Nigeria records highest daily toll as COVID-19 infections exceed 13,000

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has confirmed 663 new COVID-19 cases in 25 states and the federal capital territory (FCT).

This is the highest daily toll ever since Nigeria confirmed its index case on February 27, 2020.

With 663 samples confirmed positive on Tuesday, a total of 13,464 COVID-19 cases have now been recorded in 35 states and the FCT.

Aside May 30 when the country recorded its previous highest daily toll with 553 cases, the upward surge in the number of cases, which began in May 2020, has seen the country record around 500 cases within a two-day period.

Although recoveries have also increased significantly in the past month, moving from 745 to 4,206, fatalities have also risen from 128 to 365.

663 new cases of #COVID19;

Lagos-170
Ogun-108
Bauchi-69
Ebonyi-49
Edo-33
Rivers-30
FCT-26
Jigawa-26
Delta-20
Anambra-17
Gombe-16
Kano-16
Imo-15
Abia-14
Borno-11
Oyo-11
Plateau-8
Kebbi-6
Kaduna-6
Ondo-4
Niger-2
Katsina-2
Osun-1
Ekiti-1
Kwara-1
Nasarawa-1 pic.twitter.com/Ps7Gj0cd7O

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— NCDC (@NCDCgov) June 9, 2020

However, NCDC says the increase in the number of cases is a result of more tests, and within one month, between May 8 and June 8, the number of samples tested rose from 25,015 to 79,948.

As part of efforts to increase testing capacity, the agency, on Tuesday, announced the activation of three more laboratories in its network, bringing the country’s total number of labs with capacity to test for COVID-19 to 33.

They are the biorepository and clinical virology lab at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, molecular diagnostics lab at the infectious disease unit of the General Hospital, Ituk Mkpang, Akwa Ibom, and the Jigawa state molecular lab in Dutse.