COVID-19: Death toll nears 100 as Nigeria confirms 245 new cases

Almost 100 coronavirus-related deaths have now been recorded in Nigeria, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, which confirmed 245 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday. According to the report by the NCDC, 93 deaths have been recorded and 417 patients treated and discharged from a total confirmed cases of 2,802 recorded in […]

Almost 100 coronavirus-related deaths have now been recorded in Nigeria, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, which confirmed 245 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday.

According to the report by the NCDC, 93 deaths have been recorded and 417 patients treated and discharged from a total confirmed cases of 2,802 recorded in 34 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

According to a post on the official Twitter handle of the agency, laboratory tests confirmed 245 new cases of coronavirus infections on Monday.

The new cases were confirmed in epicentre of the virus, Lagos and 15 other states, including the FCT.

The breakdown of the new cases are Lagos-76, Katsina-37, Kano-23, FCT-19, Jigawa-32, Borno-18, Edo-10, Bauchi-9, Adamawa-6, Oyo-5, Ogun-5, Ekiti-1, Osun-1, Benue-1, Niger-1,  and Zamfara-1.

It also noted that nine cases previously announced as discharged cases, were reported in error.

“Nine cases previously announced as discharged cases, were reported in error. Therefore, there are 417 cases that have been discharged One case reported in Nasarawa was a repeat test. The state has a total of 11 confirmed cases,” noted NCDC.

More than a quarter of a million people have died from the novel coronavirus worldwide, with over 85 percent of them in Europe and the United States, according to an AFP tally of official figures.

At 2230 GMT on Monday, the US had recorded 68,689 virus deaths, the most for any single country, while Europe was the hardest-hit continent with 145,023 confirmed fatalities.

Since it emerged in China in December, COVID-19 has infected more than 3.5 million people and devastated economies across the globe.

The virus death toll in the US was followed by those in Italy (29,079), the United Kingdom (28,734), Spain (25,428) and France (25,201).

There have been more than 1.5 million confirmed coronavirus infections in Europe, but many countries are testing only the most serious cases.