Nigeria’s COVID-19 infections on Thursday crossed 48, 000 with the country reporting 373 fresh cases of the virus. 

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) disclosed this in its latest update about the pandemic.

They take Nigeria’s COVID-19 infections to 48,116 with 34,309 discharged and 966 deaths confirmed from the figure so far.

The cases on Thursday were confirmed in nineteen states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Nigeria’s COVID-19 epicenter, Lagos State, had 69 fresh cases, while Osun and Kaduna states witnessed 40 and 41 infections respectively.

Other states with new cases include Oyo – 40; FCT – 35; Plateau – 22; Rivers – 19; Kano – 17; Ondo – 17; Ogun – 15; Abia – 14; Gombe – 12 and Imo – 9.

Enugu confirmed 7 more infections, Kwara – 6; Delta – 5; Niger – 2; Borno – 1; Bauchi – 1; and Nasarawa – 1.

Although the country had in the wake of the pandemic imposed a lockdown to curb its spread, the government later allowed for the gradual reopening of some sectors to keep the economy afloat.

During a briefing by the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 on Thursday, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, restated the government’s resolve to keeping businesses afloat amid the pandemic.

While noting that the United Kingdom would be going into a recession after its economy suffered a slump in growth by a record 20 percent in the second quarter, he said the Nigerian Government had put in place an Economic Sustainability Plan to prevent such occurrence.

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He said: “I, therefore, urge our businesses to take advantage of the stimulus package to revive and/or boost their businesses. We cannot afford to let our economy slide."

Even though the country has had fewer cases of the virus for weeks running, Mr. Mustapha has called for caution, warning that it should not be “misconstrued for victory” as there is still “a serious battle to be fought.”