On Tuesday, the number of daily COVID-19 infections in Nigeria fell below 100, marking a sharp decrease from the 132 cases reported on Monday.
The latest figure, 90, one of the lowest in at least six months were recorded in just eight states, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 56, 478, according to Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
The cases reported on Sunday and Monday were 79 and 132 respectively.
Since late July, Nigeria has not reported any daily infection above 500, an indication that the country might have passed the worst stage of its coronavirus pandemic.
The data also suggested that Africa’s most populous nation may be flattening the COVID-19 pandemic curve, although concerns are still rife over the uptick in community transmissions as health experts call for caution.
Meanwhile, five deaths were recorded from COVID-19 complications on Tuesday. While only one fatality was reported on Monday, 13 patients succumbed to the biting effect of the virus on Sunday.
The total death toll of the disease so far is now 1,088.
The new cases, according to the NCDC, were found in the following 8 states: Lagos (33), Plateau (27), Kaduna (17), Ogun (6), FCT (4), Anambra (1), Ekiti (1), Nasarawa (1).
Lagos had the highest number of the new cases on Tuesday with 33 infections to extend its lead on the region with the highest tally.
The commercial city is Nigeria’s COVID-19 hotspot with over 18,000 infections and 205 deaths.
Abuja, Nigeria’s capital is the second most impacted territory, with a total of over 5,000 cases and 74 deaths.
Decline in recovery
Weekly review of official data showed that the figure of 1,166 COVID-19 patients who recovered and were discharged last week is the lowest in three months.
The last time Nigeria recorded such a low figure occurred between June 7 and 13 when 1,239 patients recovered and were discharged that week.
At that time, the country recorded less than 16,000 confirmed infections and was managing 10,174 active cases of COVID-19 in isolation centres across all states and the FCT.
Currently, there are still almost 11, 000 active cases in Nigeria while about 44, 430 patients have recovered and have been discharged across the country’s 36 states and Abuja, the capital.
Last week’s low record might not be evidence of poor management but as a result of the drastic reductions in the tally of new COVID-19 infections in Nigeria in the last three weeks, which consequently affected the number of active cases, our checks showed.
Analysis further showed that the death rate has been fluctuating in the past month.
Last week, 24 persons died of COVID-19 complications. A total 43 persons died from the virus the previous week while 14 deaths were recorded in the preceding week.
Meanwhile, over 440, 000 of Nigeria’s 200 million people have been tested thus far.