The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) reported 617 new cases of COVID-19 Saturday.
In a Twitter update via its verified handle, the government agency said there are now 72,757 confirmed cases of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus in Nigeria.
A total number of 65,850 people it said, have so far been discharged from hospital, while the number of deaths so far is 1,194.
As of Saturday, more than 71.3 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, with more than 45.5 million of those considered recovered or resolved, according to a tracking tool maintained by Johns Hopkins University. The global death toll stood at more than 1.6 million.
According to the CBC, in Africa, Nigeria may be on the verge of a second wave of COVID-19 infections, the country’s health minister warned.
Osagie Ehanire attributed a recent spike in cases in Nigeria — the continent’s most populous nation at 200 million people, which has seen 72,000 confirmed cases that resulted in more than 1,100 deaths — to an increase in infections within communities and, to a lesser extent, by travellers entering the country.
Meanwhile, as vaccinations get underway, the World Health Organisation’s technical lead, Maria Van Kerkhove, makes an impassioned appeal for people to protect themselves and loved ones from COVID-19 in 2021.
South Korea has reported another 950 coronavirus cases, its largest daily increase since the emergence of the pandemic, as fears grow about overwhelmed hospitals in the greater Seoul area.
Peru suspended an advanced-phase trial of the coronavirus vaccine from Chinese state company Sinopharm after a 64-year-old volunteer developed muscle weakness.
Peru’s Health Ministry says that “the adverse event is under investigation to determine if it is related to the vaccine or if there’s another explanation.” Sinopharm began its Phase 3 trial in Peru in September. It includes 12,000 people aged 18 to 75.