Delta Variant: Community Transmission Worsens, 10 States Record Over 100% Rise In COVID-19 Cases

An analysis by Sunday PUNCH has shown that more than 10 states in Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory have seen over 100 per cent increase in the number of new COVID-19 cases in a four-week period.

This, experts said, signified a rapid community transmission as the Delta variant of the coronavirus ravages over 90 countries of the world, including Nigeria.

The analysis showed some states such as Akwa Ibom, Plateau and recording over 1,000 per cent increase in new cases within the period under consideration.

Sunday PUNCH based its analysis on the number of new cases recorded by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control in its COVID-19 Epidemiological Reports for the first week of July (5-11) and the last week of the same month.

The analysis only considered the number of new cases recorded from July 26-29.

Based on the study of new cases in the first and last weeks of the month, states that saw over 100 per cent increase in the number of new cases include Kaduna, Plateau, Oyo, Ogun, Kano, Akwa Ibom, Ekiti, Jigawa, and the FCT. Others include Edo, Ondo, Osun and Delta states.

In the FCT, the number of new cases in the first week of July was nine while the number was 34 in the fourth week, signifying a 278 per cent increase.

Kaduna State had four new cases in week one and 14 in week four, implying a 250 per cent increase.

Plateau State recorded one new case in week one and 20 in week four, which translates to a 1,900 per cent increase.

Oyo State recorded 10 new cases in week one and 80 in week four, translating to a 700 per cent increase.

Also, Ogun State, which had nine new cases in week one had 20 in the fourth week, signifying a 122 per cent increase.

In Kano State, which recorded one new case in the first week, recorded 20 in the fourth week, translating to a 1,900 per cent increase.

Akwa Ibom State recorded just 10 new cases in week one but recorded 168 new cases in week four, resulting in a 1,580 per cent increase.

Ekiti State recorded four new cases in week one and 29 new cases in week four, translating to a 625 per cent increase.

Jigawa State saw two new cases in week one but 19 new cases in week four, meaning an 850 percentage increase was recorded.

Edo, Ondo, Osun and Delta had zero cases in the first week of July but recorded 17, 10, 9, and 9 new cases respectively in the fourth week of July, signifying a rapid increase in the number of new cases being seen in the states.

However, states like Lagos and Kwara also saw a huge percentage increase in the number of new cases recorded in the first and fourth weeks – at 69 and 67 per cent respectively.

Lagos, which saw 564 new cases in the first week of July, recorded 951 new cases between July 26 and 29.

On the other hand, Kwara, which recorded 12 new cases in week one, saw 20 new cases in the fourth week.

Following the confirmation of the Delta variant of the coronavirus, the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 under the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation had recently placed six states and the FCT on red alert.

The six states are Lagos, Oyo, Rivers, Kaduna, Kano, and Plateau.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation/Chairman, Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, however, warned other states of the federation to increase their level of preparedness and continue to enforce all protocols to guard against the spread of the coronavirus.

The SGF also said the government would sustain the current restrictive measures against travellers from countries including India, Brazil, Turkey and South Africa.

“Following the confirmation of the Delta variant of COVID-19 and the rising number of infections and hospitalisations in the country, the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 (PSC) has put six states and the Federal Capital Territory on red alert as part of the preventive measures against a third wave of the pandemic. The states are Lagos, Oyo, Rivers, Kaduna, Kano, Plateau, and the FCT,” Mustapha said in a statement.

According to the NCDC, a confirmed case of the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 was first reported in Nigeria on July 8, 2021.

The Delta variant, also known as lineage B.1.617.2, was first detected in India and has now been confirmed in over 96 countries, according to the World Health Organisation.

The variant has been classified as a “variant of concern” due to its increased transmissibility.

As of Friday, the agency stated that the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country were 172,821 while the number of discharged cases were 164,940.

Active cases were 5,740 while the number of patients who had died of the coronavirus was 2,141.