TheCable

Nigeria on Tuesday recorded 505 cases of COVID-19. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Wednesday. 

NYSC inaugurates COVID vanguard in Edo

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Edo state has inaugurated a COVID-19 vanguard to sensitise corps members on preventive measures against the infection.

Speaking during the swearing-in ceremony of the 2021 Batch ‘B’ Stream I, Abiodun Olubukola, Edo coordinator of NYSC, said corps members need to be enlightened as the country is witnessing a spike in infections.

“Your predecessors did a lot in combating the novel COVID-19 pandemic in the country through awareness campaigns and other necessary means,” Olubukola said.

“Corps members should not drop their guard as it is not yet over, especially now that the country is grappling with the third wave of the virus.”

IMF approves $650 billion to tackle COVID crisis

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved the allocation of special drawing rights (SDRs) equivalent to $650 billion (about SDR 456 billion) to help tackle the COVID pandemic.

SDR is an international reserve asset created by the United Nations specialised agency to supplement its member countries’ official reserves.

In a statement on Monday, IMF said it is the largest SDR allocation in its history.

Kristalina Georgieva, IMF managing director, said the fund would help vulnerable countries to tackle the negative impact of the COVID-19 crisis.

Tokyo Olympics records first cluster of COVID-19 infections

The Tokyo Olympic organising committee says 29 cases of COVID linked to the Games were recorded on Wednesday.

According to the committee, five out of the confirmed cases are cluster infections recorded in the athletes’ village.

To date, a total number of 300 infections have been recorded since July 1, as compiled by the committee.

Nigeria records 505 COVID cases

Nigeria has witnessed a steady rise in the number of COVID cases in recent days. The country recorded 505 fresh infections on Tuesday.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said the new cases were confirmed in 13 states and the federal capital territory (FCT).

Lagos, the epicentre of the pandemic in Nigeria, recorded the highest figure with 273 cases, followed by Rivers with 83 cases, while Oyo had 45.

Other states are Ondo (22), Cross River (18), Kaduna (13), Ogun (10), Gombe (10), FCT (8), Ekiti (7), Delta (6), Bayelsa (3), Edo (2), and Niger (1).

The agency said 85 persons were discharged after recovering from the infection.

According to the agency’s update, three persons died of COVID-19 related complications on Tuesday, bringing the total number of fatalities to 2,163.

So far, Nigeria has 175,264 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 165,122 recoveries.

Oyo not overwhelmed by pandemic, says taskforce

The Oyo state says it is not overwhelmed with the surge in COVID-19 infections owing to the third wave.

Olabode Ladipo, the state incident manager and coordinator of the emergency operations centre, said this on Tuesday, in an interview with NAN.

Ladipo made the clarification against the backdrop of the rumour that the state is devastated by the COVID situation.

“As of this moment, we are managing the situation pretty well,” Ladipo said.

“The isolation centre/infectious disease centre at Olodo has free bed spaces, same as the Isolation Centres at Agbami and Oyo.

“Recently, the old Jericho Nursing Home was renovated and we currently have 21 free beds ready for our patients.

“So, it’s not a situation in which I would say we are overwhelmed.”