Barely 24 hours after it logged its sharpest rise in coronavirus infections, Nigeria has set another record number in its reported daily cases of the disease.
On Tuesday, 1,354 infections were reported from 21 states of the country, smashing the previous highest daily tally of 1,204 recorded on Monday.
The latest highest daily tally pushed the total number of infections since the start of the pandemic in the country to 92,705.
Nigeria in the last 24 hours also reported one additional death, the lowest daily fatality toll in a few weeks.
This is according to the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
The death tally from the COVID-19 disease in Nigeria increased to 1, 319, the NCDC announced late Tuesday.
In the past 18 days, there have been 107 recorded deaths from the coronavirus.
Since early December, there has been a spike in coronavirus infections in Nigeria as the country continues to set new records in daily infections.
Until the resurgence of the infections in December 2020, Nigeria never had more daily infections than the 745 reported on June 19.
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Since December 2020, daily cases in the country have increased, with the spread concentrated in the country’s two major exit points and hardest-hit cities – Lagos and Abuja.
Health experts believe the lowering of guard on safety and the weak enforcement of protocols especially in the country’s major airports in Abuja and Lagos could be responsible for the development, warning that the situation could get worse if citizens keep violating safety protocols.
Active cases in the country rose sharply from about 3,000 some weeks ago to over 11,000 due to a rise in new infections.
Of the over 92,000 cases so far, 76, 396 patients have been discharged from hospitals after treatment.
Specifics
The 1354 new cases were reported from 21 states- Lagos (712), FCT (145), Plateau (117), Kwara (81), Kaduna (54), Sokoto (39), Oyo(38), Rivers (37), Gombe (21), Enugu (20), Akwa Ibom (16), Bauchi (14), Delta (14), Ebonyi (13), Anambra (9), Taraba (8), Edo (8), Kano (3), Osun (2), Ekiti (2) and Ogun (1).
Lagos led with 712 new cases, more than half of Tuesday’s tally. The commercial city is Nigeria’s coronavirus epicentre with a total of over 32,000 cases and about 250 deaths.
Abuja with the second highest number of infections and deaths also came second on Tuesday with 145 new cases.
With the country into the second wave of the pandemic, federal authorities have ordered the reopening of all isolation and treatment centres in the country.
According to the NCDC, the failure of Nigerians to comply with the COVID-19 safety protocols during the festive period could lead to more spread of the disease.