Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has emerged as a global health crisis, with 3,855,788 infected persons and 256,862 deaths worldwide as of May 9, 2020. In Nigeria, the first case of the pandemic was reported by the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control on February 27, 2020. Between the dates when the index case was reported and May 9, 2020, the nation has recorded a total of 4151 confirmed COVID-19 cases from 25,951 samples screened and 745 (18%) cases discharged with 128 deaths indicating a case fatality rate of 3.1%. Thirty-four (34) States and the Federal Capital Territory have recorded coronavirus disease. The most affected States in Nigeria is Lagos (epicentre of COVID-19) with 1764 cases, followed by 576 cases in Kano states and only one COVID-19 case in Anambra State 42 days since the last report of index case. Demographically, a total of 2828 male subjects have been infected representing 68% and 1323 female subjects representing 32%. The age group 31 -40 years is mostly affected accounting for 24%. The number of people with travel history is 210 (5%), 947 (23%) contacts, 2618 (63%) without epidemiological link and 376 (9%) with an incomplete information. Nigeria is currently witnessing community transmission of COVID-19. Some observed issues aiding community transmission of COVID-19 in Nigeria are: the distrust of some Nigeria citizens towards government on COVID-19 management, poverty, religious beliefs, ignorance on face mask sharing, low level of informed populace, misconceptions, stigmatization of infected individuals, poor health facilities, inadequate testing Centre, shortage of health workers, poor treatment among others. Effective people's health preventive behaviour and community-based health policy and strategies to mitigate these challenges are therein suggested.

Backgrounds:The burden of bacteremia in febrile cases is still poorly understood in Nigeria as in many sub-Saharan African countries due to diagnostic limitations. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of Salmonella bloodstream infections and antimicrobial resistance patterns of bacterial isolates recovered from febrile patients in Lagos, Nigeria. Materials & Methods: A total of 300 blood samples were collected from febrile patients attending four medical centers in Lagos during August 2020 to July 2021. Clinical isolates were identified using API 20E kit. qPCR was used to detect Salmonella isolates in positive blood culture samples using a specific primer set. All isolates were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility tests using standard procedures. Findings: Totally, 55 bacterial isolates belonging to six bacterial genera were identified, including Salmonella (n=4, 7.27%), Klebsiella species (n=23, 41.82%), Escherichia coli (n=6, 10.91%), Proteus species (n=13, 23.64%), Serratia species (n=7, 12.73%), and Citrobacter species (n=2, 3.64%). In this study, the detection rate of Salmonella isolates in positive blood culture samples using qPCR and invA gene primer set was 100%. Salmonella isolates were %100 resistant to ceftazidime, cefotaxime, and doripenem. Multidrug resistance (MDR) was observed in Salmonella and other bacterial isolates. Conclusion:In this study, qPCR using the invA primer set was found to be highly specific for Salmonella detection. All the bloodstream bacterial pathogens in this study were MDR; thus, there is a need for continuous evaluation of antibiotics in medical settings. Further molecular studies on these bacterial isolates is essential.