By ABUJAH RACHEAL

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has announced 479 new cases of Coronavirus (COVID-19), bringing the total number of infections in Nigeria to 156,496.

The NCDC disclosed the figure on its official Twitter handle on Tuesday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that since the outbreak of the disease in the country, the number of people who have contracted the virus has risen to 156,496, out of which 134,551 have recovered and discharged.

The health agency recorded additional eight COVID-19-related deaths in the past 24 hours, raising the total number of fatalities to 1,923 since Feb. 27, 2020 when the index case was reported.

The NCDC stated that the 479 new infections were reported across 21 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) which had 40.

Lagos State recorded 153 new cases but no death.

The NCDC stated that till date, 56,001 people have contracted COVID-19 in Lagos State, 53,805 of whom have fully recovered and discharged. It said 410 COVID-19 patients in the state had succumbed.

Other states which recorded new COVID-19 infections were Enugu 75; Rivers 50; Kaduna 18; Ebonyi 17; Plateau 17; Edo 17, Borno 16 and Oyo 12.

Kano State reported 11; Abia 10; Cross River 10; Taraba nine; Nasarawa seven; Bauchi four; Bayelsa three; Delta three; Ekiti two; Niger two; Ogun two and Akwa Ibom one.

The NCDC said that 647 people have been discharged from the various isolation centres in the country, after testing negative to the virus.

The agency said that the number of active cases in the country have dropped to 19,613.

It noted that a multi-sectoral National Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), activated at Level 3, had continued to coordinate the national response activities in the country.

Meanwhile, 368 days after it recorded its index case, Nigeria on Tuesday received 3.94 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines.

NCDC expressed the hope that the arrival of the vaccines would soon change the narrative.

“Together we shall win… One step closer to ending this pandemic. No one is safe, if all of us are not safe,” the health agency said. (NAN)

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