Nigeria COVID-19 Data

COVID-19 is a family of viruses that can cause illness such as the common cold, Severe Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). Coronaviruses are important agents of gastrointestinal disease in humans, poultry and bovines. On Thursday, 27th February 2020, Nigeria recorded her first confirmed case of the dreaded disease when an Italian man tested positive for the virus [8]. On 9th of March 2020, a second case of the virus was reported in Ewekoro, Ogun State. The second infected person is a Nigerian citizen who has had contact with the Italian citizen. Ever since this incidence, Nigeria has recorded exponential increase in the spread of the virus all over the country. This infection has cause loss of lives, boarder closure, total/partial lockdown, halt in international flights, reduced fuel pump price at the international market which affected the country economically due to the fact that Nigeria is one of the major oil exporting countries in the world, loss of jobs, and closure of all level of institutions of learning. This article presents datasets relating to COVID-19 as reported by the NCDC, including number of laboratories established by the government for testing the dreaded virus in all the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). This report includes confirmed cases, recoveries and deaths.
The data of confirmed cases were generated in the laboratories through molecular tests hereinafter referred to as Nucleic Acid Detection. This was achieved by obtaining a specimen swab from the sputum and oropharyngeal sample using tongue depressor to obtain the sample in patient with respiratory disease or without. Ribonucleic acid (RNA) was then extracted from the specimen and converted to deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). The converted RNA was then amplified by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) with Severe acute respiratory syndrome generally (SARS-Cov-2) specific primers. The presence of viral RNA from the specimen collected indicates active SARS-Cov-2 infection which indicates that such patient has been tested positive to the virus and were referred to as confirmed cases [1].
Recoveries data were generated from group of isolated patients already confirmed to be infected with SARS-Cov-2 virus. These categories of patients were usually isolated to reduce the spread of the disease among those with no or mild symptoms. The isolated patients were given antibodies such as hydroxychloroquine and remdesivir, an approved drug for treating COVID-19 and were then examined on timely basis. These isolated patients were then re-tested for the second time based on their response rate to treatment. Those that passed through the second test and were found to be negative were referred to as recovered cases.
Death cases were confirmed when an isolated patient eventually lost his/her life while undergoing treatment in isolation. This usually occurs during the recovery period.

新型冠状病毒（COVID-19）是一类可引发普通感冒、严重急性呼吸综合征（SARS）、中东呼吸综合征（MERS）等疾病的病毒。冠状病毒是人类、家禽及牛类胃肠道疾病的重要病原体。2020年2月27日周四，尼日利亚报告首例确诊病例：一名意大利籍男子病毒检测结果呈阳性[8]。2020年3月9日，奥贡州埃沃科罗地区报告第二例确诊病例，该患者为曾与该意大利籍人员有接触的尼日利亚公民。自此之后，尼日利亚国内病毒传播呈指数级增长态势。此次疫情造成了人员丧生、边境关闭、全面/局部封控、国际航班停飞；受国际市场燃油价格下跌影响，作为全球主要石油出口国之一的尼日利亚经济遭受重创；此外还引发了大规模失业及各级教育机构停课。本文呈现了由尼日利亚疾病控制中心（NCDC）报告的COVID-19相关数据集，涵盖该国36个州及联邦首都特区（FCT）内政府设立的病毒检测实验室数量，以及确诊病例、康复病例与死亡病例数据。确诊病例数据通过实验室分子检测生成，下文统称为核酸检测（Nucleic Acid Detection）。具体流程为：使用压舌板采集呼吸道疾病患者或无症状患者的痰液及口咽拭子样本；随后从样本中提取核糖核酸（Ribonucleic acid，RNA）并反转录为脱氧核糖核酸（Deoxyribonucleic acid，DNA）；再以严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2型（SARS-CoV-2）特异性引物通过聚合酶链反应（Polymerase Chain Reaction，PCR）进行扩增。样本中检测到病毒RNA即可判定存在活跃的SARS-CoV-2感染，此类患者病毒检测呈阳性，被归类为确诊病例[1]。康复病例数据来自已确诊感染SARS-CoV-2的隔离患者群体。此类患者通常被隔离，以降低病毒在无症状或轻症人群中的传播风险。医护人员会为隔离患者给予羟氯喹、瑞德西韦等获批用于治疗COVID-19的药物，并定期开展检查；随后根据患者的治疗反应进行第二次检测，两次检测均呈阴性的患者即被归类为康复病例。死亡病例指在隔离治疗期间最终离世的隔离患者，此类情况通常发生在康复期内。