By Reuters Staff

       2 Min Read

       FILE PHOTO: Dr Ngong Cyprian receives his first dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine from Dr Faisal Shuaib, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, at the National hospital in Abuja, Nigeria, March 5, 2021. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde

       LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria has put six states on red alert after seeing a “worrisome” rise in COVID-19 infections, a government official said, urging people to curb gatherings and hold prayers outside mosques during this week’s Muslim festival Eid-el-Kabir.

       Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, is like most parts of the continent now facing a COVID-19 third wave after detecting the more transmissible Delta variant.

       The head of the presidential steering committee on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, said Lagos, Oyo, Rivers, Kaduna, Kano, Plateau and the Federal Capital Territory had been placed on red alert as part of preventive measures against the pandemic.

       A red alert allows authorities in the states to restrict celebrations and gatherings to a minimum.

       “These steps are critical as we begin to see worrisome early signs of increasing cases in Nigeria,” Mustapha said in a statement.

       Mustapha said there was potential for wider spread of the virus during the Eid-el-Kabir gatherings and said Friday prayers should be held outside local mosques.

       He also suspended Durbar, an annual Muslim festival in northern Nigeria, which is marked by colourful horse riding events watched by large gatherings.

       Last week, Nigeria, which has recorded 169,329 cases and 2,126 deaths said it expected to receive nearly 8 million additional doses of COVID-19 vaccines by the end of August, including from a U.S. government donation.

       Reporting by Felix Onuah, Writing by MacDonald Dzirutwe

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