NCDC confirms 103 new COVID-19 infections

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (has) confirmed 103 new coronavirus infections in 12 states and the federal capital territory (FCT).

Leading the pack of states with new cases on Thursday was Lagos with 39 infections, followed by Rivers with 21, and FCT with 19.

The number of discharged patients increased to 51,551 with 148 new recoveries, while no new death was recorded on Thursday – it has now been five consecutive days with no coronavirus-related death in the country.

A total of 59,884 cases of COVID-19 have now been confirmed, out of which 1,113 fatalities have occurred.

103 new cases of #COVID19Nigeria;

Lagos-39
Rivers-21
FCT-19
Oyo-6
Kaduna-4
Bauchi-3
Ogun-3
Imo-2
Kano-2
Benue-1
Edo-1
Nasarawa-1
Plateau-1

59,841 confirmed
51,551 discharged
1,113 deaths pic.twitter.com/SkpuZCWU2o

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— NCDC (@NCDCgov) October 8, 2020

Meanwhile, the NCDC has emphasised its commitment towards increasing testing capacity by ensuring the availability of laboratories.

Speaking at a media briefing of the presidential task force (PTF) on COVID-19 on Thursday, Chikwe Ihekweazu, NCDC director-general, said the agency has put in a lot of efforts to bring the testing facilities closer to the people.

“With 69 PCR, 22 GeneXpert and 17 private labs for COVID-19 in Nigeria, testing opportunities are now closer to the people,” he said.

“It’s now up to the public health workforce to utilise them to full potential and raise more awareness on their importance in response.”