Daily COVID Tracker: Nigeria records 96 new infections, and Germany cancels Easter lockdown

Angela Merkel, German chancellor, has backed down on her plan to impose restrictions during the Easter holidays. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Thursday. 

Pope orders pay-cut for cardinals, clerics to save other jobs

Pope Francis has ordered cardinals to take a 10 percent pay-cut, and also has reduced the salaries of other clerics working in the Vatican.

According to Reuters, Francis took the decision in order to save the jobs of employees as the Holy’s income declines owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Vatican said on Wednesday that Francis issued a decree introducing proportional cuts starting from April 1.

However, most lay employees would not be affected by the cuts, according to a spokesman.

Francis has often insisted he does not want to fire people in difficult economic times, even as the Vatican continues to run up deficits.

EU and UK pledge to work together to expand vaccine supply

The European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom are working together “to create a win-win situation and expand vaccine supply,” according to a joint statement issued on Wednesday.

The announcement comes amid a row over the AstraZeneca vaccine. The EU has proposed tougher controls on COVID vaccine exports after it accused AstraZeneca, a British-Swedish firm, of failing to honour its contract to supply EU countries.

“We are all facing the same pandemic and the third wave makes cooperation between the EU and UK even more important,” the statement said.

“We have been discussing what more we can do to ensure a reciprocally beneficial relationship between the UK and EU on COVID-19.”

“Given our interdependencies, we are working on specific steps we can take – in the short, medium and long term – to create a win-win situation and expand vaccine supply for all our citizens.”

NCDC confirms 96 fresh COVID-19 infections, zero death

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says 96 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded across 15 states in the country on Wednesday.

The new figure is below the 100-mark. 86 new infections were recorded on Sunday which was the second lowest in Nigeria after the 37 cases reported on October 22, 2020.

The new positive samples on Wednesday culminated to 162,178 confirmed cases across the 36 states and the federal capital territory (FCT).

According to the NCDC, the FCT did not record any new case within 24 hours.

Lagos, the epicentre of the pandemic in Nigeria, was top of the list with 28 fresh infections, followed by Yobe with 20 new cases.

Other states with new cases include Akwa Ibom (10), Cross River (9), Kaduna (6), Kano (5), Edo (4), Oyo (3), Plateau (3), Jigawa (2), Osun (2), Borno (1), Nasarawa (1), Rivers (1), and Sokoto (1).

The agency also reported that no death was recorded on Wednesday.

Also, 196 patients were discharged on Wednesday — making it the lowest so far this week as 226 recoveries were confirmed on Sunday and Monday, while 405 was recorded on Tuesday.

Overall, Nigeria has 2,031 deaths; 148,726 recoveries, and 11,421 active cases. 1,727,467 samples have been tested so far.

German chancellor makes U-turn on Easter shutdown plan

Angela Merkel, German chancellor, has backed down on her plan to impose a five-day lockdown, asking citizens to stay at home during the Easter holidays and declaring April 1 and April 3 as extra “rest days”.

Following concerns of a third wave, the country on Tuesday extended its COVID-19 restrictions over the Easter holidays to curb the spike in infections.

However, the lockdown was widely criticised by Germans, prompting Merkel to apologise, saying “this mistake is mine alone”.

She however said the restriction was “drafted with the best of intentions”.

The change means most businesses will no longer be forced to close on those two days, though other restrictions on social contact and gatherings will remain.

Businesses will be closed as usual on the public holidays of Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday.

VSF donates hand-wash stations to Edo schools

The Theophilus Danjuma-led Victim Support Fund (VSF) taskforce on COVID-19 on Wednesday donated items to three schools in Edo to curb the spread of the infection.

The donation is part of its third phase of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) project after the implementation of the first and second phases of the intervention in curtailing the spread of the infection.

Three benefiting schools were given a solar-powered borehole, four hand-wash stations and 2,000 pieces of reusable facemasks.

Other items given to the schools include five pieces of four litre hand sanitisers, 120 bottles of 500ml liquid hand-wash and five cartons of bleach.

The schools are Anglican Girls Grammar School (AGGS), Itohan Girls Grammar School — both in Benin — and Ewohimi Secondary School, Ikeken Ewohimi, Esan South East LGA.

Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji, chairman of the taskforce, said VSF will continue to provide succour to vulnerable Nigerians and support agencies involved in the fight against COVID-19.

COVID-19 IN NIGERIA