In continuation of a steady run of low infection figures, Nigeria on Wednesday recorded 96 new cases, one of the lowest daily figures this year.
The new figure which is significantly lower than the 214 recorded a day earlier raised the total number of infections in the West African nation to 162,178, according to an update published by Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) via its Twitter page.
The new cases were reported from 15 states – Lagos (28), Yobe (20), Akwa Ibom (10), Cross River (9), Kaduna (6), Kano (5), Edo (4), Oyo (3), Plateau (3), Jigawa (2), Osun (2), Borno (1), Nasarawa (1), Rivers (1), and Sokoto (1).
Lagos had the highest figure with 28 new cases, followed by Yobe and Akwa Ibom with 20 and 10 new cases respectively.
96 new cases of #COVID19Nigeria;
Lagos-28
Yobe-20
Akwa Ibom-10
Cross River-9
Kaduna-6
Kano-5
Edo-4
Oyo-3
Plateau-3
Jigawa-2
Osun-2
Borno-1
Nasarawa-1
Rivers-1
Sokoto-1162,178 confirmed
148,726 discharged
2,031 deaths pic.twitter.com/MwHDCfK30O— NCDC (@NCDCgov) March 24, 2021
In the past week, daily infections have fallen below 300; it averaged over 1,000 between December and early February.
Deaths have also declined and with no new deaths on Wednesday, the fatalities in the country remain 2,031 in total, according to NCDC.
The data also suggest that Africa’s most populous nation may have gone past the worst phase of the virus, although experts warn it might be too early to celebrate.
Since the pandemic broke out in Nigeria in February last year, the country has carried out over 1.7 million tests.
More than two-thirds of the over 161,000 people infected by COVID-19 in Nigeria have recovered after treatment.
According to the NCDC, a total of 148,726 people have recovered after treatment.
Meanwhile, over 11,000 infections are still active in the country.
Our discharges today include 73 community recoveries in Akwa Ibom State and 20 community recoveries in Lagos State managed in line with guidelines.
A breakdown of cases by state can be found via https://t.co/zQrpNeOfet pic.twitter.com/dKJ6lZBrnO
— NCDC (@NCDCgov) March 24, 2021
Authorities have announced that over 200,000 Nigerians have received jabs from the nearly 4 million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine that were shipped to the country earlier this month by the Vaccines Global Access facility – COVAX.
Read Also: Breaking: President Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo Receive COVID-19 Vaccine (Video)
Nigeria, still expecting 41 million doses through the African Union, aims to vaccinate 109 million people against COVID-19 virus over a period of two years.
To achieve this, authorities said the vaccine roll-out will be in four phases, starting with health workers, frontline workers, COVID-19 rapid response team, laboratory network, police officers, petrol station workers and strategic leaders.
