Daily COVID Tracker: Nigeria records 35 infections as US surpasses 900k fatalities

Nigeria on Friday recorded 35 new cases of COVID-19. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Saturday. 

COVID vaccination now mandatory for adults in Austria

Adults must be vaccinated against the coronavirus under the new Austrian regulation that comes into force on Saturday (today).

The bill was passed on Thursday in Austria’s upper house of parliament.

President Alexander Van der Bellen and Chancellor Karl Nehammer signed it into law, and it was then officially published.

The conservative-led administration justified the legislation saying only 69 percent of the country’s population is completely vaccinated against COVID-19 — one of the lowest rates in Western Europe.

US COVID death toll surpasses 900,000

The United States COVID-19 death toll has surpassed 900,000.

As of the time of filing this report, data from Johns Hopkins University showed that 901,388 COVID fatalities and 76,354,040 cases had been reported in the US.

The high infections Omicron variant is reportedly driving the increase in cases and mortality.

“It is an astronomically high number. If you had told most Americans two years ago as this pandemic was getting going that 900,000 Americans would die over the next few years, I think most people would not have believed it,” Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, said.

“We got the medical science right…We failed on how to help people get vaccinated, to combat disinformation, to not politicize this.”

Nigeria records 35 new cases

Nigeria recorded a slight decline in its daily cases on Friday.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said 35 cases were logged in five states and the federal capital territory (FCT), down from the 100 infections recorded on Thursday.

A breakdown of the infections below:

Rivers-15

Katsina-8

FCT-6

Gombe-4

Ekiti-1

Kano-1

The agency said 89 persons were discharged after they recovered from the infection, while no person died of COVID complications.

The NCDC said Friday’s report comprised 67 community discharges cases in FCT on February 4.

With the new infections, Nigeria has now confirmed a total of 253,540 cases, 229,982 recoveries and 3,136 deaths across the country.

Greece to drop testing for travellers with European vaccine passport

Greece says it will no longer require travellers with European vaccine passports to undergo COVID-19 tests before entering the country.

“As of Monday, those with active European (vaccination) certificates will enter without obligatory testing,” Thanos Plevris, the health minister, said.

Greece is reportedly striving for a 4.5 percent increase in economic growth this year.

Spain to scrap mandatory outdoor masks 

Spain is considering ending the mandatory use of face masks outdoors, which was reimposed in late December to tackle an increase in Omicron cases.

Carolina Darias, health minister, said the measure will be approved at Tuesday’s cabinet meeting.

Spain first imposed mandatory mask-wearing outdoors in May 2020, but it was withdrawn in June last year, although wearing a face mask was still required for indoor public spaces.