The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) reported 145 new cases of COVID-19 Monday.
In a Twitter update via its verified handle, the government agency said there are now 67,557 confirmed cases of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus in Nigeria.
A total number of 63,282 people it said, have so far been discharged from hospital, while the number of deaths so far is 1,173.
As of Monday, more than 63.1 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, with more than 40.3 million of those considered recovered or resolved, according to Johns Hopkins University. The global death toll stood at more than 1.4 million.
That is just as the VOA reported that the World Health Organisation (WHO) says it is very worried about the rapidly growing surge of coronavirus cases in Brazil and Mexico.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters at his regular briefing in Geneva on Monday, “I think Brazil has to be very, very serious,” in combating the surge there. He echoed the same concern for Mexico, which he said was in “bad shape.”
“The number of cases doubled, and the number of deaths doubled. … We would like to ask Mexico to be very serious,” he said.
Meanwhile, according to the CBC, Moderna Inc. said it would ask US and European regulators Monday to allow emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine as new study results confirm the shots offer strong protection — ramping up the race to begin limited vaccinations as the coronavirus pandemic worsens.
Moderna is just behind Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech in seeking to begin vaccinations in the U.S. in December. Across the Atlantic, British regulators also are assessing the Pfizer shot and another from AstraZeneca.
Vietnam confirmed on Monday its first locally transmitted case of the coronavirus in nearly three months, after the infection of a man related to a flight attendant who had tested positive after returning from Japan two weeks ago.
Indonesia reported a record daily rise in coronavirus infections on Sunday with 6,267 cases, bringing the total to 534,266, data from the country’s COVID-19 task force showed.
Cambodia has reported only 323 cases of the virus since the pandemic began, most of them acquired abroad, with no confirmed deaths.
US health authorities will hold an emergency meeting this week to recommend that a coronavirus vaccine awaiting approval be given first to health-care professionals and people in long-term care facilities.
Health officials are preparing for a wave of cases in the next two or three weeks that could be tied to holiday gatherings.
Los Angeles County, for example, will impose a lockdown calling for its 10 million residents to stay home beginning Monday.