Enugu, Gombe top list of new cases as COVID-19 death toll hits 1,100

The daily count of coronavirus infections rose again within the past 24 hours, as the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) confirmed 195 new positive samples in 10 states and the federal capital territory (FCT).

The agency confirmed the new cases in its update for September 21, 2020.

The Monday figure is a major increase from that of Sunday when 97 new cases were confirmed.

According to the breakdown, Enugu topped the list of states with the most infections with 51 new cases, followed by Gombe with 40, and Lagos with 39.

However, the country’s fatality toll has now hit 1,100, as two people were confirmed to have died of COVID-19 complications on Monday.

The daily recovery count dropped to its lowest in five days, as a total of 105 people were discharged, increasing the recovery count to 48,674.

A total of 57,437 confirmed COVID-19 cases have now been reported in the country.

195 new cases of #COVID19Nigeria;

Enugu-51
Gombe-40
Lagos-39
Plateau-23
FCT-15
Rivers-12
Kaduna-8
Ondo-3
Bauchi-2
Edo-1
Ogun-1

57,437 confirmed
48,674 discharged
1,100 deaths pic.twitter.com/3xxxQZen55

— NCDC (@NCDCgov) September 21, 2020

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Meanwhile, the presidential task force (PTF) on COVID-19 says it is still too early for the country to relax the guidelines for preventing spread, despite the declining record of new cases.

Chikwe Ihekweazu, director-general of the NCDC, said at a media briefing on Monday that unless testing capacity is sufficiently covered across states, the country cannot celebrate the decline in the daily case count.

“The drivers of COVID-19 are different across the country. Therefore, subnational understanding of transmission is critical. We can’t celebrate decline in national figures until we test sufficient numbers in every state,” he said.