TheCable

After TheCable’s undercover report on how government officials forge and sell COVID-19 test results, the Lagos state government set up an online portal for easy verification of results. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Wednesday. 

US to send masks to citizens 

Joe Biden, US president, says the White House would likely be sending masks directly to citizens.

Health officials made the proposal to the previous administration but it was turned down by former President Donald Trump.

“We’re probably going to be sending out an awful lot of mask around the country very shortly, millions of them,” Biden said.

“We could have saved literally an awful lot of lives if people had listened. We turned wearing masks into a political statement. If you were for this thing, you wore it, if we were for somebody else, you didn’t wear it, when in fact, it’s just plain basic science.”

World Bank threatens to halt funding for vaccine in Lebanon

The World Bank has threatened to suspend financing COVID-19 vaccines in Lebanon.

Lebanon received 28,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine this month with financial support from the World Bank. These initial doses were for the most vulnerable groups in the country.

Adnan Daher, parliament secretary-general, was quoted to have said 16 deputies and four parliamentary staff had received the vaccine inside the legislature.

However, Saroj Kumar Jha, World Bank regional director, said the bank may suspend its financial aid over concerns on inequitable distribution.

“We would record it as breach of terms and conditions agreed with us for fair and equitable vaccination. Everyone has to register and wait for their turn, ” Jha said.

“Upon confirmation of (a) violation, (the) World Bank may suspend financing for vaccines and support for COVID-19 response across Lebanon.”

Lagos sets up portal to verify COVID test results

The Lagos government has set up an online portal for the verification of COVID-19 test results in the state.

Akin Abayomi, commissioner for health, said the government will not tolerate the falsification of COVID-19 test results.

He said anyone found perpetrating the crime will be arrested and prosecuted.

TheCable’s undercover investigation at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, had exposed how government officials forge COVID-19 test results in exchange for bribes.

UK to review use of vaccine passports

The UK will review the proposal on vaccine passport in the country.

Vaccine passports have been adopted by some countries as a way to safely reopen international leisure travel.

But Boris Johnson, UK prime minister, said there are “deep and complex issues” with using vaccine passports or certificates to prove someone’s COVID-19 status.

“We can’t be discriminatory against people who can’t have the vaccine, there might be a medical reason, or some people may genuinely refuse to have one — I think that’s a mistake,” Johnson said.

Kuwait to close land and sea borders 

Kuwait says it will close its land and sea border crossings from Wednesday as a measure to control the spread of COVID-19.

The country also banned dine-in service in restaurants and cafés to curb the spread of the infection, following a surge in the number of daily infections over the past few weeks.

The closure will, however, not affect shipping operations and excludes some domestic workers and people employed in the Saudi Arabia-Kuwait neutral zone.

Citizens are allowed to return through land and sea ports.

COVID-19 IN NIGERIA