Nigerian governor tests positive for COVID-19

By Felix Tih

ANKARA (AA) – Governor of Nigeria’s Ekiti State Kayode Fayemi on Wednesday announced he has tested positive for COVID-19.

Fayemi, who also chairs Nigeria Governors Forum, is the eighth Nigerian governor to test positive for the disease, according to local media.

''I took my third Covid-19 test yesterday and it came back positive. I'm generally ok and I'm already self isolating at home and receiving the best of care from my medical team. I'm delegating critical tasks to my Deputy but will continue routine duty from home,'' he tweeted on Wednesday.

On Sunday, Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffrey Onyeama announced he had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Onyeama is also a member of the coronavirus Presidential Task Force in the country.

According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), 576 more COVID-19 cases and four fatalities were recorded in the country over the past 24 hours.

The overall case count now stands at 37,801, including 15,677 recoveries and 805 deaths, according to the NCDC update.

The number of coronavirus cases in Africa on Wednesday has reached 749,492, with 15,726 deaths and 409,568 recoveries, according to the latest figures released by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Across the world, COVID-19 has claimed over 617,200 lives in 188 countries and regions since emerging in China last December.

Nearly 15 million cases have been reported worldwide, with the US, Brazil, India, and Russia currently the worst-hit countries, according to figures compiled by the US’ Johns Hopkins University.

The data shows more than half of all patients worldwide – over 8.49 million – have recovered so far.