Coronavirus cases in the country increased from 22 on Saturday to 31 on Sunday.

Nigeria Centre for Disease Control on its twitter handle on Sunday, said the cases included 22 in Lagos State, four in Federal Capital Territory, one in Oyo State and one in Ekiti State.

The centre said the two in Ogun State, including the Italian index case, had tested negative and had been discharged.

NCDC stated, “Three new cases of #COVID19 have been confirmed in Lagos, Nigeria. Two cases are returning travellers and one is a contact of a confirmed case. As of 05:28 pm on 22nd of March, there are 30 confirmed cases of #COVID19 in Nigeria. Two have been discharged with no deaths.”

Nigeria recorded its first coronavirus case on February 27 when an Italian was diagnosed with the disease.

On March 19, the cases rose to 12 with most of the affected people being returnees from Europe and the United States.  On Saturday, the cases increased to 22 with Abuja recording its first cases.

As of 11am on Sunday, NCDC said the cases were 27 in the country. It stated that the cases included 19 in Lagos; four in the  FCT;  one in  Ekiti;  one in  Oyo and two in Ogun.

But on Sunday evening, the number increased to 31.

Stay at home, Lagos tells civil servants

Lagos State  Government, as part of efforts to curb the spread of the disease, on Sunday directed civil servants from grade level one to 12 to work from home starting from today (Monday).

The state Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, at a press conference, said the stay-at-home order would last for an initial period of 14 days.

He commended Lagosians, who abided by the state government’s directive that banned a gathering of over 50 people, but warned those who flouted the order.

He stated, “In addition to this directive, I am now also directing all public officers in the entire unified public service from grade level 1 to 12, which constitute about 70 per cent of our workforce, to stay at home from Monday, March 23 for 14 days at the first instance.”

Sanwo-Olu said the directive did not affect medical personnel, members of Lagos State Emergency Management Authority, Lagos State Waste Management Authority and other essential services.

We will shut down clubs, religious groups  violating  our directive – Lagos gov

Warning residents against violating directive on mass gatherings, the governor said, “If it is a facility –  be it an event centre, be it a cinema, a restaurant, a club house or a religious gathering – that does not obverse it, Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency has the power to shut down such a facility.”

Lagos dedicates Mainland Hospital to COVID-19 patients alone

The governor also said other health facilities would be upgraded to support the Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba. “We have evacuated other patients out of that hospital (Lagos Mainland Hospital, Yaba) and so the hospital will be locked down only for the COVID-19 cases alone,” he stated.

Lagos to recall retired doctors, nurses

He also indicated that the state would recall retired medical workers to strengthen the number of personnel needed for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

The governor stated, “As part of our strategies to strengthen our efforts, more health workers are also being trained and we have put some of our retired nurses and doctors on notice. They will come to support health personnel who are working tirelessly at this time.”

Kwara tells workers to stay at home

Also, Kwara State Governor, Mr Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, in a statement on Sunday, directed civil servants in the state to work from their homes.

The governor said, “Aside from Ministry of health and essential workers, all civil servants are to work from home until further notice.

He said all gatherings of more than 25 people  should be discouraged until further notice.”

Punch