Nigeria Centre for  Disease Control (NCDC) has announced 454 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 27,564.

Twelve deaths were recorded from the virus on Friday bringing the total number of confirmed deaths from the virus to 628.

There was a drop in the number of confirmed cases reported on Friday (454) compared to what was reported on Thursday (626).

The health agency in a tweet Friday night said the new cases were reported in 19 states.

These are Lagos, Edo, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Ondo, Benue, Abia, Ogun, Oyo, Kaduna, Delta, Enugu, Borno, Plateau, Nasarawa, Kano, Bauchi, Gombe Katsina, and the Kogi States.

All the reporting states already had at least a case of the virus.

As of the time of reporting, 35 states and the FCT have recorded at least a case of the disease. Only one state, Cross River, is yet to officially report any case of the virus although there are controversies about it.

Newsmen reported on Friday that five new confirmed cases of COVID -19 had been diagnosed at the University of Calabar. This brings the total unofficial reported cases in the state to six.

However, the Cross River State Government has insisted that there are no confirmed cases of the virus within its territory.

Lagos remains the epicenter of the disease in the country. Zamfara has not reported any new confirmed case in the past 46 days.

“To date, 27, 546 cases have been confirmed, 11, 069 cases have been discharged and 628deaths have been recorded in 35 states and the Federal Capital Territory,” the NCDC stated.

The 454 new cases were reported from 19 states: Lagos – 87, Edo – 63, FCT – 60, Ondo – 41, Benue – 32, Abia – 31, Ogun – 29, Oyo – 19, Kaduna – 17, Delta – 16, Enugu – 15, Borno – 14, Plateau – 9, Nasarawa – 8, Kano – 5, Bauchi – 4, Gombe – 2, Katsina – 1 and Kogi – 1.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak in Nigeria in February, NCDC said 144, 833 samples have so far been tested.

A breakdown of the 27, 564 confirmed cases shows that Lagos State has so far reported 10, 910 cases, followed by FCT – 2, 080, Oyo – 1, 451, Kano – 1, 262, Edo – 1, 269, Delta – 1, 165, Rivers – 1, 114, Ogun –927, Kaduna – 835, Katsina – 579, Bauchi – 516, Gombe – 513, Borno – 515, Ebonyi – 483, Plateau – 402, Ondo – 394, Imo – 352, Abia – 482, Enugu – 357, Jigawa – 318, Kwara – 369, Bayelsa – 324, Nasarawa – 221, Sokoto – 152, Osun – 148, Niger – 116, Akwa Ibom – 104, Adamawa – 89, Kebbi – 81, Zamfara – 76, Anambra – 73, Benue – 97, Yobe – 61, Ekiti – 43, Taraba – 19 and Kogi – 5.

The Director-General, NCDC, Chikwe Ihekweazu, on Thursday, said, “Statistics show the major drivers of COVID-19 spread are the younger populations, however people with underlying medical conditions and the elderly are most vulnerable.”

He explained during the Presidential Task Force briefing on Friday that NCDC data showed that most cases are in people aged 20-40, while most deaths are in those above 50

He said people over 50 years and those with preexisting medical conditions like diabetes are at a higher risk of complications due to COVID-19.