18th March, 2020
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
Nigeria has recorded five new coronavirus cases, jacking up the national total to eight.
Minister of Health, Prof. Osagie Ehanire on his Twitter handle on Wednesday, said he regretted to announce the five new cases of Coronavirus in the country.
He said the government has intensified contact tracing for these cases to control the risk of spread and that the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, was already supporting the response efforts.
”I regret to announce the confirmation of 5 new #COVID19 cases in #Nigeria bringing the total no. of confirmed cases to eight.
“We have intensified contact tracing for these cases to control the risk of spread and
@NCDCGov is already supporting the response efforts,” he said.
Later, Lagos State confirmed four of the new cases, while Ekiti claimed the fifth.
The rise in Coronavirus cases might not be unconnected with government’s travel ban imposed on 13 countries, including the US, UK, Italy, China and others on Wednesday.