Coronavirus: Nigeria records 315 new cases

Nigeria’s tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases rose to 12, 801 as 315 new infections were announced by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control on Monday.

Lagos recorded its highest daily figure on Monday, with 128 infections. The state remains the epicentre for the disease.

Seven deaths were recorded from the virus on Monday bringing the total number of confirmed deaths from the virus to 361.

There was an increase in the number of infection reported on Monday as compared to Sunday (260).

In the past weeks, the numbers of infections and deaths in the country have increased. The number of recovered and discharged patients from the virus is also increasing daily.

The agency in a tweet late Monday night said the 315 new cases were reported in 14 states – Lagos,

Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Rivers, Edo, Oyo, Kaduna, Gombe, Ogun, Delta, Kwara, Kano, Bauchi and Katsina.

“Till date, 12801 cases have been confirmed, 4040 cases have been discharged and 361 deaths have been recorded in 35 states and the Federal Capital Territory,” it stated.

The 315 new cases are reported from 14 states- Lagos – 128, FCT – 34, Rivers – 32, Edo – 28, Oyo – 22, Kaduna – 20, Gombe – 13, Ogun – 8, Plateau – 5, Delta – 7, Kwara – 7, Kano – 5, Bauchi – 4, Katsina – 2.

So far, only one state in the country, Cross River, is yet to report a case of COVID-19.

BREAKDOWN

Since the onset of the outbreak in Nigeria in February, NCDC said 78, 244 samples have so far been tested.

As at the time of reporting, there are 8, 400 active cases of COVID-19 in the country, 4,040 have recovered and have been discharged from the virus with 361 deaths recorded.

A breakdown of the 12, 801 confirmed cases shows that Lagos State has so far reported 5, 895 cases, followed by Kano – 1,004, FCT – 986, Edo – 429, Katsina – 397, Oyo – 387, Rivers – 364,Kaduna – 363, Ogun – 363, Borno – 356, Bauchi – 295, Jigawa – 283, Gombe – 230, Delta – 155, Kwara – 142, Sokoto – 129, Plateau – 120, Nasarawa – 112, Ebonyi – 103, Abia – 83, Zamfara – 76, Imo – 68 Yobe – 52, Osun 49, Akwa Ibom – 45, Niger – 44, Adamawa – 42, Ondo – 42, Kebbi – 35, Enugu – 30, Bayelsa – 30, Anambra – 29, Ekiti – 29, Taraba – 18, Benue – 13, and Kogi – 3.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, during the Presidential Taskforce briefing on Monday said “a major outcome of Nigeria’s response to COVID-19 over the last 100 days is the recognition of state’s need to scale up responsibility for their public health response.”

He said the true burden of COVID-19 in the country can only be known if the nation keeps testing more for more cases.

As such states have been advised “to continue to collect more samples, and strengthen their surveillance capacity”.