The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) reported 119 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday.
In a Twitter update via its verified handle, the government agency said there are now 62,111 confirmed cases of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus in Nigeria.
A total number of 57,571 people it added, have so far been discharged from hospital, while the death toll has risen to 1,132.
In Africa, South Africa’s health ministry reported 24 additional COVID-19 deaths, bringing the country’s total to 18,968. South Africa has the most recorded coronavirus cases in Africa, with Johns Hopkins putting its cumulative case number at 715,868.
Coronavirus cases have risen over the last few months in several regions of the world and infections worldwide exceeded 40 million.
According to the Johns Hopkins University, 42,973,785 infections have been confirmed worldwide, while 1,154,068 have so far died from the virus. While 381,988 new infections were recorded on Monday around the world, 3,943 died from the virus.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) says national lockdowns could be avoided to fight the latest surge of coronavirus cases if people are willing to make sacrifices and “if everyone plays their part.”
On Monday, Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical lead on COVID-19, said she hoped countries would use other tools to stop transmission, including strengthening their surveillance, testing and contact tracing systems.
She said people should take personal responsibility for everyday decisions, like whether or not they should go out to crowded places, avoiding closed settings and postponing social gatherings.
WHO’s emergencies chief Dr. Michael Ryan noted that 46 per cent of all global COVID-19 cases last week were reported in Europe.
“Right now we are well behind this virus in Europe, so getting ahead of it is going to take some serious acceleration in what we do,” he said.
