Nigeria records highest-ever daily COVID-19 cases

Nigeria on Wednesday reported 4,035 COVID-19 cases, the highest-ever daily infection tally since the disease was detected in the country nearly two years ago.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) disclosed this in its daily update about the pandemic in the country.

A breakdown of the new infections showed that they were confirmed in 15 states in the country with Lagos State having 3,393 more cases.

The NCDC data also indicated that new cases were reported as followed: Rivers – 260; Edo – 62; Akwa Ibom – 42; Kaduna – 39; Ekiti – 38; Oyo – 38; Delta – 31; and Kano – 31.

Ogun – 30; Abia – 26; Bauchi – 15; Ondo – 14; Enugu – 9 and Kwara – 7 are the other states with additional COVID-19 infections.

With the new figures, Nigeria’s COVID-19 infections now stand at 231,413 out of which 211,853 have been successfully treated and discharged.

The flipside, however, indicates that 2,991 people have died from COVID-19 complications.

Wednesday’s update from the NCDC further confirms warnings by the agency and Nigerian authorities over the new Omicron variant.

On Tuesday, the country reported its highest daily infections in 11 months – 2,123, just a few days after authorities confirmed that Nigeria is in the fourth wave of the pandemic.

Pushed by the quest to curb the increasing number of infections, the NCDC had called for caution during the festive period.

“Critically, Nigerians are urged to adhere to recommended measures by NCDC and other public health authorities, as they celebrate Christmas and New Year,” it said in a statement earlier in the week.

While the infection rate continues to spike, calls for mass vaccination have also gathered steam.

Several states across the country have flagged off mass vaccination campaigns, Oyo State being one of the latest to join the move.

But on Tuesday, Nigeria destroyed one million, sixty-six thousand, two hundred and fourteen (1,066,214) doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, raising concerns over the COVID-19 vaccination drive.

The vaccines, according to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, (NAFDAC) and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), were part of the 2,594,100 doses received on the 11th and 29th October of 2021.

One million, five hundred and twenty-seven thousand, eight hundred and Eighty-six of the vaccines (1,527,886) were utilised, they added.

The batches of the vaccine destroyed got expired in November.

They were destroyed at the Gosa Dumping site, about 2Km from the Idu Railway Station in Abuja.

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