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Uganda has further eased its COVID-19 restrictions as positive cases have continued to drop. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Friday.

Pakistan disbands COVID-19 response body as infections drop

Pakistan has disbanded the National Command and Operations Center (NCOC), which was overseeing the COVID-19 response in the country, as the infections were at the lowest since the start of the outbreak early in 2020.

Imran Khan, the country’s prime minister, said in a post on Twitter.

“Today, as (NCOC) closes down, I want to congratulate the NCOC team and its leadership for a professional, nationally coordinated response to the pandemic,” he said.

“Our COVID response was recognized by international agencies and people in the field as one of the most successful globally.”

Uganda further eases COVID-19 restrictions as cases drop

Uganda’s has further eased COVID-19 restrictions as positive cases in the country are consistently dropping.

Emmanuel Ainebyoona, the health ministry spokesperson, in a statement, said the suspension took immediate effect.

“Uganda will recognise COVID-19 PCR results from the East African Community (EAC) state laboratories that were jointly accredited by EAC for COVID-19 testing,” the statement reads.

“Travelers should come with COVID results taken within 72 hours.”

EAC member countries include Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan.

Shanghai to expand lockdown to most residents as COVID cases rise

The majority of Shanghai residents will be placed under a COVID lockdown from Friday, as the city expands curbs to include its western half.

The city is on the fourth day of a 10-day lockdown that was to exist in two phases, with first the east and then the west entering lockdowns of five days each.

However, the city government has now said it would lift the curbs in stages instead.

Residents living in buildings where positive cases were found will remain under lockdown for 10 more days, while those in the same housing compound or neighbourhood will face shorter extensions of restricted movement.

Restaurants will only be allowed to provide take away services and non-essential businesses such as bars and libraries will remain shut.

Pfizer COVID vaccine slashes pediatric hospitalisation risk, says US study

A new US study says children ages five to 11 who received the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine are 68% less likely to be hospitalised during the Omicron wave in the US than unvaccinated children.

The study was led by scientists from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Boston Children’s Hospital.

The study looked at vaccinated and unvaccinated patients with and without COVID-19 at 31 hospitals in 23 states.

It said adolescents aged 12 to 18 who received two shots of the vaccine were around 40 percent less likely to be hospitalised with the Omicron variant of the virus.

Germany plans to relax COVID quarantine rules 

Germany’s health ministry has proposed plans to end mandatory quarantine for most people who catch COVID-19.

Under the existing rules, people with COVID must quarantine for at least seven days.

But Karl Lauterbach, the country’s health minister, wants to change that to a voluntary five days of self-isolation with the recommendation of a COVID test at the end of that period.

Under the plans, health workers would still have to isolate for a five days and require a negative PCR test to end their quarantine.