The coronavirus pandemic has been the leading news item for most of 2020, and it looks like it’s not going anywhere for 2021. Every day, there is a new influx of COVID-19 patients and casualties in Nigeria, and here are the latest coronavirus updates in Nigeria you should know about.
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1. Total cases and deaths
Since the beginning of the pandemic, over 85,500 people have been diagnosed with the coronavirus. Over 71,000 have recovered from the disease, while over 1,200 people have died from COVID-19. The overall number of COVID-19 tests carried out in the country since spring is over 925,000. Throughout December, there were, on average, between 600 and 900 COVID-19 cases diagnosed every day with a few exceptions when there were over 1,000 cases diagnosed on a single day.
Out of all patients diagnosed with the coronavirus, over 28,000 of them are from the Lagos State. More than 11,000 patients are from Abuja and the FCT, almost 5,000 are from the Kaduna state, over 4,500 cases were diagnosed in Plateau state, and almost 4,000 cases have been found in Oyo state.
2. New COVID-19 variant
Last week, it was reported that a new COVID-19 variant was found in Nigeria, right after two new variants of the coronavirus were found in the UK and South Africa. Unlike those two new variants, the Nigerian strain is not believed to be more contagious than the strains we were currently dealing with. However, there has been a nearly 50% surge in new cases, although it’s not clear whether it is linked to the new strain. The researchers working on the new COVID-19 strain warn that the research is still in its early stages, so while there is no need to panic, Nigerians should exercise the usual precautionary measures.
Read more: Most Important Lessons From The COVID-19 Pandemic
3. Vaccine
Closer to the end of 2020, the world has received uplifting news that several types of the coronavirus vaccine are at their final testing stages and will soon become available for purchase. People have a different stance on receiving the vaccine so early after its development, but still, millions of Nigerians are wondering: where will they be able to receive their shots?
Read more: The No.1 Warning Sign That You Have Coronavirus
According to a committee that was set up specifically to manage the various aspects of the coronavirus vaccination in Nigeria, the country expects to receive its first batch of doses in January of 2021. At the moment, it’s not clear which type of the vaccine Nigeria will go for: the committee is considering different options to find the one that works best for the citizens. The government has announced its intention to purchase 20 million doses for the first stage of the vaccination process.
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