Daily COVID Tracker: NCDC logs 2,123 new infections, four deaths

Nigeria on Tuesday recorded 1,368 cases of COVID-19. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Wednesday.

Omicron accounts for 73% of new COVID-19 cases in US, says CDC

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) says Omicron is now the dominant variant of the coronavirus in the US, accounting for 73 percent of new infections last week.

The CDC statistics showed nearly a six-time increase in Omicron’s share of infections in only one week.

It said Omicron is responsible for an estimated 90 percent or more of new infections in the New York area, the Southeast, the industrial Midwest and the Pacific Northwest.

The national rate suggested that more than 650,000 Omicron infections occurred in the US last week.

At the end of November, more than 99.5 per cent of coronaviruses were delta, according to the CDC’s data.

EU COVID-19 digital pass valid for nine months under new rules

The European Union announced on Tuesday that the validity period of its COVID-19 digital safe pass for vaccination status is to be limited to nine months after the first completed vaccine course for users without a booster shot.

Christian Wigand, the EU spokesperson, said the binding rules for the validity period limit apply to travel within the European Union and provide clarity for EU citizens when they exercise their right to free movement.

The EU’s COVID-19 digital safe pass permits the holder to travel in the bloc if they were vaccinated, recovered from COVID-19 or have recently tested negative for the infection.

A press release from the EU executive branch said the new rules for the nine-month acceptance period will come into effect from February 1, 2022.

EU approves Novavax vaccine for COVID-19

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Monday says it has approved a new coronavirus vaccine by US manufacturer — Novavax.

The medicines agency, after a special meeting in Amsterdam said the vaccine met the EMA’s standards for effectiveness, safety and quality.

The vaccine is designed to be taken in two doses, about three weeks apart, and has demonstrated 90 percent efficacy against COVID-19.

Once the European Commission has given its formal approval, Novavax will be the fifth vaccine against COVID-19 to be approved for use in the European Union.

Nigeria reports 2,123 COVID cases

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says 2,123 cases were reported across the country on Tuesday.

This represents a 55 percent increase from the figure recorded on Monday.

The agency in its update for December 21, said the new cases were logged in 10 states and the federal capital territory (FCT).

The states include Lagos (1552), FCT (197), Edo (155), Rivers (81), Delta (44), Plateau (33), Kwara (30), Kano (16), Enugu (12), Gombe (2), and Bauchi (1).

The NCDC said 101 persons were discharged after recovering from COVID while four persons died of the infection. The country’s death toll stands at 2,989.

The report contains a backlog of 33 cases and 10 discharges from Plateau for December 20 and 12 cases from Enugu state for December 20.

Nigeria has now confirmed a total of 227,378 cases with 211,761 discharges.

UK reduces COVID isolation period to seven days for most of England

The British government said from Wednesday it is reducing the COVID-19 self-isolation period to seven days from 10 days for people in England who get a negative result on a lateral flow test two days in a row.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said its analysis suggested a seven-day isolation period alongside two negative lateral flow test results had nearly the same protective effect as a 10-day isolation period without testing.

“We want to reduce the disruption from COVID-19 to people’s everyday lives,” Sajid Javid, health secretary, said in a statement.