Covid-19: WHO worried over community spread in West Africa as Nigeria surpasses 2,000 record with 238 new cases
London, May 2, 2020 (AltAfrica)-The World Health Organization has expressed deep worried about the rate of community spread of covid-19 in West Africa same day Nigeria’s Coronavirus cases surpass 2,000, with 238 new infections
Expressing his deepest concern, the regional head of the organization, Matshidiso Moeti said told reporters on Friday that “We are very concerned about West Africa where we are seeing community spread in a significant number of countries.”
West Africa has confirmed almost 10,000 cases with over 200 deaths but most of the cases are local infections, according to the WHO.
Moeti said “In terms of the situation in Africa, we are continuing to see an increase in cases.
The new infection figures released by the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, Nigeria now has 2,170 confirmed cases of Coronavirus.
238 new cases of #COVID19;
— NCDC (@NCDCgov) May 1, 2020
92-Kano
36-FCT
30-Lagos
16-Gombe
10-Bauchi
8-Delta
6-Oyo
5-Zamfara
5-Sokoto
4-Ondo
4-Nasarawa
3-Kwara
3-Edo
3-Ekiti
3-Borno
3-Yobe
2-Adamawa
1-Niger
1-Imo
1-Ebonyi
1-Rivers
1-Enugu
2170 confirmed cases of #COVID19 in Nigeria
Discharged: 351
Deaths: 68 pic.twitter.com/0sWoV3sATV
The virus is seriously spiking in Kano, which recorded 92 new cases, with Abuja having 36 cases and Lagos, 30 cases.
Kano, with 92 new infections has broken the record set by Lagos as the state with the highest number of daily infections. Lagos previous has 87, which has been the highest recorded in a single day.
The virus has also increased in Abuja, with 36 new cases, with Lagos having 30 and Gombe posting 16 fresh cases, while Bauchi ramps up another 10 new infections.
Delta has eight new infections; Oyo, six; Zamfara and Sokoto, five each; Ondo and Nasarawa, four cases each; Kwara, Edo, Ekiti, Borno and Yobe have three new cases each, with Adamawa, two cases; while Niger, Imo, Ebonyi, Rivers and Enugu have one case each.
What excites the WHO though is that many countries in Africa are putting “in place some early measures, starting with testing & contact tracing, which have produced some results,” according to Moeti.
But some of the West African nations have started easing lockdown measures with Ghana taking the lead weeks ago.
The WHO regional head however said “I’d just like to say that… These are not easy decisions to make at the political and policy level. There is always a need to balance.
Responding effectively to the #COVID19 pandemic means making tough decisions. Political leaders have to strike a balance between actions to control the pandemic & the impact of the measures on the lives of their people & national economies. pic.twitter.com/SwGIPKS9mk
— Dr Matshidiso Moeti (@MoetiTshidi) April 30, 2020
Moeti said “We encourage very much the use of data, so that when a government decides not to lockdown a city, they need to be aware that there will be consequences in terms of the spread of the virus.”
“We hope that these decisions are made taking into account the balance between enabling economies & stopping the spread of a pandemic that can have profound consequences,” she added.
But again Moeti said “We are very concerned with the vulnerability of people living in conflict conditions, refugee camps & migrants… which is the case with many people in the Sahel countries. We are working closely with partners to serve these people.”
