Nigeria news : COVID-19: Coronavirus now in 36 African countries as Niger records index case

Niger Republic has become the 36th African nation to record a case of coronavirus.

The country’s Health Ministry in a statement on Thursday night, identified the victim as a man working for a transport company.

He travelled to Niamey, the Nigerien capital from the Ghanaian capital Accra, passing through Abidjan in Ivory Coast and Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso.

Out of those four countries, only Niger had not yet had its first COVID-19 case.

However, the ministry noted that the patient is in stable condition.

Niger is the 36th among Africa’s 54 countries to have a confirmed case.

The continent has now recorded more than 700 cases and at least 17 deaths, according to the World Health Organisation.