Nigeria on Tuesday recorded 206 COVID infections. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Wednesday.
Tunisia sacks health minister amid rising COVID cases
Hichem Mechichi, Tunisian prime minister, has sacked Faouzi Mehdi, health minister, amid the rising COVID cases in the country.
Although the reason for Mehdi’s dismissal was not stated, he had set up temporary vaccination stations leading to stampedes.
Mohamed Trabelsi, social affairs minister, has been asked to head the ministry in the interim.
Report: India’s COVID deaths exceed 4m
New research says India’s deaths from COVID-19 could be 10 times the official death toll.
India’s latest COVID death cases is 418,480, but the report released on Tuesday estimates excess deaths to be between 3 to 4.7 million between January 2020 and June 2021.
“True deaths are likely to be in the several million not hundreds of thousands, making this arguably India’s worst human tragedy since Partition and independence,” the report said.
The report was published by Arvind Subramanian, the Indian government’s former chief economic adviser, and researchers at the Center for Global Development and Harvard University.
Delta variant accounts for 80% of US COVID cases
Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, says the Delta variant is the cause of more than 80 percent of new US COVID-19 cases.
Fauci disclosed this when he appeared before a senate hearing on Tuesday.
He, however, added that the approved vaccines remain more than 90 percent effective in preventing hospitalisations and deaths.
Nigeria records 206 infections
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says 206 cases of COVID-19 were reported in nine states and the federal capital territory (FCT) on Tuesday.
According to the agency, Lagos topped the chart of infections with 132 cases followed by Akwa Ibom with 56, and Ekiti state with five cases.
Other states that reported cases include Delta (3), Rivers (2), Enugu (2), Jigawa (2), Katsina (2), Gombe (1) and FCT (1).
The NCDC said 23 people were discharged on Tuesday after they recovered from the infection.
No death was reported on Tuesday by the agency.
So far, 169,884 cases have been confirmed, 164,733 people have been discharged while 2,128 deaths have been recorded across the country.
WHO says success of Tokyo Olympic will depend on how infections are handled
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyeus, director-general of the World Health Organisation (WHO), says the success of the Tokyo Olympic will depend on how well cases of COVID are handled.
Speaking at a meeting of the International Olympic Committee in Tokyo, Tedros said the right plan should be put in place.
“The mark of success is making sure that any cases are identified, isolated, traced and cared for as quickly as possible and onward transmission is interrupted,” he said.
“It’s my sincerest hope that they succeed not only for the sake of the games themselves and the safety of the athletes, trainers and officials, but as a demonstration of what’s possible with the right plans and the right measures.”
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