Nigeria’s coronavirus infection rate recorded a new high for the month of August on Saturday, with 601 infections confirmed in 20 states and the federal capital territory (FCT).
Although it isn’t the first time the country will hit 600 cases, this is the first time in August that more than 600 samples will test positive — before Saturday, the highest recorded for the month was 593, which was confirmed on August 19.
The new figure was announced by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in its update for August 22.
According to the breakdown, Lagos alone accounted for 67 percent of the new infections with 404 positive samples — this is the highest figure the state has ever recorded.
The number of new cases confirmed in Lagos represented a significant increase from the state’s daily count in the past 24 hours — Lagos recorded 33 infections on Friday.
Meanwhile, according to the agency, the number of discharged patients rose on Friday with 882 new recoveries confirmed — more than 600 were from Lagos.
However, one new death was confirmed, increasing the current number of fatalities to 997.
Out of more than 370,000 samples now tested across the country, 51,905 have contracted the coronavirus, with a total of 38,767 recoveries recorded.
