Eleven of the 20 local government areas that account for 60 per cent of COVID-19 cases are in Lagos State, a Nigeria Centre for Disease Control’s (NCDC’s) report has shown.

The report, which was obtained at the weekend, showed Lagos Mainland council had the highest number (1,274) of COVID-19 cases. Nigeria has 774 local government areas.

Trailing Lagos Mainland are Abuja Municipal council with 536 cases, Mushin Local Government Area in Lagos (458), Eti-Osa Local Government Arae in Lagos (403) and Tarauni in Kano State (248).

According to the NCDC report, 62,583 samples had been tested as at May 30 and about 10,023 contacts of positive patients had been followed up till date.

The report said 7,276 confirmed cases (74 per cent) have unknown sources of exposure, giving credence to heightened community transmission.

The report was posted before the national tally shot up to 10,162 after the NCDC confirmed 307 new cases on Sunday night

The Male accounted for 67 per cent of the cases and female 33 per cent.

As at Monday, only Cross River State had not recorded a confirmed COVID-19 case.

The report put the Cases Fatality Rate (CFR) at three per cent.

The 20 councils and the number of cases are: Mainland (1,274), Abuja Municipal (536), Mushin (458), Eti-Osa (403), Tarauni (248), Katsina (242), Alimosho (239), Maiduguri (167), Kosofe (175), Dutse (170), Ikeja (168), Nassarawa (152), Oshodi/Isolo (132), Apapa (131), Amuwo Odofin (129), Oredo (126), Bauchi (114), Lagos Island (111), Surulere (110) and Ado Odo/Ota (107).

Speaking on Monday, Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 control, Boss Mustapha said Nigeria is yet to reach the “peak” of infections.

Mustapha, who doubles as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), urged Nigerian to pursue a strategy that would aid the sustainable control of the spread of the disease.

He said the risk of communications and community engagement should remain top priority.

He added that precision approached to containment and management should be adopted based on the overall assessment, including available data on the public health considerations and resultant economic impacts.

Also on Sunday after leading members of the PTF to President Muhammadu Buhari and discuss the committee’s recommendations on the next phase of the battle, Mustapha said there was nothing to despair as the country strikes a balance between livelihoods and life.

According to him, the ramping up of tests accounted for the rise in cases, adding that he spoke with Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

The PTF chair said: “Yesterday (Saturady) when I saw the 553 figure, I called the governor of Lagos, I thought he was going to be under intense pressure, but surprisingly, he said no, that it was expected because testing had been ramped up and as you ramp up your testing, it reveals what is happening in your community that prepares better for the kind of management care you will put in place.

“We are not worried about it as to whether the numbers will increase? They will increase.”

Mustapha said the various efforts have been yielding dividends and maintained that the battle was far from being over.

He said: “We are winning. As a matter of fact, you juxtapose the rate of cases with our fatality rate, which is basically about three per cent, in other countries and other climes, it’s over 10 per cent, but the most important thing that you will realise, when we started this exercise, we had only five testing stations, now we’ve ramped it up to 28, without correspondent increase in the number of deaths. We’ve gone beyond 60,000 tests now. That reflects in the number of confirmed cases

”We’ve not reached the peak yet and I won’t want to fool Nigerians by telling them that we are out of the woods. No, we are not out of the woods.

“As we even open up and accommodate more enterprises, because we are trying to have a balance between livelihoods and life, there’s a likelihood of increase in cases.

“But that should not be a source of despair. Like we’ve always said, the experts will tell you over 80 per cent will contact Coronavirus and will not even notice that they have and that accounts for what is happening at the isolation centres when you see young men saying they are not sick and asking why they are being kept there. They are asymptomatic, they don’t show symptoms and they will wear it out.

Four hundred and sixteen fresh COVID-19 cases were announced in 19 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Monday night by the NCDC

The new cases took the national tally to 10, 578.

According to the NCDC, 3, 122 patients have so far been discharged and 299 deaths recorded.

Lagos, the epicentre of the Coronavirus pandemic, recorded 192 cases.

Other states are: Edo (41); Rivers (33); Kaduna (30); Kwara (23); Nasarawa (18); Borno (17); FCT (14); Oyo (10); Katsina (seven); five each in Abia and Delta; Adamawa and Kano (four each); Imo and Ondo (three each); two each in Benue, Bauchi and Ogun and a case in Niger. (The Nation)

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