The World Health Organization has warned Nigeria and other nations against relaxing restrictions that have helped curb the spread of the coronavirus.
This comes after the West African nation and other countries witnessed a decline in new infections.
Nigeria on Monday recorded 574 fresh cases.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), which disclosed this on its Twitter handle, said the new COVID-19 cases were recorded in 20 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
It added that the number of COVID-19 fatalities in Nigeria stood at 1,761 as of Monday night.
Also, the total number of confirmed cases increased to 146,928.
However, Nigeria has recorded 123,009 recoveries since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country last year.
The breakdown of the figure on a state-by-state basis revealed the following: Kwara (98), Lagos (81), Edo (59), Ondo (44), FCT (41), Kano (34), Ogun (33), Kaduna (29), Osun (28), Enugu (23), and Rivers (18).
Others are – Delta (16), Akwa Ibom (15), Bauchi (12), Imo (10), Borno (8), Niger (8), Kebbi (7), Nasarawa (5), Gombe (3), and Ekiti (2).
“Total confirmed COVID-19 cases: 146,928.
“Discharged: 123,009 AND Deaths: 1,761.”
According to WHO’s Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the number of reported infections globally has declined for the fourth week in a row, and the number of deaths also fell for the second consecutive week.
“These declines appear to be due to countries implementing public health measures more stringently,” Tedros said.
“We should all be encouraged, but complacency is as dangerous as the virus itself.
“Now is not the time for any country to relax measures or for any individual to let down their guard, he added.
“Every life that is lost now is all the more tragic as vaccines are beginning to be rolled out.”
While the figures reported by countries to the WHO for the week ending February 8 are still incomplete, the global body said so far about 1.9 million newly confirmed cases were registered worldwide, down from more than 3.2 million the previous week.
Tedros said members of a WHO expert mission who recently visited China to investigate the possible source of the outbreak would publish a summary of their findings next week.
