Daily COVID Tracker: NCDC logs 159 infections — but no fatalities

Nigeria recorded 159 cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Wednesday. 

Denmark lifts all COVID restrictions despite spike in cases

Denmark has lifted all it COVID restrictions.

The country is now expected to reopen nightclubs, museums and theatres and scrap limited opening hours for bars and restaurants.

Facemasks and COVID-19 passes will only be recommended for hospital visits.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told Danish radio it is too early to know if measures may have to make a comeback.

“I dare not say that it is a final goodbye to restrictions. We do not know what will happen in the fall. Whether there will be a new variant,” she said.

The easing coincides with a considerable spike in cases over the past 14 days, with around 40,000 to 50,000 daily cases of the infection.

Omicron yet to peak in many countries, WHO warns

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says many countries have not reached their peak in cases of the Omicron variant and measures to curb its spread should be eased slowly.

Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical lead on COVID-19, said this on Tuesday.

Mike Ryan, WHO emergencies chief, asked countries to chart their own path out of the pandemic and not blindly follow others in relaxing measures.

“If you open doors quickly you better be able to close them pretty quickly as well,” he said.

Norway scraps most COVID restrictions with immediate effect

Norway is to scrap most of its remaining COVID lockdown measures with immediate effect.

Jonas Gahr Stoere, Norway’s prime minister, said this is because a spike in infections is unlikely to jeopardise health services.

“Restaurants will again be allowed to serve alcohol beyond 11pm, working from home will no longer be mandatory and the limit of 10 visitors in private homes will be removed,” he said.

“Even if many more people are becoming infected, there are fewer who are hospitalised. We’re well protected by vaccines. This means that we can relax many measures even as infections are rising rapidly.”

Portugal’s prime minister tests positive for COVID-19

Antonio Costa, the prime minister of Portugal, has tested positive for COVID-19. 

Costa was re-elected for a second term on Sunday. 

His office said he will stay in isolation for seven days, adding that he does not have any symptoms.

Costa spent the last two weeks holding campaign rallies and events across the country, often attracting big crowds, and won his third mandate with 117 parliamentary seats — the Socialist Party’s only second full majority in Portugal’s democratic history.

Nigeria records 159 infections

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says 159 cases of COVID-19 were recorded in eight states and the federal capital territory (FCT) on Tuesday.

A breakdown of the new cases is shown below:

Lagos-57

Yobe-37

Rivers-27

FCT-14

Gombe-14

Kano-7

Bayelsa-1

Ekiti-1

Nasarawa-1

While there were no fatalities on Tuesday, the NCDC said 255 persons were discharged after recovering from the infection.

The NCDC added that the report includes 57 confirmed cases reported from Lagos state for January 31 (26) and February 1 (31) with 172 community recoveries reported in the FCT.

Since the index case in February 2020, 253,340 cases have been confirmed with 229,650 recoveries and 3,136 deaths.