BY Samuel Akpan
Nigeria on Sunday recorded 40 cases of COVID-19. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Monday.
Japan launches mass state-run COVID vaccination centres
Japan on Monday opened state-run COVID-19 vaccination centres in Tokyo and Osaka to accelerate the country’s vaccination drive.
Japan has reportedly lagged behind in its inoculation campaign compared to other developed countries and amid plans to hold the Olympics in July.
The centres are run by self-defence forces and will operate for three months — from 8am to 8pm including weekends and national holidays.
Japan hopes to vaccinate 10,000 people per day in Tokyo and 5,000 daily in Osaka with focus on persons aged 65 or older.
FG declares 90 travellers ‘persons of interest’ for violating COVID protocol
The presidential steering committee (PSC) on COVID-19 has declared 90 travellers as ‘persons of interest’ for violating the protocol for passengers arriving Nigeria from selected countries.
The federal government had mandated travellers who arrived Nigeria within 14 days of visiting Brazil, Turkey and India, to embark on isolation — owing to the rising cases of infections in the affected countries.
In a statement issued on Sunday and signed by Boss Mustapha, secretary to the government of the federation, the PSC said it will also sanction the travellers by disabling their passports for at least one year, while foreigners will have their visas cancelled.
The names of the travellers and their countries can be found here.
Nigeria records 40 COVID infections
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) confirmed 40 fresh coronavirus infections across the country on Sunday.
The latest cases of COVID-19 were recorded in seven states, according to the agency’s update for May 23, 2021.
States that recorded new positive samples are Lagos (29), Abia (3), Ogun (3), Kano (2), Kaduna (1), Plateau (1), and Rivers (1).
The NCDC reported no deaths from COVID-19 complications on Sunday for the seventh day running, leaving the total number of casualties at 2,067.
Also, eight persons were discharged on Sunday after recovering from the infection.
Out of a total of 166,019 COVID-19 cases now confirmed across 36 states and the FCT, 156,476 patients have recovered.
Pfizer, AstraZeneca effective against virus strain found in India
A new study by Public Health England (PHE) says the Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines are highly effective against the COVID-19 variant first identified in India.
In the study, the Pfizer vaccine was 88 percent effective while the AstraZeneca jab was 60 percent effective against the B1617.2 strain after a second dose.
Both vaccines are said to be more effective against the Kent strain B.1.1.7 — the COVID-19 variant dominant in Britain —Pfizer being 93 percent effective while the AstraZeneca jab is 66 percent effective over the same period.
Brazil’s Bolsonaro fined for breaking COVID public health rules
Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro has been fined for violating COVID-19 protocol.
The president was said to have failed to adhere to health safety regulations at a public event in Maranhao state.
Flavio Dino, the state governor, said health authorities filed the case against Bolsonaro “for the promotion in Maranhao of gatherings with no sanitary safeguards”.
Dino said the law applies to everyone, adding public gathering of more than 100 people are banned and the use of face masks is mandatory.
The president who has been criticised for his handling of the pandemic, has reportedly refused to enforce public health measures to curtail the spread of infections in the country.
COVID-19 IN NIGERIA
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