Daily COVID Tracker: NCDC logs 599 new infections, three deaths

Nigeria on Tuesday recorded 599 cases of COVID-19. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Wednesday.

Canadian province lets COVID positive essential workers continue working

Quebec, one of Canada’s most populous provinces, said it has “no choice” but to allow COVID-19 positive essential workers to continue working in a bid to prevent staff shortages in healthcare services. 

The province, which has been setting daily records since the Omicron variant started a new wave of infections, recorded 12,833 new cases on Monday — the highest one-day count of any region in Canada during the pandemic. 

Christian Dube, the country’s health minister, on Tuesday said: “We made the decision that under a certain condition positive staff will be able to continue working according to a list of priority and risk management.”

Germany tightens COVID restrictions

Germans has tightened its COVID-19 restrictions in an effort to slow down a wave of coronavirus infections triggered by the Omicron variant.

Gatherings both indoors and outdoors are to be restricted in size from Monday, with leisure facilities – from gyms to swimming pools and nightclubs to cinemas – shutting in several states, and restaurants facing earlier closing times.

Private gatherings are being restricted to a maximum of 10 people, for those who are vaccinated or recovered, while new year fire works have also been cancelled.

Over 500 children admitted to hospital with COVID in UK

A total of 512 children were admitted to hospital with COVID-19 in England in the week leading up to Boxing Day, figures have revealed.

The numbers, released on the government’s coronavirus dashboard, also show that 59 children under five were admitted to hospital between Christmas Day and Boxing Day alone.

A further 50 children in the same age bracket were admitted in the 24 hours prior.

Nigeria reports 599 COVID cases

Nigeria has reported 599 cases of COVID-19 across the country.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says the new cases were reported in 14 states and the federal capital territory (FCT).

Delta reported 194 cases, followed by the Edo with 94 and the FCT with 80.

Other states that reported cases are Kaduna (48), Lagos (35), Ondo (23), Kano (21), Rivers (20), Kwara (20), Ogun (18), Plateau (12), Abia (8), Cross River (8), Ekiti (6), and Bauchi (3).

The NCDC said 410 persons were discharged on Tuesday, raising the recovery figure to 213,180.

Three persons died of COVID complications and the country’s fatality toll now stands at 3,027.

Nigeria now has a total of 239,019 confirmed cases in 36 states and the FCT.

Hundreds given false COVID results in Australian lab error

A laboratory in Sydney, Australia has told hundreds of people they did not have COVID-19 when they in fact had tested positive.

The mistake, which took place over the Christmas period, was said to be due to a “data processing error”.

Some of those affected have expressed concern that they may have unknowingly infected their loved ones over Christmas.

The SydPath lab apologised in a statement on Tuesday and said the mistake, which affected 886 people in total, had happened as workers faced an “unprecedented” volume of tests.

It initially admitted earlier this week that it had erroneously told 400 people on Christmas Day that they did not have COVID-19. They were only notified about the mistake the following day.

The blunder grew when SydPath later revealed that hundreds more had been prematurely told they had tested negative, when their results had not yet been determined. On Tuesday, the lab said 486 people from this group had been confirmed as COVID-positive.