For the ninth day in a row, the Nigerian Center for Disease Control (NCDC) recorded no COVID-19-related deaths, bringing the total number of deaths in the country to 2,061.
On Tuesday, the NCDC announced it on its official Twitter account.
According to the Nigerian News Agency (NAN), the country’s last COVID-19-related death occurred on April 11.
Aside from April 11, the number of confirmed deaths in week 14, which was April 6, was two from two states, according to the survey.
Since the outbreak started in week 9, 2020, there have been 2,061 deaths confirmed, with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 1.3 percent, according to NAN.
Since February 27, 2020, the NCDC has performed 1,870,915 COVID-19 tests, with 120 infections recorded as of Tuesday, taking the total number of cases to 164,423.
The additional infections were reported from seven states and the Federal Capital Territory, according to the study (FCT).
“The breakdown of cases is as follows: Enugu-53, Lagos-22, Rivers-18, Ogun-8, FCT-7, Abia-6, Kano-6 and Bauchi-1.
“Today’s report includes data from Enugu recorded between April 14 and April 19,” it said.
The CDC announced that another 22 people had recovered from the virus in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of COVID-19 recoveries to 154,406 since February 27, 2020.
A multi-sectoral National Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) has been enabled at Level 3 to coordinate the country’s national response activities, according to the study.
Since the first case of the disease was reported in Nigeria, the agency said it had continued to lead the national public health response to ensure that Nigerians were safe from the virus.
“Aside from significant control of local transmission, one of the key areas of priority is the institution of public health measures to prevent further importation and exportation of the virus.
“In addition to the already established and widely expanded network of public health laboratories, the NCDC has also optimised testing through enrolment and operationalisation of private testing laboratories for increased accessibility,” it said.
According to the NCDC, this program has resulted in increased testing around the country and a more reliable mechanism for testing inbound and outbound travelers, who are required to test at private facilities.
This, it said, is in accordance with national quarantine protocols and procedures.
The strategies, according to the public health department, have greatly decreased the number of cases that are likely to be imported and exported.
However, some elements in some international airports have recently presented challenges by trading and presenting fake results at departure and arrival halls, according to the study.
“This poses significant danger particularly to travellers with genuine negative results, thereby resulting in further risk of exportation or importation of the disease,” it said.
The Presidential Task Force (PTF) and the Federal Ministry of Health’s Ports Health Service Department launched a result verification framework to resolve the problems and build on the gains achieved, according to the agency (FMOH).
The result verification framework, according to the company, is designed to validate the validity of COVID-19 results by creating a forum for result verification and effectively managing and monitoring the network of private laboratories testing.
Others, according to the department, were to obtain accurate and timely testing data as well as to improve the quality and efficiency of the laboratory testing network by analyzing data provided by this information system.
An significant outcome, according to the study, was the training of airline and international airport personnel to be able to validate results from outbound travelers using a “QR Code and USSD” system based on a result verification system.
This, according to the department, was in line with its mission of maintaining national and global health protection by preventing the virus’s importation and exportation.
It said it will keep using evidence-based public health policies and programs to protect Nigerians from COVID-19 and other epidemic-prone diseases.
However, the Nigerian Center for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) urged Nigerians to follow all COVID-19 recommendations, including travel guidelines.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
