Daily COVID Tracker: NCDC logs 269 infections in 15 states, over 200 recoveries

October 9, 2021 7:30 am

Nigeria on Friday recorded 269 cases of COVID-19. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Saturday.

COVID-19: Women’s inclusion crucial to economic recovery, says Ihekweazu

Vivianne Ihekweazu, managing director of Nigeria Health Watch, says women inclusion is necessary for the country to fully recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking at the launch of the programme: “#HealthMeetsArt Gala” in Abuja on Friday, Ihekweazu said women constitute half of Nigeria’s population.

“We hope to use the #HealthMeetsArt as a platform to highlight the important need to accelerate progress towards gender equality in Nigeria,” she said.

“We must celebrate the achievements of women whilst inspiring confidence in their successes and accomplishments, empowering them to break glass ceilings that seek to restrict them.”

Nigeria takes delivery of 501,600 COVID vaccine doses donated by France

The federal government has received 501,600 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine donated by France.

Faisal Shuaib, executive director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), disclosed this during a media briefing on Friday in Abuja.

“With profound appreciation to the government and people of France, I am glad to inform you that we have taken delivery of 501,600 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines donated by the government of France to Nigeria through the COVAX facility. These vaccines were received in Nigeria on Monday the 4th of October 2021,” he said.

Shuaib said the federal government is committed to safe, equitable and effective COVID-19 vaccination of all eligible persons in the country.

Nigeria records 269 infections

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has confirmed 269 new cases of COVID-19 in Nigeria.

In the agency’s update for October 9, 2021, the new cases were reported in 14 states and the federal capital territory (FCT).

The states that recorded new infections are FCT (127), Lagos (45), Kaduna (28), Delta (18), Kwara (17), Plateau (13), Zamfara (10), Rivers (8), Imo (21), Ekiti (5), Nasarawa (4), Edo (3), Ondo (3), Akwa Ibom (2) and Oyo (1).

The NCDC said Friday’s report includes 60 discharged cases reported from Bayelsa state for October 5 (40) and 8 (20), and 15 confirmed cases reported from Kano state for October 7 (8) and 8 (7).

It also includes 24 confirmed cases reported from Benue state for October 7 (11) and 8 (13) and nine confirmed cases reported for Bauchi state for October 7 (5) and 8 (4).

Two deaths were reported on Friday, bringing the number of fatalities to 2,743.

According to the agency, 256 persons were discharged after recovering from the infection.

So far in Nigeria, 207,479 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed, with 195,052 recoveries.

US to accept WHO-approved COVID-19 vaccines for international visitors

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says the country will accept international visitors who have been vaccinated with any COVID vaccine approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Reuters quoted a CDC spokesperson as saying “six vaccines that are FDA authorised/approved or listed for emergency use by WHO will meet the criteria for travel to the U.S”.

Moderna to deliver 1 billion vaccine doses to low-income countries in 2022

Moderna says it plans to deliver one billion doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to low-income countries in 2022.

“To date, more than 250 million people have been vaccinated globally with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. However, we recognize that access to vaccines continues to be a challenge in many parts of the world,” Stéphane Bancel, chief executive officer of Moderna, said.

“We are committed to doubling our manufacturing and expanding supply even further until our vaccine is no longer needed in low-income countries.”