Daily COVID Tracker: Deaths surge as NCDC records 93 fatalities, 362 infections

Nigeria on Sunday recorded 362 coronavirus infections. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Monday. 

UAE now accepts tourist visa applications from persons vaccinated against COVID

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) says it will start accepting tourist visa applications from people who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus from August 30.

The visa application will be open to people from all countries, including those arriving from countries that were previously barred entry.

The UAE said the development is part of its strategy to “create a balance between public health and the activities of vital sectors” and to achieve recovery and economic growth.

Ize-Iyamu asks Edo residents to get COVID vaccine

Osagie Ize-Iyamu, former governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo state, has advised residents to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Ize-Iyamu made the appeal on Sunday during the COVID vaccination exercise which took place in various churches in Benin, the Edo capital.

Last week, Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo, flagged off the second phase of the state’s COVID-19 vaccination exercise.

Obaseki also said those who cannot show proof of taking at least one dose of the COVID vaccine may not be allowed to worship in mosques and churches from September.

Ize-Iyamu commended the government for making the vaccines available to Edo people, adding that he, alongside his wife and children, has taken two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Japan to mix COVID-19 vaccines to speed up rollout

Japan is considering mixing doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine with those developed by other drugmakers in a bid to speed up its vaccine rollout.

Japan previously relied on the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines but approved AstraZeneca vaccine in July.

AstraZeneca is administered in two doses with an interval of eight weeks.

“I have asked the health ministry to come up with an opinion about the use of AstraZeneca vaccine for the first dose and Pfizer’s with the second, or the AstraZeneca’s as the first shot and Moderna as second,” Taro Kono, vaccine programme chief, said on Sunday.

Kono said this could speed up the vaccination by shortening the intervals between the first and second shots.

Nigeria records 362 infections and 93 deaths

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says 362 people tested positive for coronavirus on Sunday.

The latest positive samples of COVID-19 were recorded in 14 states and the federal capital territory (FCT), according to the agency’s update for August 29, 2021.

Lagos, the hardest-hit state by the pandemic, topped the COVID-19 infection chart with 200 fresh infections, while Oyo recorded 33 and 30 in Kwara.

Other states include Akwa Ibom (24), Ogun (17), Delta (15), Ekiti (15), Plateau (7), Rivers (7), FCT (5), Anambra (3), Edo (3), Bayelsa (1), Kaduna (1), and Kano (1).

The NCDC said 236 patients were discharged after recovering from the infection, raising the country’s total number of recoveries to 178,283.

However, 93 additional persons were confirmed to have died of COVID-19 complications, bringing the fatality toll across the 36 states and the FCT to 2,454.

A total of 191,345 coronavirus cases have now been confirmed across the country.

According to the NCDC, the figures reported on Sunday included a backlog of deaths from Lagos, as well as a backlog of cases reported over the past three days from Delta.

New Zealand reports first death linked to Pfizer COVID vaccine

New Zealand has reported the country’s first death said to be linked to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.

The ministry of health said the death was reported after a woman received the vaccine.

“This is the first case in New Zealand where a death in the days following vaccination has been linked to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine,” the health ministry said in a statement.

COVID-19 IN NIGERIA