Over 1,000 cases recorded in four days as Nigeria’s COVID-19 toll surpasses 9,000

Three months after Nigeria confirmed its index COVID-19 case, more than 9,000 cases have now been recorded.

Between May 26 and May 29, the country recorded a total of 1,234 COVID-19 cases.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) confirmed the country’s second highest daily toll ever on Friday night with 387 new cases recorded in 13 states and the federal capital territory (FCT).

The highest daily toll was recorded on May 27 – exactly three months after the index case – with 389 new COVID-19 cases.

Also, Lagos recorded its second highest daily toll ever on Friday with 254 new cases.

A total of 9,302 cases have now been confirmed in 35 states and the FCT.

The number of discharged persons increased from 2,592 to 2,697, while two deaths were recorded, increasing the figure of fatalities from 259 to 261.

Testing capacity has also increased with the activation of more laboratories across the country.

According to the situation report for May 28, 2020, a total of 58,726 samples have now been tested, up from 49,966 samples the previous day.

However, NCDC explained that while 1,038 samples were tested in the previous 24 hours, “the additional 7,722 tests are from testing laboratories that were not initially captured in the database.”