COVID-19: Nigeria Confirms 3rd Wave As Lagos Records Six Deaths Daily

The Nigerian government has declared that the country is currently experiencing the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

On Monday evening, both the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and the health minister, Osagie Ehanire, made the announcement at separate occasions.

Mr Sanwo-Olu further stated that an average of six deaths per day had been reported from the sickness in the country’s commercial capital and coronavirus epicenter since last week.

Mr Ehanire confirmed that, like many other parts of Africa, Nigeria has “begun to record a sharp increase in the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases since the month of July, as global anxiety over the Delta variant spreads,” in his address to the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) national briefing on COVID-19.

He said; “All data indicate that we are now no doubt in the third wave of resurgence of the SARS-COV-2 infection, which we saw coming long ago.”

Mr Sanwo-Olu, in a statement personally signed by him and obtained by PREMIUM TIMES, backed up the minister, saying that despite efforts to prevent the third wave from hitting Nigeria, it has already arrived.

“The third wave is already here with us, as much as we would have wished for a more positive outcome. We do not have a choice than to tackle it. We are no longer inexperienced, as a people, in dealing with the Coronavirus. Eighteen months into the pandemic, we have learnt a lot, we have seen progress and setbacks, we have been able to finetune our strategies and response, and we are now in a good place to ensure that this third wave is the final one. I believe that we can close this pandemic chapter very soon. But we must put in the work, the compliance, the regard for rules and restrictions,” the governor wrote.

Mr Sanwo-Olu stated that since the pandemic’s start in 2020, Lagos has registered a total of 64,032 illnesses, with 56,336 recovering in the community.

However, he emphasized that 2,755 cases are currently being actively managed in the community, while 5,029 patients have been admitted to the state’s various coronavirus care centers.

On the fatality recorded, he said; “We have, sadly, recorded 390 fatalities in Lagos State, 30 of which have taken place in this current 3rd wave of the pandemic. Essentially, we have recorded on average 6 deaths per day since last week.”