The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Wednesday recorded 284 new cases of COVID-19 in the country, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 6677.
The health agency said that till date, 6,677 cases have been confirmed with 4,637 Active Cases, 1, 840 cases have been discharged and 200 deaths have been recorded in 34 States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Also on Wednesday, eight new patients have been confirmed dead to the virus in the country, brought the total number of deaths to 200.
NCDC also explained that most of the fatalities recorded from COVID-19 were cases with other underlying illnesses known as co-morbidities.
NCDC said that the 284 new cases were reported from 13 States, namely, Lagos(199), Rivers(26), Oyo(19), FCT(8), Borno (8), Plateau(7), Jigawa (6), Kano (5), Abia(2), Ekiti(1), Delta(1), Kwara (1), Taraba (1).
The NCDC noted that from the the two States of Kogi and Cross River with no reported COVID-19 case, no new case has been reported in the last 24 hours.
NCDC reports that on May 18, eight new cases in Zamfara State were erroneously announced.
“Therefore, as at May 20, 2020, Zamfara has recorded a total of 76 confirmed cases.
“We apologise to Zamfara State for this error and reiterate our commitment to accurate and transparent reporting of data,” it stated.
The health agency said sometimes, COVID-19 test results take longer than 96 hours due to sample transport and other logistics.
“While we work hard to reduce time between sample collection and result notification, please take preventive measures.
“Self-isolation is important,” it stated.
NCDC also said that it does not own quarantine or treatment centres which are the responsibility of the State governments or relavent teaching hospital.
The NCDC said that it only provides guidance on set-up of standard isolation centres, national case management guidelines and training to health workers.