Nigeria’s tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases rose to 7,016 on Thursday, as 339 new infections were announced by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

Nine people were confirmed dead from the virus on Thursday.

The agency in a tweet late Thursday evening said the 338 new cases were reported in 18 states. These are Lagos, Kano, Oyo, Edo, Katsina, Kaduna, Jigawa, Yobe, Plateau, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Gombe, Ogun, Bauchi, Nasarawa, Delta, Ondo, Rivers, and Adamawa.

Lagos recorded the highest daily figure of cases reported on Thursday, with 139.

There was an increase in the number of infections reported on Thursday (339) compared to the number reported on Tuesday (284).

All the reporting states already had at least a case of the virus.

NCDC said “on May 21, 339 new confirmed cases and nine deaths were recorded in Nigeria.

“Till date, 7,016 cases have been confirmed, 1907 cases have been discharged and 211 deaths have been recorded in 34 states and the Federal Capital Territory, the agency tweeted.

The 339 new cases are reported from 18 states- Lagos – 139, Kano – 28, Oyo – 28, Edo – 25, Katsina – 22, Kaduna – 18, ‘Jigawa – 14, Yobe – 13, Plateau – 13, FCT – 11, Gombe – 8, Ogun – 5, Bauchi – 4, Nasarawa – 4, Delta – 3, Ondo – 2, Rivers – 1, Adamawa – 1.

BREAKDOWN

Nigeria has so far tested 40,043 persons since the beginning of the pandemic.

A breakdown of all the confirmed cases so far shows that 1, 907 have recovered and have been discharged, and 211 deaths have been reported.

A breakdown of the 7,016 confirmed cases shows that Lagos State has so far reported 3,093 cases, followed by Kano – 875, FCT – 446, Katsina – 303, Bauchi – 228, Borno – 227, Jigawa – 225, Ogun – 183, Oyo – 190, Kaduna – 170, Gombe – 144, Edo – 144, Sokoto – 113, Rivers – 80, Zamfara – 76, Kwara – 66, Plateau – 70, Osun – 42, Nasarawa – 38, Yobe – 45, Kebbi – 32, Delta – 31, Adamawa – 27, Niger – 22, Ondo – 22, Ekiti – 20, Akwa Ibom – 18, Taraba – 18, Enugu – 16, Ebonyi – 13, Imo – 7, Bayelsa – 7, Abia – 7, Benue – 5, and Anambra – 5.

There has been an increase in the number of cases reported across the states despite Nigeria’s low figure of people tested for the virus.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, during the presidential taskforce briefing on Thursday, cautioned Nigerians about their movements as the Ramadan ends.

He said it is necessary to remind Nigerians of the objective of the eased lockdown which is primarily to save lives.

“It is also of utmost importance to remind our sub-national entities on the need to diligently implement the guidelines and to exercise caution in relaxing restrictions in a manner that is capable of setting back the gains already made,” he said.