By ABUJAH RACHEAL

Nigeria on Monday recorded 565 new COVD-19 cases and eight deaths, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has said.

The NCDC stated this on Tuesday.

The centre said that this brings the total infections, since the index case in 2020, to 187, 588.

The NCDC attributed the surge to the highly transmissible Delta variant and low vaccination rates across the country.

The centre also said that eight COVID-19 related deaths were reported on Monday, bringing the total fatality figure to 2,276.

The NCDC stated that the new cases were reported in 13 states and the FCT.

It noted that Lagos state recorded the highest infections with 205 while Rivers followed with 73 cases, Ondo 63, FCT 53, Oyo 53, Ekiti 37, Delta 24, Edo 20, and Benue 12.

Others are Bayelsa six, Kwara six, Osun six, Ogun five, and Adamawa two.

According to the centre, Monday’s report includes a backlog of cases of seven cases reported from Benue on Aug. 17, one on Aug. 18 and four on Aug. 19.

The Public Health agency did not indicate if majority of the known active cases were from the contagious Delta variant.

The agency stated that over 2,727,834 million people had been tested while 168,818 patients recovered following the discharge of 363 additional people on Sunday.

The centre added that the multi-sectoral national emergency operations centre, activated at Level II, has continued to coordinate the national response activities.

Meanwhile, the agency announced that its toll free number has been changed to “Dial 6232 for FREE

“If you have a cough, you are feverish and any of these symptoms: Loss of taste/smell, difficulty breathing, diarrhoea, catarrh, fatigue, ‪shivering, body pain, headache and sore throat, Please stay at home and contact your state ministry of health via http://covid19.ncdc.gov.ng/contact. (NAN)

Update news