The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, says the number of persons in the state that died from COVID-19 related complications had increased to 506.
Abayomi said this through his Facebook account @ProfAkinolaAbayomi on Sunday, while giving the state’s COVID-19 update for August 20.
He said that 11 persons died from COVID-19 related complications on the reported day, increasing the state’s fatality figure from the virus to 506.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that deaths, recorded between August 1 to August 20, accounted for 122 out of the 506 total deaths recorded in the state, since the beginning of the pandemic.
The 11 deaths recorded on August 20, represented the second highest number of daily deaths recorded in the state, as the state had earlier recorded 13 deaths on August 10.
Abayomi disclosed that the state recorded 239 new COVID-19 infections, out of the 2,750 tests conducted on Friday, bringing the state’s total infections to 70,563.
The commissioner also said 4,387 persons with active COVID-19 cases, were receiving treatment under the state’s home-based care.
He added that 227 COVID-19 infected patients were being managed at the state’s isolation centres.
According to him, 60,716 of the infected persons had so far, recovered in communities, while 4,716 recovered in the state’s COVID-19 isolation centres.
The commissioner added that the total number of COVID-19 tests conducted in the state since the outbreak of the pandemic, stood at 662,826.
Earlier, Abayomi had said that the battle to defeat the pandemic was still on and Lagos was currently in a third wave of the pandemic.
He added that it was not certain, if this would be the last wave, or whether there would be more waves or live with COVID-19 as a fact of life.
“As we all know, Lagos state is currently running home-based care in the management of COVID-19 cases.
“The state does not have enough bed spaces to isolate patients and this is not peculiar to Lagos state alone,” he said.
He noted that the state was currently under stress in the management of the pandemic.
Abayomi said there was a critical need to strike a balance, between managing a public health crisis and COVID and ensuring the state’s economy remains active.
NAN