TheCable

Nigeria on Wednesday recorded 856 COVID-19 infections. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Thursday.

Panama makes COVID vaccination mandatory for public officials

Panama has asked all public officials to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing.

Speaking at a news briefing, Luis Sucre, health minister, said President Laurentino Cortizo has signed a decree mandating public officials to receive three doses of the COVID vaccine or provide proof of a negative test each Monday.

Sucre said the directive would take effect from January 28.

“If there is something that cannot be stopped, it is the government institutions that have to continue to function,” Sucre said.

Thailand raises COVID alert level to curtail spread of Omicron

Thailand has raised its COVID-19 alert level as a result of rising infections caused by the Omicron variant.The country change from level three to four which means that measures such as closing high-risk areas and placing restrictions on domestic travel will be activated.

“Thailand has entered a new wave of infections, where new cases will be rising fast,” Kiattiphum Wongrajit, permanent secretary of the health ministry, said.

“Level four means we may close high-risk places and announce more measures.”

Nigeria records 856 infections 

Nineteen states and the federal capital territory (FCT) recorded 856 COVID-19 cases on Thursday raising the country’s total infections figure to 245,404.

A breakdown of the infections is as follow;
Lagos-337
Kaduna-152
FCT-87
Gombe-47
Delta-43
Kano-31
Kwara-27
Enugu-26
Nasarawa-19
Niger-15
Oyo-11
Rivers-11
Benue-9
Bauchi-8
Ogun-8
Borno-7
Ekiti-6
Edo-5
Plateau-4
Bayelsa-3

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in its updates for Wednesday 5, 2021, also reported 433 recoveries while five persons were said to have died from COVID complications.

The agency said the Wednesday report includes 337 cases reported in Lagos on January 4; 152 infections logged in Kaduna on January 4 (18) and 5 (11) with an additional 123 cases on December 24 (67) and 25 (56).

The NCDC also said it includes 26 cases reported in Enugu on January 4; 31 infections logged in Kano on January 4 (20) and 5 (11) January 2022; 15 cases in Niger on January 2; 9 infections in Benue on January 4; seven cases in Borno on January 4; 80 recoveries in Kaduna on January 4 (30) and 5 (50); 27 discharges in Enugu on January 4; eight recoveries in Kano on January 4 and three discharges in Lagos on January 4.

Nigeria now has a total of 217,247 recoveries and 3,058 fatalities across the country.

US forces in Japan to impose strict COVID measures

US forces in Japan (USFJ) say it will introduce stricter measures to tackle the surge in COVID-19 cases to prevent the virus from spreading to communities around military facilities in the country.

In a statement, USFJ said it is “establishing more stringent mitigation measures in a further effort to prevent virus transmission”.

The measures will mandate US service members to wear masks off base including stricter testing.

USFJ made the announcement after Yoshimasa Hayashi, Japanese foreign minister, asked Anthony Blinken, US secretary of state, to impose COVID curfews on its bases in Japan.

Pfizer: We expect clinical data of vaccine for kids under five years in April

Pfizer says it expects results from a clinical trial of its COVID vaccine for children under the age of five by April.

“The study has been amended to give a third dose to everybody who’s less than five at least eight weeks after their last vaccination,” Alejandra Gurtman, a Pfizer vaccine researcher, said at a meeting with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).