At least 95 new cases of coronavirus have been registered in The Gambia as the death toll rise to nine.

Many of the tests results were conducted on staff of Medical Research Council (MRC) and Sharab Medical Centre, and most of the cases are said to be local transmission.

The country has to date recorded 529 cases of the virus.

The Ministry of Health said on Friday:”One new death registered, bringing to 9 the total number of documented COVID-19 related deaths in the country –  a crude case-fatality ratio of 1.8%.

“95 new cases registered, the highest reported thus far in a single day, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases ever confirmed in the country to 498 cases. 

“A significant proportion of these resulted from the mass institutional tests conducted on staff of MRC and Sharab Medical Center.”

“Only a soupçon (a few) of the new cases were imported – the bulk of the cases were locally transmitted,” the Ministry of Health added.

Reporting by Adama Makasuba