Nigeria recorded an additional 170 confirmed COVID-19 cases on the eve of the gradual easing of lockdown imposed on the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Lagos and Ogun states in order to control the spread five weeks ago.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) announced via tweets that the new cases spread across 12 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
A breakdown of the new cases shows that Lagos which announced partial lockdown restriction from today, Monday, May 4, recorded 39 cases while Ogun State, which is under lockdown until May 9, had 24 and the FCT 12. Kano recorded 29; Bauchi 18; Kaduna 15; Sokoto, 12; Katsina, 8; Borno, 7; Nasarawa, 3; Adamawa, 2 and Oyo, 1.
The agency announced 400 recoveries and 87 deaths.
Speaking on television programme yesterday, the director general of NCDC, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu announced that Nigeria was making effort to access Remdesivir from the United States for treatment of COVID-19 patients.
He said the result of the clinical trial of the drug in the US had proved its effectiveness in treating COVID-19 patients.
Ihekweazu, who spoke on Channels Television programme said the experimental drug was at the weekend authorised by the United States regulators for emergency use against COVID-19.
He also said Remdesivir held hope for the treatment of the virus, stressing that he was happy about the clinical trials of the drug because it could be used for emergency treatment of the virus.
He said the NCDC would discuss with regulatory authorities, particularly the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), to speed up the regulatory process for Nigerians to access the drug.
“Remdesivir is the first drug that has shown efficacy. It was tried and it did produce benefits. This one has raised hope. We have to be careful about drugs because many of them have side effects, but I am happy that the clinical trial of Remdesivir is showing a positive result.
“What we now need to do is to gain access to these drugs. It is a difficult process at the moment but we have started the conversation to enable access to Nigerians. We will speak with NAFDAC to speed up the regulatory process so that we can make these drugs available and accessible to Nigerians. So, it is the first step. That is how science works.
“Sometimes, it is slower than we want it to be and we will like it to be. It is the same for vaccines and the same for drugs.”
Commenting on the use of Hydroxychloroquine to treat patients, Ihekweazu said there was no evidence that the drug was effective in treating COVID-19 patients.
With ThisDay report
