Nigeria’s COVID-19 infections top 51,000 as WHO says pandemic could be over within two years

Chidi Samuel| Nigeria recorded 340 new cases of the novel coronavirus, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said on Friday night

According to the data released by the health agency via its verified Twitter handle, the new cases were recorded in 17 states and the FCT.

Kaduna for the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic in February reported the highest number of cases with 63, followed by the FCT with 51 and Plateau with -38.

Other states with new infections include, Lagos-33, Delta-25, Gombe-21, Adamawa-21, Edo-20, Katsina-17, Akwa Ibom-11, Ekiti-10, Rivers-9, Ondo-5, Ebonyi-4, Cross River-3, Ogun-3, Sokoto-2, Imo-2, and Nasarawa-2.

The NCDC further stated that Friday’s infections bring the country’s total caseload to 51,304 with 37,885 recoveries and 997 fatalities.

-Coronavirus pandemic could be over within two years – WHO

Meanwhile, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) says he hopes the coronavirus pandemic will be over in under two years.

Speaking in Geneva on Friday, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the Spanish flu of 1918 took two years to overcome.

But he added that current advances in technology could enable the world to halt the virus “in a shorter time”.

“Of course with more connectiveness, the virus has a better chance of spreading,” he said.

“But at the same time, we have also the technology to stop it, and the knowledge to stop it,” he noted, stressing the importance of “national unity, global solidarity”.

The deadly flu of 1918 killed at least 50 million people.

The coronavirus has so far killed almost 800,000 people and infected 22.7 million more.

Dr Tedros also responded to a question about corruption relating to personal protective equipment (PPE) during the pandemic, which he described as “criminal”.

“Any type of corruption is unacceptable,” he answered.

“However, corruption related to PPE… for me it’s actually murder. Because if health workers work without PPE, we’re risking their lives. And that also risks the lives of the people they serve.”

Although the question related to allegations of corruption in South Africa, a number of countries have faced similar issues.

Also on Friday, a number of countries announced their highest numbers of new cases in months.

South Korea recorded 324 new cases – its highest single-day total since March.

A number of European countries are also seeing rises.

Poland and Slovakia both announced record new daily infections on Friday, with 903 and 123 cases respectively, while Spain and France have seen dramatic increases in recent days.

As with its previous outbreak, the new infections have been linked to churches, and museums, nightclubs and karaoke bars have now been closed in and around the capital Seoul in response.

With agency reports