The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) reported 198 new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday.
In a Twitter update via its verified handle, the government agency said there are now 66,805 confirmed cases of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus in Nigeria.
A total number of 62,493 people it said, have so far been discharged from hospital, while the number of deaths so far is 1,169.
As of Wednesday, there were more than 60 million reported cases of COVID-19 worldwide, with more than 38.4 million of those listed as resolved or recovered, according to a coronavirus tracking tool maintained by Johns Hopkins University. The global death toll stood at more than 1.4 million.
According to the CBC, in the United States, president-elect Joe Biden appealed for unity Wednesday in a pre-Thanksgiving address, asking Americans to “steel our spines” for a fight against coronavirus he predicts will continue for months.
In the Asia-Pacific region, Singapore, which once had the highest COVID-19 rate in Southeast Asia, said it was nearly virus-free and Australia’s most-populous state eased restrictions, while Tokyo will urge bars and restaurants to operate with shortened hours.
South Korea said 60 new army recruits at a boot camp have tested positive for the coronavirus, the military’s largest cluster infection. The Defence Ministry said in a statement the recruits had been taking basic training at an army unit in Yeoncheon, a town near the tense border with North Korea, at the start of their 18 months of mandatory military service.
In Europe, France will start easing measures to curb the virus this weekend so people will be able to spend the holiday with their families. The country said a vaccine could start being administered by the end of year if approved by regulators.
Britain’s government reduced its commitment to foreign aid on Wednesday, pledging to spend 0.5 per cent of gross domestic product on aid in 2021 as opposed to the normal 0.7 per cent figure, Finance Minister Rishi Sunak said.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Wednesday that his government was considering limiting Christmas celebrations to six people in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Health experts and scientists have advised that six is a sufficiently low number to help stop the virus, Sanchez said. The final details of the restrictions will be negotiated with regional authorities.
In the Middle East, Israel’s central bank urged the government to approve a 2021 state budget as soon as possible to avoid further fiscal restraint when the economy needs stimulus to weather the crisis.
Iran registered on Wednesday a daily record high of 13,843 new cases, the health ministry said, pushing the national tally to 894,385 in the Middle East’s worst-hit country.
The World Health Organization said the coronavirus pandemic has “slowed down” in the past week although death rates continued to rise, with more than 67,000 new deaths reported.
The UN health agency said in its latest epidemiological update Wednesday that even though there was a “downward trend” in the number of cases in Europe, the region still has the biggest proportion of new cases and deaths globally. WHO noted that Africa reported the highest increase in new cases and deaths, driven by South Africa, Algeria and Kenya.
In Asia, WHO noted that Japan reported the largest number of daily cases since the beginning of the outbreak, with more than 2,000 reported every day for five consecutive days, a 41 per cent increase from the previous week. Myanmar reported a 74 per cent jump in cases last week, with more than 11,000 new cases and a 36 per cent increase in deaths, at 188.