Some countries in Europe are beginning to report higher cases of COVID-19 infections, fueling serious speculations of imminent lockdowns.

For example, Wisconsin in the US reported its third highest one-day jump in new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday. This comes just hours after a State Judge temporarily blocked an order from the Governor’s administration, limiting the number of people in bars or attending indoor gatherings, in an effort to curb the continued spread of coronavirus in the state.

To curb the second wave of COVID-19 infections in France, the French President Emmanuel Macron has announced a 9pm-6am curfew for Paris and 8 other big French cities from Saturday, in an attempt to curb the rising cases of coronavirus infections that threaten to overwhelm the country’s hospitals, citing that “Our intensive care wards are under unsustainable pressure.”

Italy has surpassed its daily record for newly diagnosed coronavirus cases. Data from the country’s Ministry of Health showed that the number of newly diagnosed daily cases rose to 7,332 on Wednesday, up from 5,901 on Tuesday and surpassing the highest levels seen at the start of the pandemic.

Portugal has declared a national state of emergency and banned groups of more than five from meeting in public, in order to combat what Prime Minister António Costa described as a serious increase in coronavirus infections.

Backstory

Recently, Nairametrics in its COVID-19 update, stated that the spread of the novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Nigeria has continued to record increases. The number of new cases of COVID-19 in the country picked up again, with 225 patients admitted on the 13th of October 2020. This sums up to a total of 60,655 recorded cases to date.

In the past 10 days, a total of 1,368 new cases of COVID-19 have been recorded by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) with a daily average of 137 cases, while active cases have grown to 7,533 as of 13th October 2020. This is an indication of a possible second wave of the pandemic in the country.

The recent spike could be attributed to the erroneous belief by most Nigerians that the pandemic is over and things are back to normal. A belief obviously seen in their actions, as many go about their businesses without the use of face masks or adoption of social distancing, especially by traders and artisans across the country.

Sources reported in August, that Nigeria’s COVID-19 curves were flattening at a rapid pace, this was because of the consistent decline in the number of daily new cases recorded across the country. As of 31st of August 2020, the monthly average had dropped to 350, from 563 recorded in July and 518 in June.

Meanwhile, Nigerians have been totally taken by the #EndSARS movement in recent weeks, which has caused many to assemble in numbers at various cities, protesting with little or no consideration for the transmission of COVID-19, a pandemic that grounded many in their homes for the most part of the year.

What they are saying

The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, in a live broadcast in September, had said that the second wave of COVID-19 is inevitable in Nigeria if citizens do not continue to adhere to measures put in place to contain the viral pandemic.

“We know that as we move towards the reopening of schools, there will be increased opportunity for transmission because students will come together,”

He also added that “We need Nigerians to see that it’s not something any government can do on her own. We see a lot of violation of these measures by institutions that have the capacity to insist on it.”

Meanwhile, the latest COVID-19 report has shown that the most affected age group are between the ages of 31 and 40 years. The disease is more prevalent amongst the male gender, with 64% of the total confirmed cases being male and 36% of the affected patients are female.

What this means

The recent increase in the number of new cases means that the country could be gradually slipping into the second wave of COVID-19, which could throw Nigerians back into lockdown. An action that caused the economy to plunge by as much as 6.1% in the second quarter of the year, with an expected contraction in Q3 2020.

• The recovery from a looming recession could be further hampered if these cases continue to spike and lockdown implemented again.
• Plans for the reopening of higher institutions of learning will also be affected.
• Other aspects of the economy that could suffer significantly from a second wave of the pandemic include aviation, private schools, artisans, and many more.It is important for Nigerians to quickly return to the use of face masks and social distancing, so as to help curb the spread of the pandemic in the country. According to recent numbers, COVID-19 is still very much lurking around.