Daily COVID Tracker: NCDC reports 132 cases — but zero deaths

Nigeria on Friday recorded 132 cases of COVID-19. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Saturday.

Nigerian delegate is first visitor at Tokyo games to be hospitalised for COVID-19

A Nigerian delegate to the Olympics has become the first visitor to the Tokyo Games admitted to hospital for COVID-19.

According to TV Asahi Tokyo, on Friday, the individual, a non-athlete in his 60s, tested positive on Thursday evening at the airport with mild symptoms but was hospitalised because of age and pre-existing conditions.

But the TV station did not give further details.

African countries to receive first US donated COVID-19 vaccines in days

US officials and the Gavi vaccine alliance say about 50 African countries will receive 25 million COVID-19 vaccine doses donated by the United states.

In a statement on Friday, the officials said the first shipments will be sent to Burkina Faso, Djibouti and Ethiopia in the coming days.

Gayle Smith, the US state department’s coordinator for COVID-19 recovery and global health, said the Biden administration is committed to leading the global response to the pandemic by providing safe and effective vaccines to the world.

“Nearly a million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be delivered to Burkina Faso, Djibouti and Ethiopia in coming days,” he said.

“The remainder will be shipped in coming weeks.”

Israel imposes quarantine on all inbound travellers

Israel’s health ministry has announced that all passengers entering the country will have to go through mandatory quarantine.

The ministry said the new regulation will start from Friday and that all passengers arriving from the countries and regions defined by Israel as high-risk are required to take a seven-day quarantine.

The ministry also said passengers from other countries will need to be quarantined for up to 24 hours.

It said the passengers will wait for the results of the COVID tests that had been conducted upon arrival.

Unvaccinated people in parts of China to be denied access to hospitals, parks and schools

Residents who have not received the COVID-19 vaccine in parts of China will be banned from accessing some public services, including hospitals and schools as the country targets a vaccination rate of at least 80 percent against COVID-19.

Some provinces have published notices warning citizens they have until late July or early August to be vaccinated, after which they will face a variety of restrictions on everyday life.

In one notice by Dingnan county in Jiangxi province, “everyone is responsible for the prevention and control of the epidemic, and vaccination starts with me!”

It added that unvaccinated residents will be denied access to schools, public transport and medical facilities, among other amenities and services, starting from July 26.

Nigeria records 132 COVID cases

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has confirmed 132 new cases of COVID-19 in the country.

In the agency’s update for July 16, the news cases were reported in five states and the federal capital territory (FCT).

The states that recorded new infections are Lagos (109), Rivers (16), Gombe (3), Katsina (2), FCT (1), and Nasarawa (1).

The NCDC said Friday’s report includes data from Lagos for July 15.

No deaths were reported on Friday, leaving the number of fatalities at 2,126.

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

So far, 169,206 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed, with 164,666 recoveries in Nigeria.