Nigeria on Tuesday confirmed 2,123 new COVID-19 infections, the highest daily case tally in the country since January 27th, 2021.
This is according to figures released by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Wednesday morning.
The last time the country had a higher daily COVID-19, the number of infected people was pegged at 2,314.
But the new data from the NCDC indicates that the additional cases were confirmed in 10 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Lagos State, the hotbed of the disease since its outbreak in the country last year, had the highest number of cases for the day – 1,552. The FCT follows with 197 infections, Edo – 155, Rivers – 81, Delta – 44, Plateau – 33, Kwara – 30, and Kano – 16.
Other states include Enugu – 12, Gombe – 2, and Bauchi – 1.
Tuesday’s cases take Nigeria’s infection number to 227,378 with 211,761 persons discharged. But 2,989 deaths have been reported so far from the disease.
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Before the latest update from the NCDC, Nigeria had confirmed that the country is in the fourth wave of the pandemic.
The agency on Monday appealed to Nigerians to adhere to the COVID-19 guidelines, especially during the Yuletide.
Triggered by the Omicron and Delta variants, the agency said the country’s infection rate has jumped by 500 percent.
“Therefore, individuals, families, and institutions also need to play their part in protecting each other by ensuring adherence to COVID-19 public health and social measures,” the Director-General of the NCDC, Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa, said.
“Critically, Nigerians are urged to adhere to recommended measures by NCDC and other public health authorities, as they celebrate Christmas and New Year.”
The NCDC’s counsel was corroborated days later by the World Health Organisation (WHO) which called for caution during the festive season.
“There is now consistent evidence that Omicron is spreading significantly faster than the Delta variant,” Tedros told reporters, cautioning that the strain appears to have the ability to double its infections every 1.5 to three days.
“That is really fast.”
