Coronavirus: Nigeria records 16 new cases in 5 states

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has announced 16 new cases of coronavirus in Nigeria.

The agency announced late on Tuesday, April 7, 2020, that 10 new cases have been recorded in Lagos, while two new cases have been recorded in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, and two in Oyo State.

Oyo governor, Seyi Makinde, had earlier announced that the two cases are one 28-year-old woman who returned to the country from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in March, and a 42-year-old man who is a contact of an earlier confirmed case.

Delta and Katsina recorded their first cases on Tuesday with one each. The Katsina case had earlier been announced by the state governor, Aminu Bello Masari.

The case was identified as Dr Aminu Yakubu, a Daura-based doctor who died three days after returning to the state from Lagos.

A laboratory test confirmed that he was infected, and that he also had underlying illnesses such as hepatitis and hypertension.

The private medical practitioner is the sixth person in Nigeria who has died after testing positive for coronavirus.

The new cases have raised Nigeria's total number of confirmed coronavirus cases to 254 in Lagos (130), FCT (50), Osun (20), Oyo (11), Edo (11), Bauchi (6), Akwa Ibom (5), Kaduna (5), Ogun (4), Enugu (2), Ekiti (2), Rivers (2), Kwara (2), Benue (1), Ondo (1), Delta (1), and Katsina (1).

Tuesday's statistics also show that a total of 44 people have recovered and been released since Monday's announcement when the figure was 35. Seven of the newly-recovered patients were discharged in the FCT.

FCT Minister, Muhammad Bello, said the capital city's medical team is working hard to ensure the recovery and discharge of the remaining patients.