NCDC says weddings, burials to resume as COVID-19 cases hit 27,110

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has said the conduct of wedding and burial ceremonies may resume soon, TopNaija reports.

NCDC Director-General, Chikwe Ihekweazu, gave the hint while speaking at the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 on Thursday.

Ihekweazu, however, insisted that guidelines on mass gatherings have not been relaxed.

“We may also restart the funeral activities that we have postponed for months, start the weddings, wine carryings, birthing, baptisms that we have postponed for months.

“Yes, it’s important to do these things and the interstate travel will allow us to do this but remember we haven’t relaxed the guidelines of mass gatherings,” he said.

Meanwhile, for the first time in weeks, the number of persons discharged in one day exceeded the figure of new cases recorded across the country.

This is the highest rate of recoveries recorded in Nigeria with 649 people discharged within 24 hours. The new figure was given by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in its update for July 2, 2020.

Published just before midnight on Thursday, the update showed that 626 new samples tested positive for the coronavirus in 19 states and the federal capital territory (FCT).

Thirteen more people were confirmed to have died of COVID-19 complications on Thursday. Out of a total of 27,110 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in 35 states and the FCT, 10,801 patients have recovered while 616 deaths have occurred.