Nigeria on Wednesday recorded 59 COVID cases. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Thursday.
Spain to scrap indoor mask-wearing from April 20
Spain says the COVID-19 requirement to wear face masks indoors except on public transport and in hospitals will be lifted from April 20.
Carolina Darias, health minister, said experts advised that the requirement be lifted after the Easter break.
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“A recommendation to wear masks responsibly will be issued when there are gatherings of people,” she said.
Spain ended the mandated use of outdoor masks in February, yet many Spaniards reportedly still choose to wear one in crowded settings.
Study: Fourth shot protects elderly from COVID but protection fades soon
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A study says the second booster shot of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID vaccine reduced infection rates among the elderly but the protection appeared short-lived.
The study conducted by researchers in Israel found that the protection offered by the second booster shot declined after four weeks.
According to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, protection against severe illness did not fade within six weeks of the dose, but additional research is needed to determine its long-term effectiveness.
The research was conducted on people aged 60 and above between January and March when the Omicron variant held sway.
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Nigeria logs 59 COVID infections
Nigeria has recorded new 59 COVID infections.
In its update for April 6, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said the infections were recorded in five states and the federal capital territory (FCT).
A breakdown of the infections is presented below:
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Kwara-29
Lagos-17
FCT-7
Rivers-3
Cross River-2
Kaduna-1
Twelve persons were said to have been discharged after they recovered from the infection. No COVID death was recorded.
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The agency said the report includes data for April 5 and 6.
Nigeria now has recorded a total of 255,575 infections, 249,686 recoveries and 3,142 deaths across the country.
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No evidence to back widespread use of fourth COVID shot, say EU health agencies
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) in a joint statement on Wednesday, said there is no evidence to back the use of fourth COVID shot.
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The agencies said there is no evidence yet in the European Union that a fourth dose of the vaccine protects against severe disease.
They, however, recommend that a second booster can be given to people aged 80 and above to boost immunity as there is no vaccine to specifically tackle Omicron.
India reports first case of XE COVID variant
India’s first case of COVID-19 XE variant was detected in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) announced the results of its 11th genome sequencing, which identified one sample positive for the XE variant and another for the Kappa variant.
The person who tested positive for the XE variant is a 50-year-old woman who had been fully vaccinated.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said the XE variant is a hybrid of two sublineages of Omicron — BA 1 and BA 2.
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