DELTA: State records 12 deaths as Covid-19 kills 18 Nigerians in 24 hours

THE total number of Covid-19 cases in the country is now 151,553 as 645 new cases of the infection were recorded yesterday.

According to the  Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) 1,441,013 samples have been tested since Covid-19  index case was announced on Feb. 27, 2020.

The agency disclosed this in its daily update on the ravaging pandemic adding that  it registered 18 Covid-19-related deaths, a development which raised the total fatalities in Nigeria to 1,831.

Giving a breakdown of the fatalities according to the states of the federation, NCDC noted that Delta posted 12 of the deaths, raising its toll from 52 to 64.

The agency added that Lagos, regarded as the epicenter of the infection,  also reported three new deaths. Its death toll is now 384.

Other states that recorded one death each were Kaduna, Kano and Abia.

The health agency announced that the 645 new infections were reported from 19 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The agency said that Lagos State took the lead with 282 cases, Ogun had 72, the FCT reported 50, while Kaduna, Osun, and Imo reported 33, 24, and 23 cases, respectively.

Other states with new infections are Abia (21), Borno (18), Oyo (17), Edo (15), Nasarawa (15), Taraba (14), Ekiti (11), Ondo (11), Plateau (11), Kano (10), Rivers seven, Delta five, Bauchi, three and Jigawa, three.

The NCDC also disclosed that 505 COVID-19 patients recovered from the ailment at the various isolation centres in the last 24 hours.

Among those discharged were 222 community recoveries in Lagos State, managed in line with set guidelines.

It, however, stated that the country has recorded 128,005 recoveries since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

The NCDC said that a multi-sectoral national Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), activated at Level 3, is coordinating response activities nationwide.

It said that there were now 21,668 active cases across the country in the last 24 hours.