Nigeria has recorded its highest daily COVID-19 infection figure since the beginning of the outbreak in late February.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Friday confirmed a new case of 796.
Before now, the country had on 1st of July, reported a figure of 790, thereby making last night figure the highest since the pandemic was discovered.
According to NCDC, the 796 new cases were reported from 16 states- FCT (258), Lagos (248), Kaduna (117), Katsina (52), Ogun (27), Kwara (23), Gombe (22), Adamawa (17), Plateau (15), Kano (6), Rivers (2), Ondo (2), Ekiti (2), Nasarawa (2), Sokoto (2) and Taraba (1).
Till date, 72,140 cases have been confirmed, 65,712 cases have been discharged and 1,190 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
The country since the beginning of this month had witnessed a sharp increase in a number of daily reported cases of the virus thereby confirming the fear of a second wave with Lagos and Abuja being the hardest hit regions.
The high surge in the rate of infection has been largely attributed to Nigerians abandoning the use of face masks, hand sanitizers and social distancing practices as they go about their daily businesses with the believe that the virus is not very active in the country as warned by the government.
From reports of NCDC, the country in the last 11 days had confirmed cases of 4,583 infections which is only a little shy of the total 4,704 cases recorded in the month of November.
The Federal government on Thursday had ordered the reopening of all isolation and treatment centres in the country. Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, at the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 briefing said the move was to prepare the country for a possible second wave of the pandemic, noting that everyone has a role to play to prevent explosion of the infection in the country.
However, there is optimism in the treatment of the virus as at least three vaccines have shown over 90 per cent effectiveness during trials, according to the manufacturers.
The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 had also advised Nigerians to suspend their Christmas and New Year travels to reduce the risk of contracting the virus.
Nigeria has so far tested 838,333 of its 200 million populations for the virus as at 11th December 2020.
