REPORT AFRIQUE

Nigeria on Saturday recorded 49 new cases of coronavirus infected persons, bringing the total infections to 542 in the country, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

In a tweet via its official handle, the NCDC said 23 cases were identified in Lagos, 12 in the FCT, 10 in Kano, two in Ogun and one each in Oyo and Ekiti.

The agency also recorded an increase in the number of deaths to 19, while 166 patients have been discharged.

Nigeria’s number of infections are expected to continue to rise, as the NCDC has said it is ramping up testing across the country.

COVID-19 deaths in Africa have already passed 1,000 and the country announced the death of Abba Kyari, top aide to President Muhammadu Buhari, on Saturday.

In Europe, the death toll surged past 100,000 on Saturday. A total of 2,310,572 cases have recorded worldwide, 590,682 recovered patients and 158,691 deaths.