BY Samuel Akpan
Nigeria on Friday recorded 814 cases of COVID-19. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Saturday.
Health officials in the United Kingdom said a fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine is not needed.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) explained that the third boosters still provide strong protection against severe disease from Omicron variant.
“The current data show the booster dose is continuing to provide high levels of protection against severe disease, even for the most vulnerable older age groups,” Wei Shen Lim, the JCVI’s chair of COVID-19 immunisation, said.
“For this reason, the committee has concluded there is no immediate need to introduce a second booster dose, though this will continue to be reviewed.”
MEXICO AUTHORISES MERCK COVID PILL FOR EMERGENCY USE
Mexico has authorised Molnupiravir, Merck COVID-19 pill, for emergency use.
Federal Commission for Protection against Health Risks (COFEPRIS) confirmed the approval in a statement issued on Friday.
Molnupiravir is said to reduce COVID hospitalisations and deaths by around 30% in high-risk individuals in early use.
NIGERIA RECORDS 814 CASES
Nigeria’s COVID-19 cases surged on Friday as the country logged 814 new cases.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says the new cases were recorded in 16 states and the federal capital territory (FCT).
Lagos logged the highest number of infections with 310 cases followed by Rivers with 126 and Taraba 76 cases.
A breakdown of cases is shown as follows:
Lagos-310
Rivers-126
Taraba-76
FCT-74
Ondo-68
Gombe-35
Kaduna-27
Oyo-20
Delta-17
Kwara-12
Ekiti-11
Bauchi-9
Edo-8
Kano-8
Nasarawa-7
Ogun-4
Bayelsa-2
The agency said 323 people were discharged after they recovered from the infection.
Meanwhile, four persons were said to have died of COVID complications raising the total fatalities to 3,070.
The NCDC said Friday’s report includes 76 backlog cases reported in Taraba on December 21, (6), 24 (5), 29 (36), 30 (12) and January 2 (7) and 4 (10).
It also said the report includes 27 cases and 75 recoveries in Kaduna on January 6, while 71 discharges in FCT are 70 community discharges.
The agency said 13 recoveries reported for Taraba are backlogs for December 29, adding that one death reported for Kaduna is for January 6.
With the new confirmed cases, Nigeria has now recorded a total of 247,009 infections and 217,832 recoveries.
CANADA ASKS PROVINCES TO FIGHT THE SPREAD OF OMICRON VARIANT
Jean-Yves Duclos, Canadian health minister, has asked some provinces in the country to do more in the fight against the Omicron COVID variant.
Duclos said healthcare systems should be prevented from being overwhelmed because it is becoming hard to maintain staffing levels in hospitals.
Duclos said Ontario and Quebec are witnessing a surge in cases.
“Those two provinces are going through a very difficult time. That, however, is a signal to other provinces … that they may be just a week, perhaps two weeks behind,” he said.
PHILIPPINES PRESIDENT ORDERS ARREST OF UNVACCINATED CITIZENS BREAKING LOCKDOWN RULES
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the arrest of unvaccinated citizens who violate stay-at-home orders as the country’s COVID cases continue to surge.
Duterte said the pandemic is a “national emergency” and “it is my position that we can restrain” people who have not been vaccinated.
“I am now giving orders to the [village chiefs] to look for those persons who are not vaccinated and just request them or order them, if you may, to stay put,” he said.
“And if he refuses and goes out of the house and goes around in the community or maybe everywhere, he can be restrained. If he refuses, then the [official] is empowered to arrest the recalcitrant persons.”
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