Apple, technology giant, has updated its map application to help US residents find COVID-19 vaccination and testing locations. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Wednesday.
France sees signs of COVID-19 “third wave”
France says it is experiencing “what looks like a kind of third wave” of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jean Castex, France prime minister, told lawmakers on Tuesday that the country has seen a rise in cases of new COVID-19 variants, warning that the third wave has been “characterised by variants, a lot of them”.
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He added that “the so-called British variant is taking an increasingly important place”.
No approval for private importation of vaccine
The federal government says it has not authorised private importation of COVID-19 vaccines.
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Osagie Ehanire, minister of health, said this at the presidential taskforce briefing.
“Private importation of COVID-19 vaccines has not been authorised due to reports of substandard falsified vaccines in circulation, he said.
“The deployment of vaccines will be handled by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) or any of the agency’s accredited facilities for now.
US residents to find COVID-19 vaccination sites on Apple maps
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Apple maps, an application on iPhones, iMacs and other Apple products, has been updated to include COVID-19 vaccination locations in the US.
According to a statement on Tuesday, the technology giant said maps users can find COVID-19 vaccination locations in their area by searching in the app or asking Siri, “Where can I get a COVID-19 vaccination?”
“Last year, Apple updated Apple Maps to display COVID-19 testing sites in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and the United States,” it said.
Apple added that the maps include COVID-19 testing locations.
Nigeria records 179 new COVID-19 cases — but 320 recoveries
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Nigeria on Tuesday recorded a relatively low count of COVID-19 infections with 179 new cases in 19 states and the federal capital territory (FCT).
In recent weeks, there has been a decline in the number of infections recorded by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
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The agency reported 320 fresh recoveries on Tuesday, bringing the total number of discharged patients to 146,072.
According to the NCDC, the recoveries “include 153 community recoveries in Lagos state managed in line with COVID-19 guidelines”.
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Two persons were said to have died from COVID-19 complications — bringing the total fatality figure to 2,018.
Lagos, the epicentre of the pandemic in Nigeria, recorded 47 infections, followed by Kaduna with 21 cases and Rivers with 18.
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Other states that reported infections are FCT (11) Akwa Ibom (14), Edo (10), Cross River (9), Ogun (9), Nasarawa (6), Ebonyi (5), Ekiti (5), Zamfara (5), Delta (4), Kano (4), Osun (4), Plateau (3), Abia (2), Gombe (1) and Sokoto (1).
According to the agency, 1,684,304 samples have been tested as of March 17.
Philippines closes border to foreigners
The Philippines has imposed new COVID-19 restrictions that will prevent foreigners and some returning citizens from entering the country.
The Philippines has witnessed a spike in infections owing to the COVID-19 variants in the country.
In a statement on Tuesday, the COVID-19 taskforce said foreign citizens and returning nationals who had not been working overseas will not be able to enter the country from March 20 until April 19.
However, there are exemptions for accredited officials of foreign governments, Filipino workers returning from overseas and cases that are considered an emergency.
COVID-19 IN NIGERIA
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