Daily COVID Tracker: Kenya to receive seized millions to help fight coronavirus

Millions of dollars stolen by Kenya’s richest men will be returned to the country to help fight COVID. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Monday.

China: Shanghai to lock down for testing as COVID cases surge

China says it will lock down the city of Shanghai in two stages to carry out COVID-19 testing over a nine-day period.

The authorities said they would divide Shanghai into two for the exercise, using the Huangpu River that passes through the city as a guide.

Districts to the east of the river, and some to its west, will be locked down and tested between March 28 and April 1 while the remaining areas will be locked down and tested between April 1 and 5.

Public transport in these areas will be suspended when they are locked down.

Second COVID vaccine booster significantly lowers death rate, Israeli study shows

An Israeli study says senior citizens who received a second booster of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccination had a 78% lower mortality rate from the disease than those who got one only.

Clalit Health Services, the country’s largest healthcare provider, said the 40-day study included more than half a million people aged 60 to 100.

Around 58% of participants had received a second booster, the remainder had received only one booster.

Researchers recorded 92 deaths among the first group and 232 deaths among the second, smaller group.

Kenya to receive seized millions to help fight COVID

Millions of dollars of public funds allegedly stolen by two of Kenya’s richest men are to be returned to the country to buy life-saving COVID-19 equipment.

The deal with Jersey, a self-governing island in the English Channel, has been hailed as “a victory for the people of Kenya” by Manoah Esipisu, its high commissioner in the UK.

In 2011, Samuel Gichuru, the wealthy boss of Kenya’s power company, and Chris Okemo, former finance minister, were accused of taking kickback from multinationals which were sent to a Jersey-registered company.

The transparent spending of the sum which is about $3.5m will be monitored by Crown Agents, a not-for-profit international development company.

Patients with COVID and flu double the risk of dying, say scientists

Researchers say COVID-19 patients who also have the flu are at double risk of dying.

This was said in a publication of a paper in the medical journal, the Lancet.

The study looked at more than 305,000 hospitalised patients with COVID-19.

A total of 6,965 patients were found to have had COVID-19, while 227 also had the influenza virus. The researchers found that these individuals experienced significantly more severe outcomes.

Ghana scraps use of face masks, pre-departure testing for fully vaccinated arrivals

The Ghanaian government says from Monday, the use of face masks will no longer be compulsory.

Nana Akufo-Addo, president of Ghana, announced the development in a statement issued on Sunday.

Also from Monday, fully vaccinated travellers into Ghana will not take PCR tests from the country of embarkation to allow them entry into the country through the KIA, and will not be tested on arrival.

Citizens and foreign residents in Ghana, who are not fully vaccinated, would, however, need to provide a negative PCR test result of not more than 48-hours, will undergo an antigen test upon arrival at KIA, and will be offered vaccination there.