…23,298 cases recorded nationwide
The Lagos and Osun states’ governments have categorically threatened to reinstate lockdown if citizens fail to abide by the directives of safety measures.
According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), fresh 684 COVID-19 cases were recorded in 18 states and the Federal Capital Territory on Friday June 26. This, however, brought the total number to 23,298.
Although 8,253 patients were said to have been discharged after recovering, 554 patients died of the virus.
The NCDC also divulged that Lagos, Oyo, and Katsina had the highest number of cases at 259; 76 and 69. Delta and Rivers had 46; Ogun, 23; Edo, 22; Osun, 22; and Ebonyi, 21.
FCT had 20; Kaduna, 16; Ondo, 10; Imo, 9; and Abia, 9. Gombe had 5; Plateau, 4; Bauchi, 4; Ekiti, two; and Anambra, one.
Following the increase in cases, Lagos and Osun state governments threatened fresh lockdowns if the citizens failed to abide by the laid down directives – social distancing and wearing of face masks in public.
The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, said even though the state had been able to draw a balance between the public health crisis and ensuring livelihoods were not in jeopardy, the government would not hesitate to impose another lockdown if things got out of hands.
His words: “We believe we are managing a delicate balance between the public health crisis and the economic livelihood of Lagosians. If things are getting out of hand, we will certainly consider another lockdown.”
Abayomi further said that the state was yet to reach the peak. “Cases would continue to rise in the next one or two months,” he said.
“We are in the middle of the outbreak and we have not even peaked yet, and so the cases are still rising. We still expect to see a lot more cases in the next one month or two.”
He further reminded Lagosians that they have not yet peaked and the state is still going through the active community transmission of COVID-19.
His words: “I think what may be giving you a false sense of security or confidence is that we say most people have mild to moderate disease. While that may be so, between three and five per cent of Lagosians that catch this infection have an extremely severe to critical form of COVID-19 and the risk of dying in that percentage is extremely high.”
He continued that two to five per cent may seem like a small percentage, but even one per cent of 25 million people is a lot of Lagosians. We are not prepared to lose 250,000 Lagosians and we certainly will not even like to contemplate that number.
