Delta State has recorded the highest number of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in a single day.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) confirmed 83 COVID-19 cases for the State on Saturday.
The development brings the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the State to 501.
The State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa had earlier said the level of infection was on the rise due to the lackadaisical attitude of people who erroneously believe that the pandemic was a fluke.
The Governor lamented that COVID-19 treatment centres in the State were already full of patients, emphasising that caution was needed to manage the alarming rate of infection and transmission.
While speaking on Friday with Government House Correspondents on the level of infection of the dreaded disease in the State and other parts of the country, Okowa urged Deltans and other residents of the State to always observe all precautionary measures against COVID-19 in order to checkmate community transmission.
He further stressed that the rising cases were due to community transmission and failure of people to observe prescribed protocols such as wearing of face mask in public places, social and physical distancing and other measures to keep the virus in check.
He advocated the need for everybody to be at alert as the level of immunity of people differs, pointing out that those with symptoms of the disease should go to the hospital for treatment before they become a big risk to their family members, friends and colleagues.
While saying that his administration would do everything possible to manage the situation, Governor Okowa appealed to residents of the state to avoid large congregation of people so as to mitigate the spread of the disease.
“I want to plead with all Deltans that it is time for us to realise that there is community transmission of the disease which can affect anybody if adequate care was not taken,” Okowa said.
The governor expressed worry that some states in the country would surpass the figures recorded in Lagos State due to the failure of most Nigerians to comply with all the laid down rules.
Governor Okowa opined that the dreaded COVID-19 could only be eliminated with behavioural change of the entire citizens of the country.
TNG reports that NCDC confirmed 661 cases of COVID-19 in Nigeria on Saturday.
Lagos recorded 230, Rivers-127, FCT-60, Oyo-51, Edo-31, Bayelsa-27, Kaduna-25, Plateau-13, Ondo-6, Nasarawa-3, Ekiti-2, Kano-2, and Borno-1.
There are now 19,808 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country; 6,718 discharged with 506 deaths.
A breakdown of cases by state can be found via https://t.co/zQrpNeOfet#TakeResponsibility pic.twitter.com/m6ZlZ6k1jD
— NCDC (@NCDCgov) June 20, 2020