The number of people testing positive for coronavirus has risen sharply in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial hub which is also Africa’s biggest city.
The test positivity rate has jumped to 12.1% as of Aug. 21 from 7% at the end of July, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the governor of the state said in an emailed statement. The state has also recorded a total of 135 deaths since the third wave of infections started at the end of June when the test positivity rate was 1.1%, Sanwo-Olu said.
“We are now clearly in the middle of third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and Lagos has remained the epicenter of the disease in Nigeria,” he said. A total of 4,387 persons are currently being treated for the illness in the state. The number of oxygen cylinders used has also shot up to 400 daily when compared to just 75 cylinders before the current wave.
The state plans to start a new vaccination round from Aug. 25 with 300,000 doses of Moderna vaccines it received from the federal government.
