NCDC reports 298 new COVID-19 case, total of infection hits 49,068

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has reported 298 new cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19), bringing the total number of infections in the country to 49,068.

The NCDC made this known on its official twitter handle late on Sunday.

According to it, one death was recorded in the country.

According to the health agency, 36,497 patients have now been discharged, with a total of 975 patients losing their lives to the virus.

The centre added that Plateau had the highest number of infections recoded for the day with 108 cases, followed by Kaduna with 49 cases.

Lagos, still with the highest number of cases in the country, recorded the third highest number of cases for the day, with 47 newly infected people.

Amongst others were, Ogun (18), Osun (17), FCT (15), Ondo (14), Edo (8), Oyo (6), Akwa Ibom (4), Cross River (4), Borno (3), Ekiti (2), Bauchi (1), Kano (1) and Rivers (1)

It stated that till date, while 49,068 cases have been confirmed, and 36,497 cases discharged, 975 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

The NCDC said that a multi-sectoral national emergency operations centre (EOC), activated at Level 3, has continued to coordinate the national response activities across the country.

The health agency said that properly fitted face masks would allow adequate air flow and still offer protection from COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases.

“Wear a mask properly. Covering your nose and mouth, no gaps, secured with straps and at least three layers of fabric,” it advised.

Meanwhile, the health agency says it is making use of SORMAS, a digital surveillance tool which facilitates real-time reporting of cases of epidemic-prone diseases including COVID-19 by health workers across the country.

“By digitalising disease surveillance data, states are able to share information and engage in rapid decision-making,” it said.

It was reported that seven African countries will start testing for COVID-19 antibodies beginning next week in an effort to understand the extent of the outbreak of the virus in Africa.

The countries, which will be the first set, are Liberia, Sierra Leone, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Morocco, according to the Africa CDC.