Nigeria has recorded its first COVID-19 death.

The case was confirmed by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control on its Twitter handle @NCDCgov said Monday that the five new cases were confirmed in Abuja, Lagos and and Edo states.

"The case was a 67 year old male who returned following a medical procedure in UK. He had underlying medical conditions- multiple myeloma & diabetes, and was undergoing chemotherapy. Our thoughts are with the families," it confirmed.

Nigeria has now confirmed five new cases of COVID-19 which brings the total number of confirmed cases to 35.

A breakdown of the new cases shows that two were confirmed in Abuja, two in Lagos and one in Edo.

Lagos currently has the highest cases with 24, Abuja has six, Ogun has recorded two cases, while Ekiti, Oyo and Edo have one each.

Two of the new cases were reported in travellers who recently returned from the UK.

The son of an opposition leader Atiku Abubakar, is believed to be one of the two new cases confirmed in Abuja.

"As at 09:45 am on 23rd March, there are 35 confirmed cases of #COVID19 in Nigeria. 2 have been discharged

Currently;
Lagos- 24
FCT- 6
Ogun- 2
Ekiti- 1
Oyo- 1
Edo- 1

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As cases continue to soar in the country, the Director General, NCDC, Chikwe Ihekweazu, has blamed the increasing transmission on Nigerians returning from high risk countries refusing to self isolate as directed.

He said owners of private companies should allow non-essential staff to work from home and encourage Nigerians to take personal responsibility by observing social distancing and quick reporting.

He said Nigerians should brace themselves as more Covid-19 cases will be reported in the country.

Mr Ihekweazu said NCDC will also be providing daily briefings in addition to real time release of information to ensure Nigerians are adequately informed.

He explained that the primary containment strategy is to identify all cases and follow up on all their contacts.

“Following up contacts have been difficult, the contacts are followed up by phone calls,” he said.