TheCable

Nigeria on Monday recorded 87 cases of COVID-19. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Tuesday. 

Indonesia lifts quarantine for international arrivals

Indonesia has lifted quarantine requirements for all international arrivals.

Sandiaga Uno, tourism minister, made the announcement on Monday while addressing the improvement recorded in containing the spread of COVID in the country.

The minister said the decision is with immediate effect.

“With the handling of the pandemic more controlled…today we announce that the policy of no quarantine has been expanded across Indonesia,” Sandiaga said.

The minister, however, said a negative COVID test will still be required.

AstraZeneca says its COVID drug neutralises Omicron sub-variants in lab study

AstraZeneca says its antibody-based cocktail to prevent and treat COVID-19 showed neutralising activity against Omicron strain, including the highly contagious BA.2 sub-variant, in independent lab research.

AstraZeneca said the research conducted by the Washington University showed the therapy reduced the amount of virus detected in samples of all tested Omicron subvariants in mice lungs.

The therapy, Evusheld, which is yet to be peer-reviewed, was tested against the BA.1, BA.1.1, and BA.2 subvariants of Omicron and shown to limit inflammation in the lungs.

“The findings further support Evusheld as a potentially important option to help protect vulnerable patients such as the immunocompromised who could face poor outcomes if they were to become infected with COVID-19,” John Perez, senior AstraZeneca executive, said.

Nigeria logs 87 infections 

Nigeria has reported 87 cases of COVID-19.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in its update for March 21, 2022, said the infections were logged in five states and the federal capital territory (FCT).

A breakdown of the infection is shown below:

Lagos-34
FCT-23
Rivers-21
Osun-4
Kano-3
Kaduna-2

The agency data showed 16 persons were discharged after they recovered the infection.

No deaths were recorded leaving the fatality toll at 3,142.

Nigeria has so far confirmed 255,190 infections with 249,476 recoveries.

Japan ends COVID quasi-emergency in 18 prefectures

Japan has ended its COVID quasi-state of emergency in all 18 prefectures including Tokyo and Osaka following a decline in infections.

The quasi-state of emergency was imposed to tackle the spread of COVID infection. The measure allowed governors to request restaurants and bars to close early and stop serving alcohol.

The 18 prefectures also include Hokkaido, Kanagawa, Aichi, Kyoto, Kagawa and Kumamoto.

FG to scrap pre-departure PCR test for fully-vaccinated travellers arriving in Nigeria

The federal government says from April 4, fully-vaccinated travellers entering Nigeria will no longer be required to take pre-departure PCR COVID tests.

Boss Mustapha, chairman of the presidential steering committee (PSC) on COVID-19, said though there has been a consistent decline in the number of cases around the world, it should not be a reason completely relax protocol considering the recent reports of infections in countries like China and South Korea.

He said the PSC has reviewed the situations around the world and revised the international travel protocol which is expected to come into effect on April 4.