Nigeria's coronavirus infections almost 55, 000

Nigeria on Saturday recorded 156 oronavirus cases, one of the country’s lowest daily tallies in almost four months.

The latest daily figure brings the total number of infections in the country to almost 55, 000.

This is according to an update by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Saturday night.

The update came barely hours after the first international flight landed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos amid fanfare.

The Middle East Airline (MEA), which took off from Beirut, Lebanon, made history as the first international flight to land anywhere in the country since March when Nigerian authorities closed its skies against foreign travels to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The update also came about 48 hours after the night curfew was extended from 12 a.m. to 4 a.m. in the third phase of eased lockdown.

Cases have fallen below 300 for almost two weeks in Africa’s most populous nation.

Nigeria has been riding along a plateau as of late, perhaps an indication that the worst is over even though health experts say it is dangerous to relent.

The number of deaths from the virus has also been minimal.

Three deaths were recorded on Saturday, dragging the total number of deaths from the virus 1, 054.

The 162 new cases were reported in 15 states:

Lagos-53

Gombe-21
Oyo-19
Delta-12
Ondo-11
Plateau-10
Ebonyi-9
FCT-6
Kwara-6
Kaduna-5
Rivers-3
Ogun-2
Anambra-2
Imo-2
Ekiti-1

Lagos, Nigeria’s coronavirus hotspot with over 18,000 infections and 202 deaths, also led in Friday’s tally with 53 new infections.

Gombe and Oyo followed with 21 and 19 new infections respectively.

The NCDC in its daily update of the infection on its verified Twitter handle @NCDCgov, stated that out of the over 54, 905 infections so far, 42, 922 persons have recovered and have been discharged.