By Eseoghene Emuke
Palpable anxiety is now mounting in South South region of Nigeria over the continued increase in the number of COVID-19 cases especially in Edo, Rivers and Delta States.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) confirmed on Monday June 15, 2020 that the region has recorded a total of 1572 confirmed cases.
Cross River is the only state in the region and Nigeria yet to record case of COVID-19 pandemic since the outbreak of the disease in February this year in the country.
Nigeria has recorded a total of 16,658 confirmed cases with South South recording 1572 of the cases.
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NCDC disclosed that a total 96,402 samples have so far been tested.
Lately, the region has been recording spike with Rivers State recording daily tally of 103 cases on Monday.
On Monday also, Edo State recorded 40 cases while Delta had 13 confirmed cases.
According to the figures released by NCDC, Edo is the most infected state with 620 cases of which 150 patients have been discharged and 25 deaths recorded.
The state is currently fourth on the log of states with COVID-19 after Lagos, FCT and Kano.
Edo is closely followed by Rivers State with 592 cases. The state has discharged 222 patients while 23 deaths have been recorded.
Delta is next with 280 confirmed cases. The state has discharged 76 patients while 17 of infected persons have died.
Akwa Ibom State has 48 cases with two deaths and 18 discharged.
Similarly, Bayelsa State which has the lowest number with 32 cases has discharged 28 of the patients while three deaths have been recorded in the state.
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The state currently has one patient at its isolation/treatment centre.
In the last two weeks, the region has recorded more cases despite the interstate restriction of movement and curfew in most parts of the region.
There are fears among residents that the region may continue to record spike in the days ahead owing to the poor compliance and enforcement of the interstate lockdown.
Meanwhile, NCDC on Monday confirmed 573 new cases of the virus in 19 states and the FCT Abuja.
“573 new cases of #COVID19; Lagos-216 Rivers-103 Oyo-68 Edo-40 Kano-21 Gombe-20 FCT-17 Delta-13 Plateau-12 Bauchi-12 Niger-10 Kebbi-9 Ogun-8 Ondo-8 Abia-7 Nasarawa-5 Borno-1 Kwara-1 Benue-1 Anambra-1.
“16,658 confirmed 5,349 discharged 424 deaths”, NCDC’s figures revealed.
