Daily COVID Tracker: Nigeria reports 159 cases in 12 states, zero deaths

Nigeria on Tuesday recorded 159 cases of COVID-19. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Wednesday. 

Report: India delays COVID vaccine supplies to WHO-backed COVAX

India has reportedly delayed supplying COVID vaccines to COVAX, according to Reuters.

The development comes about a day after the World Health Organisation (WHO), which is a part of COVAX, said it cannot “cut corners” to approve the Covaxin vaccine made by India.

India, the world’s largest producer of COVID vaccines, resumed exports this month since the suspension in April to focus on vaccinating residents owing to the surge in infections in the country.

Upon resumption, India has reportedly exported about four million COVID vaccine doses to other countries but none to COVAX, the news agency said.

Gates Foundation to commit $120m for poor nations to get COVID-19 drug

The Gates Foundation says it will commit up to $120 million to help low-income countries get the molnupiravir antiviral COVID-19 drug being developed by US drugmaker Merck.

The Foundation said the fund will support the efforts to develop and manufacture generic versions of the drug.

“To end this pandemic, we need to ensure that everyone, no matter where they live in the world, has access to life-saving health products. The unjust reality, however, is that low-income countries have had to wait for everything from personal protective equipment to vaccines. That is unacceptable,” Melinda French Gates, co-chair of the Gates Foundation, said.

Senate recommends homicide charge against Brazil’s president for COVID errors

A senate report has recommended that President Jair Bolsonaro be charged with homicide for alleged government errors in handling the COVID pandemic that led to the deaths of thousands of people.

According to the report, Bolsonaro was guided “by an unfounded belief in the theory of herd immunity by natural infection and the existence of a treatment”.

“Without the vaccine, deaths would be stratospheric, as they turned out to be,” the report added.

Bolsonaro has dismissed the report, describing it as a “joke”.

Tokyo to lift COVID-19 curbs on restaurants

The Tokyo metropolitan government is considering lifting the COVID restrictions on bars and restaurants, according to the Jiji news service.

The restriction will be eased for certified bars and restaurants that have sufficient COVID-19 precautions in place.

The news outlet said the metropolitan government plans to ease the restrictions owing to a decrease in COVID-19 cases, adding that a final decision is expected to be made on Thursday.

Nigeria records 159 cases

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says the country has 159 new cases of COVID-19 in 11 states and federal capital territory (FCT).

According to the agency’s update for October 19, the FCT recorded the highest infections with 71 cases, followed by Lagos with 20 cases and Imo with 17.

Other states that recorded fresh cases are Rivers (15), Cross River (9), Kano (7), Ondo (7), Plateau (4), Ekiti (3), Niger (3),
Delta (2), and Bauchi (1).

There was no death recorded by the agency on Tuesday, while 234 persons were discharged after recovering from the infection.

According to the agency, the update include a backlog of 73 cases from the FCT and 20 cases from Lagos. It also included a backlog of 130 recoveries reported from Oyo state.

To date, 209,546 infections have been confirmed, but with 197,546 recoveries across the country.