False claims that Nigeria is coronavirus-free circulate online

This article, posted here on Facebook on March 15, 2020, has been shared over 14,000 times since. The same article has also been shared here, here and here.

The article by US-based website Black Culture News alleged that “Nigeria is one of the countries that is Coronavirus free which is a shock to the world”.

“They had two cases but now tested negative. First and second coronavirus patient has fully recovered and is back home.”

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A screenshot taken on April 3, 2020, showing the misleading post

More than 160 active cases

When the article was published on March 13, Nigeria had two confirmed cases of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, according to the World Health Organization's situation report at the time. 

The number of cases have kept climbing since. As of April 3, 2020, Nigeria had reported 190 COVID-19 cases, according to data from its centre for disease control (NCDC). So far, 20 people have been discharged, while two deaths have been recorded, leaving the country with more than 160 active cases.

Six new cases of #COVID19 have been reported in Osun State, Nigeria.

As at 11:00 am 3rd April there are 190 confirmed cases of #COVID19 reported in Nigeria. Twenty have been discharged with two deaths pic.twitter.com/47NVeHMEux

— NCDC (@NCDCgov) April 3, 2020

The world has now recorded more than one million cases of COVID-19, and no country affected has been declared coronavirus-free by the WHO.