COVID-19 outbreak cases in Nigeria hits 30, as NCDC confirms 3 new cases

By Abujah Racheal
Abuja, March 22, 2020

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), has said that the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak cases in Nigeria have increased to 30, just as it confirmed three new cases in Lagos State.
The Director-General of NCDC, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja, while giving an update on COVID-19 in the country.
Ihekweazu said that as at 05:28 pm. of March 22, there were 30 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Nigeria, noting that two had been discharged, with no deaths.
He stated that in the three new cases, two were returning travelers and one was a contact of a confirmed case.
He said that the confirmed cases were currently from five states: Lagos – 22; FCT- 4; Ogun – 2; Ekiti – 1 and Oyo – 1, adding that 28 of them were currently receiving treatment.
Ihekweazu said that currently, there were five molecular laboratories in NCDC’s laboratory network, with the capacity to test for COVID-19 in Nigeria.
“Our laboratory teams are working round the clock to ensure rapid testing of samples from suspected COVID-19 cases across the country,” he said.
Ihekweazu said that as the COVID-19 situation in the country evolved, NCDC and government agencies would continue to take necessary measures to protect the health of Nigerians.
NAN reports that NCDC has launched a communication campaign “TakeResponsibility“ to prevent the spread of Coronavirus in the country.
According to the centre, preventing COVID-19 spread requires a whole-of-society approach, calling on Nigerians to “Take Responsibility” for their health.
“It will take collective efforts to share credible information widely across various channels,” it said.