As Nigerian authorities battle the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, seven more people died of complications relating to the disease on Wednesday.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) disclosed this in its latest update on the outbreak, saying 637 new cases were recorded in 18 states and the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Lagos reported the highest cases – 322, followed by Rivers, Edo, and Delta States that recorded 70, 54, and 34 more infections respectively.
Others are Akwa Ibom – 31, Kwara – 31, FCT – 29, Ekiti – 17, Ogun – 14, Osun – 10, Kebbi – eight, Cross River – five, Plateau – three, Taraba – three, Kaduna – two, Bayelsa – two, Benue – one, Enugu – one, and Kano – one.
“States with zero cases reported (six): Gombe, Kano, Nasarawa, Oyo, Sokoto, and Zamfara,” the disease control agency said in a Facebook post.
This brings the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 188,880, since the first COVID-19 case was reported in late February 2020.
Of the confirmed cases, 169,382 people have been discharged while 2,288 others have died from complications relating to the disease.
As of 9am on Friday, the NCDC said it has collected and tested a total of 2,727,834 samples for COVID-19.
In a bid to win the fight against the disease, authorities have stepped up efforts to ensure citizens take the COVID-19 vaccine for full protection against the virus.
They have asked the people to go to the various vaccination centres to take the first jab of the Moderna vaccine, as well as the second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
However, the government has asked the people to continue to adhere to the measures put in place to curb the spread of the disease – even after taking the vaccine – until the nation attains herd immunity.
