Nigeria, on Tuesday, recorded its highest daily figure since its first COVID-19 case in February as 117 cases were reported by Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

With the latest update, the total tally of infected people in the country rose to 782 from 665 reported on Monday evening.

The public health agency in a tweet Tuesday night said that new cases were reported in eight states. These are Lagos, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Kano, Katsina,Ogun, Rivers, Bauchi and Borno states.

All the cases were reported in states with existing cases.

Also, Lagos State reported the highest daily figure for the new update, although it did not report any case of the virus on Monday.

A breakdown of the latest update shows that 59 of the new cases were reported in Lagos, 29 in the FCT, 14 in Kano, six in Borno, four in Katsina, three in Ogun, and one each in Rivers and Bauchi.

NCDC said as of 11:25 p.m. on April 21, there were 782 confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported in Nigeria. Of these, 197 infected people have recovered and have been discharged while the death toll rose to 25 from 22 reported on Monday.

There has been a steady rise in the number of recoveries and deaths reported from the ongoing COVID-19 in the country.

Also, cases in FCT and Kano have been on the rise in the past week.

A breakdown of all the cases shows that Lagos State has so far reported 430 cases, followed by FCT – 118, Kano – 73, Osun and Ogun – 20, Oyo and Katsina – 16 cases each, Edo – 15, while Kwara, Kaduna, Borno and Akwa Ibom have recorded nine cases each.

Bauchi has 8 cases, Gombe – 5, Delta and Ekiti – 4, Ondo and Rivers, 3 cases each, Enugu, Niger, Abia, and Jigawa have two cases each, while Benue, Anambra, Sokoto and Borno have recorded one apiece.

*Community transmission*

Based on the global trajectory of the outbreak, it is anticipated that Nigeria will continue to report more cases in the near future.

Also Nigeria is beginning to witness community transmission of the virus as some of the people who tested positive for the virus have no travel history or direct contact with persons with travel histories.

The country has also announced that it has increased the number of people tested daily as well as the number of laboratories where such tests can be carried out.

COVID-19 spreads through respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes. To prevent the spread of the disease, the government has put in place lockdown measures in different states.

On Tuesday, the minister of state for health, Mr Olorunnibe Mamora, urged citizens to practice good hand and respiratory hygiene at all times, avoid mass gathering and wear their face masks especially when they are outside their homes

NCDC also advised that people should stay at home and avoid large gatherings.

“If you must leave home, please prevent the spread of COVID-19 by practicing physical distancing and wearing a face mask,” the agency stated.

PT