Daily COVID Tracker: Infections hit 20-week high as NCDC logs 535 cases

England says it will allow fully vaccinated visitors from the European Union (EU) and the United States into the country without the requirement to quarantine.

The policy which will come into effect on August 2 is seen as a boost for airline and travel companies.

Grant Shapps, transport secretary, said the move will reunite people in the US and in the EU countries with their families.

“We’re helping reunite people living in the US and European countries with their family and friends,” Shapps tweeted.

Africa is faced with syndemic, says Africa CDC

The Africa Centre for Disease Control (Africa CDC) says the continent is faced with syndemics which is increasing the disease burden across Africa.

John Nkengasong, director, Africa CDC, said this on Wednesday at the Nigerian Conference of Applied and Field Epidemiology (NiCAFE), in Abuja.

“The African continent as a whole face what we call syndemics; a combination of emerging infectious diseases. We are dealing with this pandemic, but there will be another pandemic,” Nkengasong said.

“Syndemics are exacerbating the disease burden across Africa. Emerging diseases, non-communicable disease, injuries,  maternal and neonatal conditions; and endemic diseases, HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria”.

He said regional collaboration and cooperation is needed to tackle health insecurity in the continent.

Nigeria records 535 COVID cases

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) confirmed 535 COVID-19 cases across 17 states and the federal capital territory (FCT) on Wednesday.

The 535 cases is the highest single-day figure logged by the agency in four months. The last time the NCDC recorded infections above 535 was on March 4 when 708 cases were reported.

Wednesday’s positive samples surged by 32.43 percent against the 404 cases reported on Tuesday.

Lagos, the worst-hit state by the pandemic, recorded 219 COVID-19 cases — representing 40.93 percent of the total number on Wednesday.

Other states that reported positive samples include Akwa Ibom (142), Oyo (47), Rivers (17), Jigawa (13), Edo (13), Bayelsa (11), Ekiti (11), Ondo (10], Osun (9), Plateau (8), Ogun (7), Kaduna (7) Kano (5), FCT (5), Imo (4), Gombe (4), and Nasarawa (3).

The NCDC said 49 persons were discharged on Wednesday, culminating in a total number of 164,886 recoveries.

The agency data showed that five persons died of COVID-19 complications.

According to the NCDC, Nigeria has 172,263 total number of confirmed cases; 2,139 deaths, and 5,228 active cases across the 36 states and the FCT.

Tokyo Olympics records 24 COVID cases — highest daily count

The Tokyo Olympic organising committee on Thursday recorded 24  COVID-19 cases linked to the games.

The figure is the highest daily count compiled by the committee since July 1.

The total infections recorded by the committee now stands at 193.

US extends shelf life of Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine

The US Foodand Drug Administration has extended the shelf life for the J&J COVID-19 vaccine to six months from four-and-a-half months.

The company disclosed on Wednesday.

The FDA decision is reportedly based on data from an ongoing study that showed that the vaccine is stable for six months when refrigerated at two to eight degree Celsius.

COVID-19 IN NIGERIA