Nigeria has recorded 471 fresh cases of the novel coronavirus as resident doctors across the country continue to strike over unpaid benefits.
The new cases were reported on Sunday from 13 states, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
Lagos took the lead with 219 cases and was followed by Akwa Ibom (102) and Ondo (37).
Other states which recorded new cases include Kwara (19), Rivers (16), Ekiti (15), Delta (14), Ogun (7), FCT (5), Niger (2), Edo (1) and Katsina (1).
Till date, Nigeria has recorded 178,086 cases of the virus with 165,763 of them discharged and 2,187 deaths.
Doctors’ strike
Nigeria has recently seen an uptick in new cases of COVID-19 as fears of a third wave continues to loom amid a doctors’ strike which commenced on August 2.
The doctors, under the aegis of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), are asking the Federal Government to complete payment of salaries and bonuses among other demands.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, has threatened to replace striking doctors for not following due process in abandoning their posts, stoking worries that the strike may be prolonged.
To prepare for the surge in new cases, the government has advised Nigerians to adhere to health protocols such as wearing of masks and social distancing, especially in indoor settings.
The second phase of vaccination was also expected to kickstart on Tuesday after the US donated over four million of the Moderna vaccine.
However, the government in a statement on Sunday said the exercise has postponed due to “unforeseen circumstances.”
Only about one percent of the population has been fully vaccinated, so far.
Global Update
The novel coronavirus has killed at least 4,287,427 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 1000 GMT on Sunday.
At least 202,274,390 cases of coronavirus have been registered. The vast majority have recovered, though some have continued to experience symptoms weeks or even months later.
The figures are based on daily reports provided by health authorities in each country.
They exclude revisions made by other statistical organisations, which show that the number of deaths is much higher.
The World Health Organization estimates that the pandemic’s overall toll could be two to three times higher than official records, due to the excess mortality that is directly and indirectly linked to Covid-19.
A large number of the less severe or asymptomatic cases also remain undetected, despite intensified testing in many countries.
On Saturday, 9,373 new deaths and 691,420 new cases were recorded worldwide.
Based on latest reports, the countries with the most new deaths were Indonesia with 1,498 new deaths, followed by Brazil with 990 and United States with 856.
The United States is the worst-affected country with 616,718 deaths from 35,739,777 cases.
After the US, the hardest-hit countries are Brazil with 562,752 deaths from 20,151,779 cases, India with 427,862 deaths from 31,934,455 cases, Mexico with 244,248 deaths from 2,964,244 cases, and Peru with 196,873 deaths from 2,124,128 cases.
The country with the highest number of deaths compared to its population is Peru with 597 fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Hungary with 311, Bosnia-Herzegovina with 295, the Czech Republic with 284, and Brazil with 265.
Latin America and the Caribbean overall has 1,390,154 deaths from 41,489,417 cases, Europe 1,211,528 deaths from 59,486,360 infections, and Asia 699,596 deaths from 46,115,997 cases.
The United States and Canada has reported 643,381 deaths from 37,177,857 cases, Africa 176,624 deaths from 6,985,972 cases, the Middle East 164,695 deaths from 10,925,737 cases, and Oceania 1,449 deaths from 93,054 cases.
As a result of corrections by national authorities or late publication of data, the figures updated over the past 24 hours may not correspond exactly to the previous day’s tallies.