Daily COVID Tracker: NCDC logs 74 infections in nine states

Nigeria has recorded 74 COVID cases. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Thursday. 

Ghana to start producing its own COVID-19 vaccine in January 2024, says president 

Ghanian President Nana Akufo-Addo says the country will start producing its own COVID-19 vaccine in January 2024.

Speaking at the state of the nation address in parliament, the president said a national vaccine institute would be established to lay out a strategy for the country to begin the first phase of commercial production for the vaccine.

“A bill will shortly be brought to you in this house (parliament) for your support and approval for the establishment of the National Vaccine Institute,” he said.

Biden gets second booster shot, pushes for more COVID funding

US President Joe Biden has received his second dose of the COVID-19 booster shot.

Biden, 79, received his fourth dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

Biden took the jab on Wednesday as his government unveiled plans to assist Americans to cope with the coronavirus.

“If we fail to invest, we leave ourselves vulnerable if another wave hits,” Biden said.

On Tuesday, US health regulators approved a second booster shot for Americans aged 50 and above, as well as those who are immunocompromised.

Nigeria logs 74 infections

Nigeria has recorded 74 cases of COVID-19.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) disclose this in its update for March 30, 2022.

The agency said the infections were logged in eight states and the federal capital territory (FCT).

A breakdown of the infection is shown below:

Lagos-35
Bauchi-12
FCT-11
Abia-5
Kaduna-4
Kano-3
Plateau-2
Oyo-1
Rivers-1

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The NCDC data showed 40 persons were discharged after they recovered from the infection. No COVID death was recorded in the country.

The agency said the infections were recorded on March 29 and 30.

Nigeria now has 255,415 infections, 249,606 recoveries and 3,142 fatalities.

WHO: COVID severity will decrease over time due to vaccination

The World Health Organisation (WHO) the severity of COVID-19 infection will decrease with time as a result of vaccine immunity.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, spoke at a news briefing.

“Based on what we know now, the most likely scenario is that the COVID-19 virus continues to evolve, but the severity of disease it causes reduces over time as immunity increases due to vaccination and infection,” he said.

However, the WHO director-general warned that when immunity wanes, a surge in cases and deaths could occur, requiring frequent boosting for vulnerable groups.

Adrian Esterman, professor of biostatistics at the University of South Australia, has warned that there is more cases of COVID-19 in Australia than the officially reported figure.

The number of daily COVID cases in Australia more than doubled between March 1 and 30, up from 25,017 to 61,331.

“There are certainly far more cases than officially reported,” Esterman said.

“This is primarily because about 30 percent of people infected with Omicron have no symptoms and, therefore, are unlikely to get tested.

“The states mandate that any positive rapid test must be reported. However, if people are just buying [rapid tests] from the chemist and it comes out positive, how will the government know they’ve reported it? They won’t, is the answer.”