Nigeria Records 20 New COVID-19 Deaths: NCDC

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20 new COVID-19 deaths were recorded by the country on Thursday, making the fatality toll the highest in last two weeks.

This figure brings to a total of 833 people that have died of COVID-19 complications since the pandemic hit Nigeria.

According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), 604 new COVID-19 infections were recorded on Thursday in 20 states and the federal capital territory (FCT).

The agency, however, stated that the 15 deaths recorded in Lagos on Thursday included previously unreported fatalities ā€” bringing the total number of COVID-19 fatalities in the state to 192 deaths(highest in Nigeria).

NCDC reported that 246 patients were discharged on July 23, increasing the figure from 15,815 to 16,061.

Read Also:Ā Lagos COVID-19 Cases Likely To Peak In August ā€” Abayomi

Chikwe Ihekweazu, director-general of the NCDC while speaking at the presidential task force (PTF) on COVID-19 briefing on Thursday, said that it would be determined within the next few weeks, if rapid test kits can be deployed for COVID-19.

ā€œWeā€™ve been working with the medical laboratory science council of Nigeria to validate a number of kits; there are two that are showing good promise,ā€ he said.

ā€œSo, that validation process is ongoing at the moment and in the next couple of weeks, weā€™ll be able to know at least whether those first two that showed the most progress are able to be included into our testing algorithm.ā€