Nigeria’s Total Toll Surpasses 18,000 As NCDC Reports 745 New COVID-19 Cases – Highest Single Day Figure Recorded

By Edna Wande Last updated Jun 18, 2020

Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has announced that the country has recorded over 18,000 coronavirus infections, just 2 days after reporting over 17,000 cases.

The new toll comes as the centre confirms 745 new infections – the highest single day figure recorded so far – via its Twitter page on Thursday night.

Its tweet reads;

745 new cases of #COVID19Nigeria;

Lagos-280
Oyo-103
Ebonyi-72
FCT-60
Imo-46
Edo-34
Delta-33
Rivers-25
Kaduna-23
Ondo-16
Katsina-12
Kano-10
Bauchi-8
Borno-7
Kwara-5
Gombe-4
Sokoto-2
Enugu-2
Yobe-1
Osun-1
Nasarawa-1

18,480 confirmed
6,307 discharged
475 deaths pic.twitter.com/7nIkvEarwv

— NCDC (@NCDCgov) June 18, 2020

The spike in coronavirus in the space of few days is an high indication of increase in community spread.

With the new toll, total coronavirus cases have increased from 17,735 to 18,480 infections.

Also, total discharged patients grew from 5,967 to 6,307 recoveries.

However, death toll grew by 6 deaths, increasing total coronavirus casualties from 469 confirmed yesterday to 475.

Meanwhile, according to NCDC’s situation report, total samples tested nationwide have moved from 103,799 to 106,006 as at June 17th.

In other news, Sani Aliyu, national coordinator of the presidential task force (PTF) on COVID-19, has said the risk of contracting the virus is now higher in the country.

He disclosed this during the PTF briefing in Abuja on Thursday.

According to Aliyu, the changes of contracting the virus increased when the lockdown was eased and people began to flout safety guidelines set in place to contain the spread of COVID-19.

The national coordinator however called on Nigerians to accept the new normal of living with COVID-19, while adhering to safety measures and protocols to ensure protection.