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Nigeria on Wednesday recorded 1,355 cases of COVID-19. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Thursday. 

WHO warns: Omicron, Delta forming ‘tsunami’ of COVID cases

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned the Omicron and Delta COVID-19 variants could produce a “tsunami” of cases that will put “immense pressure” on health systems.

Tedros Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, said healthcare systems worldwide need to effectively improve COVID-19 response. 

“This virus will continue to evolve and threaten our health systems if we don’t improve the collective response,” he said. 

“I am highly concerned that Omicron being more transmissible, circulating at the same time as Delta, is leading to a tsunami of cases.

“This is and will continue to put immense pressure on exhausted health workers and health systems on the brink of collapse and again disrupting lives and livelihoods.

NAFDAC: We’ll ensure COVID vaccines donated have 6-month expiration date

Mojisola Adeyeye, director-general of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), says the agency is working with international partners to ensure Nigeria gets vaccines with a longer expiration date.

More than one million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine expired in Nigeria in November. They were destroyed by NAFDAC and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) at Gosa Dumpsite in Abuja.

Adeyeye said the expired vaccines had very short expiration dates.

“But going forward, we are working with international partners to ensure the expiration date of any vaccine we will be receiving are up to five or six months,” she said.

Nigeria records 1,355 cases 

Nigeria’s daily COVID cases continued on high record on Wednesday as the country reported new 1,355 infections.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says the fresh infections were logged in nine states and the federal capital territory (FCT).

The NCDC data showed that 311 people were discharged on Wednesday, raising the country’s total recovery figure to 213,491.

One person was said to have died of COVID complications, increasing the fatality toll to 3,028.

The agency said 1,036 cases reported for Lagos are in addition to cases for December 28 and 29 — 529 and 507 respectively.

Delta-194
Edo-94
FCT-80
Kaduna-48
Lagos-35
Ondo-23
Kano-21
Rivers-20
Kwara-20
Ogun-18
Plateau-12
Abia-8
Cross River-8
Ekiti-6
Bauchi-3
239,019 confirmed
213,180 discharged
3,027 deaths

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Omicron cases may peak in US by end of January, says Fauci

Anthony Fauci, White House chief medical adviser, says the Omicron variant spread may hit its peak in the US by the end of January.

“It certainly peaked pretty quickly in South Africa, it went up almost vertically and turned around very quickly,” Fauci told CNBC.

“I would imagine, given the size of our country and the diversity of vaccination versus not vaccination, that it likely will be more than a couple of weeks, probably by the end of January, I would think.”

Japan records 502 COVID cases — first time in two months

Japan recorded 502 COVID cases on Wednesday, surpassing the 500 mark for the first time in over two months.

Speaking on the Omicron transmission in the country, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said measures will be reinforced to prevent the infections by preparing for “worst-case scenarios”.

“I will do my best in making oral medicine widely available and securing a health care service system,” Kishida said.