BY Samuel Akpan
Nigeria on Tuesday recorded 11 cases of COVID-19. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Wednesday.
IMF: Africa urgently needs COVID vaccines to stop rising infections
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says the rate of COVID-19 infections in sub-Saharan Africa is now the fastest in the world, underscoring an urgent need to accelerate vaccine supplies and financing to the region.
Kristalina Georgieva, IMF managing director, and Abebe Aemro Selassie, director of the African Department at IMF, disclosed this in a blog post released on Monday.
It said the new wave will likely surpass previous peaks in a matter of days, adding that in some countries, infections are already more than double, or even triple, their January peaks.
“The only way for the region to break free from this vicious pandemic cycle is to swiftly implement a widespread vaccination program,” the statement said.
Botswana suspends liquor sale
Botswana has suspended all liquor licences as a precautionary measure against the spike in COVID-19 infections.
Malebogo Kebabonye, director of health services, announced the suspension on Tuesday, adding that it is with immediate effect.
“The suspension of the sale of alcohol is based on evidence that consumption of alcohol increases the risks posed by COVID-19 due to its negative effects on the adherence of protocols,” Kebabonye said.
He said all liquor outlets in the country will remain close till further notice.
Nigeria records 11 cases
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says 11 cases of COVID-19 infections were recorded on Tuesday.
The agency in an update for June 29, said the new infections were confirmed in five states.
The states that recorded the new infections are Kaduna (3), Oyo (3), Plateau (2), Rivers (2) and Ogun (1).
The agency said Tuesday’s report doesn’t include data from Lagos and the federal capital territory (FCT).
Only one person was discharged on Tuesday after recovering from the infection, raising the number of recoveries to 163,985.
The agency reported that one person died from COVID-19 complications.
The total fatalities now stand at 2,120.
So far, the country has confirmed 167,543 with 1,438 persons currently receiving treatment.
Estonia fridge failure destroys 68,000 COVID doses
Estonia says more than 68,000 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines were destroyed last week following a refrigerator failure.
The temperature was said to have risen to 15 degrees celsius
The alarm system reportedly failed to report the failure which lasted for more than 12 hours.
The failure was detected when an employee entered the cold room.
About 32,000 shots of other vaccines were also destroyed.
The destroyed vaccines were earmarked for donation outside Estonia.
AU seeks inclusion of Covishield COVID vaccine in EU certificate
The African Union (AU) has kicked against the decision of the European Union to exclude the Covishield COVID vaccine from its list of approved vaccines for a digital certificate.
Covishield, a version of the AstraZeneca COVID vaccine, is produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII) and has been distributed to African nations as part of the COVAX programme.
However, Covishield is not one of four vaccines approved by the EU for its planned digital vaccination certificate, which seeks to allow people to travel freely within the EU.
In a statement, AU said the exclusion of Covishield could lead to discrimination against African travellers.
COVID-19 IN NIGERIA
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