Twenty-four hours before Nigeria enters its fifth month after confirming the index case of COVID-19, the country’s tally has exceeded 40,000 infections.

The first case of the coronavirus was confirmed in the country on February 27, 2020.

With 555 new cases confirmed in 17 states and the federal capital territory (FCT) by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Sunday, a total of 40,532 infections have now been recorded across the country.

According to the breakdown given, Lagos topped the list of states with new cases with 156 infections, followed by Kano with 65.

The number of recoveries has also exceeded 17,000, with a total of 17,374 people discharged so far across the country.

However, two patients were confirmed to have died of COVID-19 complications, bringing the country’s current total fatality toll to 858.

Lagos currently accounts for a significant number of infections with 14,456 people confirmed to have contracted the virus, but 2,075 of them have been discharged, while over 12,000 cases are still active cases.

Meanwhile, Kogi has the lowest figure of confirmed cases with five infections, out of which three persons have been discharged, while two have died.

So far, more than 260,000 samples have been tested across the country.

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The figures for Sunday showed a significant increase over the past month, with more than 15,000 fresh cases, and over 300 new deaths.

As of June 26, 2020, while 554 deaths had been recorded, a total of 23,298 infections were confirmed in 35 states and the FCT — Cross River was yet to record any case at the time.

However, within the same four-week period, the recovery rate has more than doubled, increasing from 8,253 to over 17,000 recoveries.