The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Thursday confirmed 339 new cases of COVID-19 in the country, bringing the total number of infections to 7,016.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that nine new patients have been confirmed dead to the virus, bringing the total number of deaths in the country to 211.

The health agency explained that most of the fatalities recorded from COVID-19 were cases with other underlying illnesses known as co-morbidities.

NCDC said that the 339 new cases were confirmed in 18 states, while nine deaths were recorded in Nigeria as at May 21.

The 339 new cases were reported from Lagos(139), Kano(28), Oyo(28), Edo(25), Katsina(22), Kaduna(18), Jigawa (14), Yobe(13), Plateau (13), FCT(11), Gombe(8), Ogun(5), Bauchi(4), Nasarawa(4), Delta(3), Ondo(2), Rivers(1), Adamawa(1).

The health agency said that till date 7,016 cases have been confirmed, with 4,898 Active Cases, while 1,907 cases have been discharged and 211 deaths have been recorded in 34 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

NAN also reports that NCDC said it would continue to work with different stakeholders to provide communities across the country with the right information to stay safe.

“We are grateful to the Nigerian Association of Technologists in Engineering for supporting national COVID19 response with face masks and hand sanitisers.

“We continue to work with professional bodies in the whole-of-society response to COVID19,” it said.

The health agency emphasised that regular handwashing was very important to reduce the risk of spread of COVID19.

“An important moment to wash your hands is after handling money, especially if you are handling or eating food,” it advised. (NAN)