The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) reported 1,031 new infections of COVID-19 Thursday.
In a Twitter update via its verified handle, the government agency said there are now 87,510 confirmed cases of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus in Nigeria.
A total number of 73,713 people it said, have so far been discharged from hospital, while the number of deaths so far is 1,289.
As of Thursday, more than 83.3 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, with more than 46.9 million considered recovered or resolved, according to Johns Hopkins. The global death toll stood at more than 1.8 million.
Instead of ushering in 2021 at packed events with dance music and fireworks, many South Africans are responding to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s call to light a candle to honour those who have died in the pandemic and the health workers who are on the front line of battling the disease, CBC reports.
“This year has been very tough for most people, and it hit too close to home for me when I lost my aunt,” said Lieschen Burger, who will be spending a quiet night at home with her family. She said they will pray that 2021 will be a better, healthy year for all.
While in the US, hospitals are housing patients in hallways, conference rooms, a cafeteria and gift shops. Makeshift hospitals are being set up in tents, arenas and schools.
On top of that, the delivery of the COVID-19 vaccine has been slower than planned across the US — only two million doses given of the 20 million that had been projected by the end of the year — but demand has been high with some waiting hours in line to get a jab.
The US has seen more than 19.8 million cases of COVID-19 and more than 343,000 deaths.
The World Health Organisation said it has cleared the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for emergency use, meaning poorer countries may soon get access to the shot already available in Europe and North America.
The global body said late Thursday that the decision to issue its first emergency use validation for a COVID-19 vaccine “opens the door for countries to expedite their own regulatory approval processes to import and administer the vaccine.”
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has to be stored at ultra-frozen temperatures, a big hurdle for developing countries where the required freezers and reliable electricity supply may not be available.
“This requirement makes the vaccine more challenging to deploy in settings where ultra-cold chain equipment may not be available or reliably accessible,” WHO said, adding that it was “working to support countries in assessing their delivery plans and preparing for use where possible.”