COVID-19 Confirmed Cases Rise by 50 to 373 in 24 Hours

• COVID-19 Confirmed Cases Rise by 50 to 373 in 24 Hours

COVID-19 confirmed cases rose by 50 in about 24 hours as the Federal Government of Nigeria intensified efforts at testing more people.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) had reported 20 new cases on Monday, April 13, 2020 at exactly 09.50 pm Nigerian time to take the total number of confirmed cases to 343.

On Tuesday, the NCDC reported another 30 confirmed cases before quickly pulling that post down @NCDCgov on Twitter in a move that suggests the centre fears a high number of new confirmed cases could trigger a nationwide panic at a period Nigerians are already complaining and calling for relief payment via Bank Verification Number. Also, this suggests that the number could be even higher than being reported and raised the probability of the Federal Government extending the lockdown once again.

The centre later announced 19 cases at exactly 0.9:20 pm on Tuesday to take the total number of confirmed cases to 362.

Two hours later, NCDC announced another eleven new confirmed cases at 11:00 pm on Tuesday to confirm our initial thoughts that the NCDC splits the number to allay fear.

“Eleven new cases of #COVID19 have been reported in Lagos State,” the NCDC stated on Twitter. “As at 11:00 pm 14th April there are 373 confirmed cases of #COVID19 reported in Nigeria. 99 have been discharged with 11 deaths.”

Lagos total confirmed case now 214. Followed by FCT- 58; Osun- 20; Edo- 15; Oyo- 11; Ogun- 9; Bauchi- 6; Kaduna- 6; Akwa Ibom- 6; Katsina-5; Kwara- 4; Kano- 4; Ondo- 3; Delta- 3; Enugu- 2; Ekiti- 2; Rivers-2; Benue- 1; Niger- 1 and Anambra- 1.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund, in its World Economic Outlook; April 2020, projected that Nigeria’s economy could contract by 3.4 percent this year as COVID-19 negative impact weighs on Africa’s largest economy.