The number of confirmed cases of Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Nigeria has risen to 40, as the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) late Monday night confirmed four new cases in the country.
The Centre stated this in a tweet posted on its official Twitter handle: @ncdcgov at exactly 11:02pm.
It added that three of the new cases were in Lagos State while one was confirmed in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
READ: Lagos announces four new cases of Coronavirus, traces 1,300 people
The tweet read: “Four new cases of #COVID19 have been confirmed in Nigeria. 3 are in Lagos State and 1 in FCT. Two of these cases are returning travellers.
“As at 11:00pm on the 23rd of March, there are 40 confirmed cases of #COVID19 in Nigeria. 2 have been discharged with 1 death recorded.
“Currently, Lagos – 28; FCT – 7; Ogun – 2; Ekiti – 1; Oyo – 1; Edo – 1. Total: 40 confirmed cases.”
Daily Trust reports that one of the sons of former Nigerian Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, had tested positive to the coronavirus.
Four new cases of #COVID19 have been confirmed in Nigeria. 3 are in Lagos State and 1 in FCT
Two of these cases are returning travellers
As at 11:00pm on the 23rd of March, there are 40 confirmed cases of #COVID19 in Nigeria. 2 have been discharged with 1 death recorded pic.twitter.com/cR94MO6xnC
— NCDC (@NCDCgov) March 23, 2020
The son, according to the 2019 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has been moved to Gwagwalada Specialist Teaching Hospital in Abuja for treatment and management.
Confirming the number of cases globally, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reports that as at 8:05pm (Nigerian time) on Monday, March 23, there are 332,935 confirmed cases globally, with 14,510 deaths recorded in 190 countries, areas or territories.
Also on Monday, the Nigerian Government immediately closed all land borders and suspended the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting indefinitely amidst the COVID-19 outbreak in the country.
The federal government had earlier warned that things may get worse, saying it will deploy the military and police to enforce social distancing across the country as part of measures to curb the outbreak.