recorded 2 cases each.
NCDC further stated that the total number of infections inthe country stand at 12486 with 3959 discharges and 354 deaths.
The tweet read, ”260 new cases of #COVID19;
Abia-67
FCT-40
Lagos-38
Ogun-19
Gombe-16
Edo-14
Imo-9
Kwara-8
Katsina-8
Nasarawa-8
Borno-8
Kaduna-6
Bauchi-5
Ekiti-4
Niger-2
Ondo-2
Plateau-2
Kano-2
Sokoto-2
12486 cases of #COVID19Nigeria”.
Discharged: 3959
Deaths: 354
-Global deaths from virus reaches 400,000
Meanwhile, the confirmed global death toll from the COVID-19 virus reached at least 400,000 fatalities on Sunday, a day after the government of Brazil broke with standard public health protocols by ceasing to publish updates of the number of deaths and infections in the hard-hit South American country.
Worldwide, at least 6.9 million people have been infected by the virus, according to Johns Hopkins University, whose aggregated tally has become the main worldwide reference for monitoring the disease. Its running counter says United States leads the world with nearly 110,000 confirmed virus-related deaths. Europe as a whole has recorded more than 175,000 since the virus emerged in China late last year.
Many governments have struggled to produce statistics that can reasonably be considered as true indicators of the pandemic given the scarcity of diagnostic tests especially in the first phase of the crisis. Authorities in Italy and Spain, with over 60,000 combined deaths, have acknowledged that their death count is larger than the story the numbers tell.
Brazil’s government has stopped publishing a running total of coronavirus deaths and infections; critics say it’s an attempt to hide the true toll of the disease.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro went as far as to tweet on Saturday that his country’s disease totals are “not representative” of Brazil’s current situation, insinuating that the numbers were actually overestimating the spread of the virus.
Critics of Bolsonaro, who has repeatedly clashed with health experts over the seriousness of the disease and has threatened to take Brazil out of the World Health Organization, said the decision was a maneuver by the hardman-style leader to hide the depths of crisis.
Brazil’s last official numbers recorded over 34,000 virus-related deaths, the third-highest toll in the world behind the U.S. and Britain. It reported nearly 615,000 infections, putting it second behind the U.S.
After Bolsonaro stoked his clash with health experts, Pope Francis cautioned people in countries emerging from lockdown to keep following authorities’ rules on social distancing, hygiene and limits on movement.
“Be careful, don’t cry victory, don’t cry victory too soon,” Francis said. “Follow the rules. They are rules that help us to avoid the virus getting ahead” again.
The Argentine-born pontiff has also expressed dismay that the virus is still claiming many lives, especially in Latin America.
With AP report
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