The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has announced 503 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 29, 879.

Fifteen deaths were recorded from the virus on Tuesday bringing the total number of confirmed deaths from the virus to 669.

There was a drop in the number of confirmed cases reported Tuesday compared to what was reported on Monday (575).

The health agency in a tweet Tuesday night said the 503 new cases were reported in 20 states including Lagos, Ondo, Edo, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Enugu, Rivers, Benue, Osun, Kaduna, Kwara, Abia, Borno, Plateau, Taraba, Ogun, Kano, Kebbi, Nasarawa Bayelsa and Gombe .

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

All 36 states and the FCT have recorded at least a case of the disease.

Confirmed cases of the virus have been increasing in Oyo, Edo, Enugu, FCT, Delta and Rivers.

The 503 new cases were reported in 20 states: Lagos – 153, Ondo – 76, Edo – 54, FCT – 41, Enugu – 37, Rivers – 30, Benue – 24, Osun – 20, Kaduna – 15, Kwara – 13, Abia – 9, Borno – 8, Plateau – 6, Taraba – 5, Ogun – 3, Kano – 3, Kebbi – 2, Nasarawa – 2, Bayelsa – 1 and Gombe – 1.

NCDC said as of the time of reporting there were 17, 012 active cases of COVID-19 in the country, while 12, 108 had recovered and have been discharged.

Lagos remains the epicentre of the disease in the country, while Zamfara has not reported any new confirmed case in the past 49 days.

“Till date, 29, 879 cases have been confirmed, 12, 108 cases have been discharged and 669 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory,” the NCDC stated.

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A breakdown of the 29, 879 confirmed cases shows that Lagos State has so far reported 11, 520 cases, followed by FCT – 2,322, Oyo – 1,530, Edo – 1,489, Delta – 1,285, Kano – 1,271, Rivers – 1,235, Ogun – 1,050, Kaduna – 883, Katsina – 628, Borno – 574, Ondo – 550, Gombe – 521, Bauchi – 516, Ebonyi – 503, Plateau – 460, Enugu – 418, Abia – 400, Imo – 352, Jigawa – 318, Kwara – 297, Bayelsa – 269, Nasarawa – 235, Osun – 198, Sokoto – 153, Niger – 122, Benue – 121, Akwa Ibom – 112, Adamawa – 99, Kebbi – 86, Zamfara – 76, Anambra – 73, Yobe – 61, Ekiti – 45, Taraba- 27, Kogi – 5, and Cross River – 5.

While confirmed cases of the virus have continued to increase in the country, the Director General of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Ghebreyesus, on Tuesday during a virtual briefing in Geneva, said health experts from the agency will travel to China this weekend to work with their Chinese counterparts to prepare scientific plans for identifying the zoonotic source of COVID-19.

Mr Ghebreyesus said the experts will develop the scope and terms of reference for a WHO-led international mission.

“Identifying the origin of emerging viral disease has proven complex in past epidemics in different countries. A well planned series of scientific researches will advance the understanding of animal reservoirs and the route of COVID-19 transmission to humans.

“This process is an evolving endeavour which may lead to further international scientific research and collaboration globally,” he said.