Daily COVID Tracker: Nigeria records 674 infections in 16 states — and eight deaths

Nigeria on Thursday recorded 674 cases of COVID-19. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Friday.  

Kaduna conducts 147,088 COVID-19 tests

The Kaduna government says it has conducted 147,088 COVID-19 tests from April 2020 to date.

Amina Mohammed-Baloni, commissioner for health, disclosed this during a news briefing on Thursday.

Mohammed-Baloni said of the figure, 9,201 cases were confirmed positive as of August 18, 2021, while 9,121 have been treated and discharged.

The commissioner added that 66 persons have died of COVID complications in the state.

Biden, first lady to get COVID-19 vaccine booster dose

US President Joe Biden says he and Jill, first lady, will receive a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

“We will get the booster shots,” Biden said in a televised interview on Thursday.

Biden’s administration had announced that booster shots would be offered to Americans in September.

Israel extends COVID vaccine booster dose to people over 40

Israel says people over 40 years and teachers are now eligible for a third dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

The expansion of booster eligibility was announced by Nitzan Horowitz, health minister, following a recommendation by health ministry experts.

Israel started administering third doses to people over 60 in July but later reduced the minimum age of eligibility to 50.

Several countries, including Canada, France and Germany, have also planned booster campaigns, but the World Health Organisation (WHO) called for its suspension to allow poor countries to reach herd immunity.

Disability group tackles Lagos for making COVID vaccine inaccessible for PWDs

The Centre for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) on Thursday tackled the Lagos government for allegedly making the COVID-19 vaccine inaccessible to people living with disabilities (PWDs) in the state.

David Anyaele, executive director of CCD, said PWDs are facing a plethora of challenges because the government does not incorporate them when planning.

“The Lagos state Special People’s Law 2021 also pointed out in section 32(2) that PWDs are entitled to free health care service in state-owned hospitals,” he said.

“However, by observation, there is no deliberate and specific commitment from the government towards social and health inclusion of PWDs in their COVID-19 vaccine programme since its arrival.

“Most of the state agencies run their programmes without consideration for PWDs, especially the ministry of health and the Primary Health Care Board of Lagos state.

“The board designed the distribution of activities around COVID-19 vaccination without the inclusion of people with disabilities, while education, information and education materials are not targeting our members”.

 Nigeria records 674 infections

Nigeria witnessed a slight decrease in the number of positive COVID-19 cases on Thursday.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says 674 cases were reported on Thursday in 16 states and the federal capital territory (FCT). The figure is a 70 percent decrease compared to the 1,149 cases logged on Wednesday.

Among the state that recorded the fresh cases, Lagos reported the highest cases with 355 infections, followed by Rivers with 87 cases and FCT with 38 infections.

Other states include Ogun (33) and Akwa Ibom (32), Oyo (32), Edo (22), Ekiti (20), Kwara (17), Delta (12), Bayelsa (8), Gombe (5), Kaduna (4), Osun (4), Enugu (2), Nasarawa (2), Plateau (1).

The NCDC said 185 people were discharged on Thursday, while eight persons died of COVID-19 complications.

Since its index case in February 2020, Nigeria has recorded a total of 185,267 cases, 167,923 recoveries and 2,244 fatalities.

COVID-19 IN NIGERIA