More than two-thirds of the over 150,000 people infected by COVID-19 in Nigeria have recovered after treatment.
Nigeria on Friday recorded 10 deaths from COVID-19 raising the fatality toll in the past two days to 26.
Friday’s figure raised the total fatalities in the country to 1,813.
Nigeria also recorded 662 new infections on Friday, according to the country’s infectious disease agency, NCDC.
The new figure reported from 23 states raised the total infections in the country to 150,908.
Since the start of the second wave of COVID-19 last December, Nigeria has recorded more cases of the virus.
An average of over 1,000 cases have been reported daily since the beginning of 2021.
Nearly half of Nigeria’s total infections were recorded this year with about 65,000 infections reported since January 1, 2021.
Meanwhile, health experts say the official numbers do not give a “full picture” of the outbreak in the country. They say low testing in many states across the country means infections have been under-reported, a situation considered the biggest challenge in the nation’s management of the outbreak.
A recent general fact sheet published by the NCDC further exposed the gulf in testing for COVID-19 in Kogi and many other states.
Recoveries
More than two-thirds of the over 150,000 people infected by COVID-19 in Nigeria have recovered after treatment.
The figure indicates the level of success the country’s health professionals have recorded in containing the virus.
According to NCDC data published Friday night, a total of 127,500 have recovered after treatment.
Although people who recover from a viral infection often develop immunity against the same disease, it remains unclear whether this is the case with COVID-19 infection.
Meanwhile, about 21,000 infections are still active in the country.
Specifics
The 662 new cases were reported from 23 states – Lagos (167), FCT (116), Ogun (45), Kano (44), Akwa Ibom (35), Edo (34), Rivers (27), Kaduna (23), Osun (23), Kwara (22), Taraba (22), Oyo (20), Ondo (19), Plateau (14), Abia (11), Imo (11), Nasarawa (7), Niger (6), Bayelsa (5), Delta (5), Enugu (3), Ekiti (2), and Jigawa (1).
Lagos had the highest toll in Friday’s tally with 167 new cases followed by FCT and Ogun with 116 and 45 infections respectively.
Since the pandemic broke out in February last year, Nigeria has carried out over 1.3 million tests.
