TheCOVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria was a part of theworldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused bysevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).^[4] The first confirmed case inNigeria was announced on 27 February 2020, when anItalian national inLagos tested positive for the virus.^[5][6][7] On 9 March 2020, a second case of the virus was reported inEwekoro,Ogun State, a Nigeriancitizen who came into contact with the Italian national.^[8][9]

The effect of the virus in Nigeria has become notable worldwide for being extremely understated, as there have been just under 255,000 confirmed cases in a country of 200 million+; however, there has been far lesstesting for the virus in Nigeria than other countries.^[10] Deaths however have been minimal (3,155).^[11] This has been credited to a warmerclimate, far younger populations (fewer people in care homes), faster government responses (it federated system), and, crucially, experience in dealing with recent epidemics, such as theEbola virus, that most Western countries lacked.^[12]

On 28 January 2020, theFederal government of Nigeria assured citizens of its readiness to strengthen surveillance atfive international airports in the country to prevent the spread of coronavirus into the country.^[13] The government announced the airports asEnugu,Lagos,Rivers,Kano and theFCT.^[14] TheNigeria Centre for Disease Control also announced same day that they had already set upcoronavirus group and was ready to activate its incident system if any case emerged in Nigeria.^[15]

On 31 January, following thedevelopments of COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China and other countries worldwide, the federal government of Nigeria set up a Coronavirus Preparedness Group to mitigate the impact of the virus if it eventually spreads to the country.^[16][17] On the same day, theWorld Health Organization listed Nigeria among other 13 African countries identified as high-risk for the spread of the virus.^[18]

On 26 February, aChinese citizen presented himself to theLagos State government on suspicion of being infected with coronavirus. He was admitted atReddington Hospital and was released the following day after testing negative.^[19][20] The following day, the government announced that the country had recorded its first incident.^[21]

As the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 continued to increase across Nigeria, the Federal government of Nigeria declared a total  lockdown from 30 March 2020 to 15 May 2020, as part of the global effort tomitigate the spread of the virus.^[22][23]

On 27 February, Nigeria confirmed its first case inLagos State, anItalian citizen who works in Nigeria had returned on 25 February fromMilan, Italy through theMurtala Muhammed International Airport, fell ill on 26 February and was transferred to Lagos State biosecurity facilities for isolation and testing.^[24][25]

On 9 March, the second case was confirmed, a Nigerian citizen inEwekoro, Ogun State who had contact with the Italian citizen.^[26][27][28]

On 13 March, Nigeria confirmed that the second case no longer had the virus in his system and thus tested negative.^[29]

By 31 March 139 cases and 2 deaths had been confirmed.^[30] The suspected cases that Nigeria were tracing, rose to 6,000.^[31]

There were 1,793 cases in April, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 1,932. 56 deaths were confirmed, bringing the death toll to 58.^[32]

There were 8,230 confirmed cases in May, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 10,162. 229 deaths were confirmed, bringing the death toll to 287.^[33]

There were 15,532 confirmed cases in June, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 25,694. 303 deaths were confirmed, bringing the death toll to 590.^[34]

17,457 cases were reported in July, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 43,151. 289 deaths were reported, bringing the death toll to 879.^[35]

10,857 cases were reported in August, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 54,008. 134 deaths were reported, bringing the death toll to 1,013.^[36]

4,840 cases and 99 deaths were reported in September, bringing the total number of confirmed cases and deaths to 58,848 and 1,112 respectively. There were 50,358 recoveries as of 30 September, leaving 7,378 active cases.^[37]

During the significant drop of the cases recorded between September and November 2020 that lead to the relaxation of thelockdowns and re-opening of the economy to prevent the second phase of economic meltdown, the isolation centres in most states were partially closed, and the country relaxed the usage offace-masks in public places such asmarkets, public offices, event centers, restaurants, and bars.^[38]

There were 4,005 new cases in October, bringing the total number of cases from the start of the outbreak to 62,853. The death toll rose by 32 to 1,144. There were 3,034 active cases at the end of the month.^[39]Model-based simulations indicate that the 95%confidence interval for thetime-varying reproduction numberR _t was close to 1.0 in October.^[40]

There were 4,704 new cases in November, bringing the total number of cases to 67,557. The death toll rose to 1,173. There were 3,102 active cases at the end of the month.^[41]

On 10 December, Dr.Osagie Ehanire, the Health Minister said that the second wave is imminent because of the rising number of cases; he added that the rise in cases was mostly driven by an increase in infections within communities and, to a lesser extent, travelers entering Nigeria.^[42] On the same day, Secretary to the Government of the Federation and chairman of the Presidential Task Force onCOVID-19,Boss Mustapha said that the second wave of the pandemic has begun, following the increase in the number of COVID-19 cases detected in the country.^[43]

Nigeria recorded its highest daily number of COVID-19 cases on 17 December with 1,145 new infections. The Presidential Task Force said that this increase in cases showed that the country entered the second wave of the pandemic.^[44][45][46]