NCDC Confirms 999 New Covid-19 Cases, 416 FCT, 324 In Lagos

As states across the country roll out measures to address what appears to be a second wave of infections, December 22 brought Nigeria a new daily record on its count of coronavirus cases, with 999 new positive samples confirmed in 17 states and the federal capital territory (FCT).

The Tuesday figure is Nigeria’s second highest daily count ever, and it comes just five days after the country hit its biggest record figure of single-day infections — 1,145 positive samples were confirmed on December 17, 2020.

According to the latest update by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), FCT was top of the list with 416 new cases, followed by Lagos with 324, while Kaduna was a long way off at third place with 68 positive samples.

With the new record, FCT has now exceeded a total of 10,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

Four persons were confirmed to have died of coronavirus complications on Tuesday, increasing the current fatality toll to 1,231 – Lagos has the most deaths with 238 patients, followed by Edo with 113, and FCT with 93.

Meanwhile, the NCDC confirmed 396 new recoveries, which include “254 community recoveries in Lagos state managed in line with guidelines”.

Out of over 900,000 samples currently tested, 79,789 people are confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 between February 27 and December 22, but 68,879 patients have recovered, leaving the country with 9,679 current active cases.