Daily COVID Tracker: NCDC logs 730 new infections — but over 1000 recoveries

Nigeria on Tuesday recorded 730 cases of COVID-19. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Wednesday.

COVID-19 pass begins in UK

The United Kingdom has begun the enforcement of the COVID-19 pass.

Adults in England must now show a COVID-19 pass to enter nightclubs, big sports matches and other large events.

The new rules require proof of double-vaccination, or a recent negative test, to enter certain venues.

Members of parliament approved the measure in a vote on Tuesday.

They also backed the continuation of mandatory mask-wearing in most indoor settings, and compulsory vaccination for NHS workers in England.

WHO: New COVID cases in Africa doubling every five days

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says the COVID-19 cases in Africa are doubling every five days.

In a statement on Tuesday, the organisation said 83% surge in new COVID-19 cases during the past week in Africa, driven by the Delta and the Omicron variants, is causing fewer deaths than previous surge.

It also said more waves may arise because the continent may not reach 70% vaccine coverage until August 2024.

WHO said the speed of the spread is fast, but deaths remain low and even dropped by 19% last week compared with the previous week. 

“We are cautiously optimistic that deaths and severe illness will remain low in the current wave, but slow vaccine rollout in Africa means both will be much higher than they should be,” Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, said.

China planning COVID vaccine production in Nigeria

Cui Jianchun, China’s ambassador to Nigeria, says plans are underway to lead Nigeria in producing the Chinese COVID-19 vaccines in the country soon. 

Cui disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja at a roundtable organised by the Centre for China Studies (CCS).

Cui said the move was in line with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent remarks saying Chinese companies and Africans will work together to produce 400 million vaccines in Nigeria.

“At the opening  ceremony of the FOCAC Conference, President Xi Jinping announced another one billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Africa,” he said.

“Of which 600 million doses will be in form of donation and the other 400 million doses will be jointly produced in Africa by Chinese and African companies.”

Nigeria records 730 COVID cases

Nigeria has recorded 730 new cases of COVID-19 in 10 states and the federal capital territory (FCT).

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) confirmed this in its update for December 14.

According to the data provided by the agency, the states that recorded infections are Lagos (431), FCT (174), Rivers (38), Ogun (32), Akwa Ibom (25), Anambra (11), Katsina (7), Bayelsa (4), Niger (4), Kano (3), and Ekiti (1).

The NCDC said there were no fatalities on Tuesday, leaving the total number of fatalities at 2,983.

Also, 1,178 people were discharged on Tuesday after recovering from the infection.

To date, 218,596 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Nigeria with 211,254 discharges made.

China reports first Omicron case

China has reported its first case of the Omicron COVID-19 variant.

Officials said the cases were “imported” by an arrival in the port city of Tianjin, south-east of Beijing.

“Those infected in Tianjin are currently being treated in isolation in designated hospitals,” the city’s local government said on Tuesday.

”This is the first time an Omicron variant case has been discovered in mainland China.”