The bed occupancy level in public and private care centres in Lagos for COVID-19 has increased to 53 per cent, according to the state commissioner for health, Akin Abayomi.

Mr Abayomi made this known through his Facebook account @ProfAkinolaAbayomi Tuesday while giving the state’s COVID-19 update for September 5.

He said that in line with the state’s mitigation strategy, Lagos was increasing the number of isolation centres available to treat the pandemic during this third wave.

He listed the centres as Infectious Disease Hospital 1, Yaba, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) Armour, Paelon, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) and Federal Medical Centre, Ebute Metta, INDO, Grover and Gbagada Isolation Centre.

The commissioner said the care centres had a 410-bed capacity, with 193-bed spaces currently unoccupied.

He noted that the state recorded 185 new COVID-19 infections on the reported date, increasing the state’s total COVID-19 infections to 73,995.

He stated that the total number of COVID-19 tests conducted in the state since the inception of the pandemic stood at 700,999.

According to him, 73 per cent of the tests were conducted by private laboratories accredited by the state government, while 27 per cent at the state public laboratories.

He said that 4,883 COVID-19 patients who had successfully treated and recovered got discharged from the state’s care centres.

“Total number of COVID-19 recovery in communities is 65,128. Cases currently under isolation are 231, while active cases under home-based care are 3,180,” he stated.

Mr Abayomi noted that the state recorded three new COVID-19 related fatalities, increasing the total deaths to 573.

“During the third wave of this pandemic, we have recorded about 199 COVID-19 related deaths in Lagos state,” he said.

He said Lagos has a 10.6 per cent average positivity rate and 0.77 per cent fatality rate.