Nigeria on Saturday recorded a heavy number of casualties in the ongoing fight against COVID-19 after 21 patients lost their lives as result of the virus complication.

In the same vein, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control says the nation registered one of its highest daily cases when 1,305 persons tested positive for coronavirus on Christmas Day.

According to the NCDC, 16 of the lives lost were recorded in Imo.

The 21 deaths recorded on Christmas Day increased Nigeria’s death toll to the virus to 3,014 from the 2,993 level of Friday.

The virus hit densely-populated Lagos State hardest as 705 persons went under it’s hammer while the world was celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.

The virus was not as successful in the state on Christmas Day as it was on Christmas Eve when it hit 833 persons, showing a decrease of 128 cases.

The NCDC stated on Sunday that Oyo State had 234 infections on Christmas Day, Ondo State had 88 infections, and Kaduna State had 79 cases, while Rivers had 78 infections.

It added that Ogun State had 30 infections, Anambra had 25, Kano State had 24, and Enugu State had 12, while Ekiti State had 11 new infections.

Jigawa, Plateau, and Osun State reported six cases each, while Zamfara had one infection.

Christmas Day’s infections took the national total to 236,014 cases out of which 212,357 persons have been treated and discharged.

Nigeria has tested 3,751,696 samples since the virus was announced on Feb. 27, 2020.

-NAN