Daily COVID Tracker: Nigeria reports 385 cases in 12 states — but over 2,000 recoveries

Nigeria on Monday recorded 385 cases of COVID-19. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Tuesday.

NPHCDA: 1m expired COVID vaccine doses will be destroyed in public

Faisal Shuaib, executive director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), says around one million expired doses of the COVID vaccine will be destroyed “in the full glare of the public”.

A report on the doses had surfaced on December 8, with around one million shots said to have expired in November.

While speaking at a media briefing on Monday, Shuaib said the federal government is working on a protocol to destroy the expired doses to ensure that the exercise is in line with environmental safety standards.

He said the destruction will take place “in the full glare of the general public, so Nigerians will know that these vaccines were carefully safeguarded and are being destroyed because there is no intention to use them”.

US air force removes 27 service members for refusing COVID jab

The US air force has discharged 27 people for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Those involved are said to be the first active-duty troops discharged for declining the vaccine.

Earlier this year, the Pentagon mandated vaccines for all members of the military. Each service set its own deadlines and procedures for the mandate.

The air force gave its forces until November 2 to get the vaccine and thousands reportedly refused.

Nigeria records 385 cases

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says 385 cases have been reported across the country.

The agency in its update for December 13, said the fresh infections were reported in 11 states and the federal capital territory (FCT).

According to the breakdown, the FCT logged the highest number of cases with 166 infections, followed by Delta with 115.

Other states that confirmed new infections are Akwa Ibom (41), Ogun (33), Cross River (23), Edo (23), Kaduna (10), Rivers (7), Plateau, Bayelsa and Oyo reported 5 cases each while Kano logged 2 infections.

The agency said Monday’s reports include backlogs of cases and recoveries.

The NCDC data showed that 2,330 people were discharged, while two persons died of COVID complications.

Nigeria now has 217,866 confirmed cases, 210,076 recoveries and 2,983 fatalities.

About 400,000 COVID-19 vaccines to expire in Senegal by end of December

At least 200,000 COVID vaccines doses have expired in Senegal without being used in the past two months and another 200,000 are set to expire by the end of December, Reuters quoted Ousseynou Badiane, head of the immunisation programme, as saying.

Badiane said the vaccines expired owing to low demand and vaccine hesitancy by citizens.

“The main problem is vaccine hesitation,” Badiane said.

“The number of cases is decreasing. They ask: ‘why is it important to get vaccinated if the illness is not there now’?”

South Korea to use facial recognition to track COVID patients

South Korea plans to launch a project to use artificial intelligence (AI), facial recognition and thousands of closed-circuit video cameras to track the movement of people infected with COVID-19.

The project is said to become operational in January 2022.

The system uses AI algorithms and facial recognition technology to analyse footage from more than 10,820 security cameras and track an infected person’s movements, including anyone they had close contact with, and if they were wearing a mask.

“It sometimes takes hours to analyse a single [piece of] CCTV footage. Using visual recognition technology will enable that analysis in an instant,” Jang Deog-cheon, Bucheon city official, wrote on Twitter.