NIGERIA has recorded five new cases of coronavirus, bringing the number of confirmed cases to 51.

This new development was confirmed by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Thursday. In its update, shared on Twitter, NCDC announced that Lagos now has 32 cases of coronavirus, making it the state with the highest number of cases in the country.

The Federal Capital Territory, FCT, has now recorded 10 cases, with one of them linked to the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, who tested positive a few days ago and is currently receiving treatment.

Ogun State has recorded three cases, while Ekiti, Oyo, Edo, Bauchi, Osun and Rivers each has an index case.

The growing cases in Nigeria has raised concerns over an impending outbreak, for which NCDC and health experts maintain the need for citizens to practice social distancing and observe improved personal hygiene to curb the spread of the virus.

To further prevent the spread of the deadly virus which has killed over 20,000 people globally, institutions and examination bodies in the country have shut down operations and postponed services till further notice.

The ICIR earlier reported that the National Examinations Council (NECO) announced the indefinite postponement of the 2020 National Common Entrance Examination in compliance with regulations on COVID- 19, following the gradual spread of the virus in the country.

So far, Nigeria has recorded one death from COVID-19.

Globally, over 300,000 persons have been infected according to World Health Organisation, WHO.

Currently, there is no known cure or vaccine for the virus and the world remains at the level of managing and curtailing the spread of the virus till a solution is found.