The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) reported 712 new infections of COVID-19 Friday.
In a Twitter update via its verified handle, the government agency said there are now 82,747 confirmed cases of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus in Nigeria.
A total number of 70,239 people it said, have so far been discharged from hospital, while the number of deaths so far is 1,246.
As of Friday, more than 79.7 million coronavirus cases had been reported worldwide, with more than 44.9 million cases considered recovered or resolved, according to a running tally kept by Johns Hopkins University researchers. The global death toll stood at more than 1.7 million.
CBC reports that in Africa, at least 15 people have died in recent weeks on the South African side of the Beitbridge border with Zimbabwe in lengthy queues that have been slowed by coronavirus screening, television news channel eNCA said on Friday.
The Health Ministry, Department of Home Affairs and South African police did not respond immediately to Reuters’s requests on Friday for confirmation of fatalities that local media outlets attributed to exhaustion and ill health owing to a lack of facilities while waiting to cross the border, sometimes for days.
Morocco announced it has acquired 65 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from China’s Sinopharm and Britain’s AstraZeneca, as the north African kingdom prepares to launch a COVID-19 vaccination programme that aims to immunise 80 per cent of the country’s adult population.
The country has reported the second-highest number of virus infections and deaths in Africa, after South Africa.
In the Americas, US President Donald Trump spent his Christmas Eve golfing in Florida after making a last-minute demand that threatens to blow up a massive COVID relief and government funding bill and force a government shutdown in the midst of the pandemic. Failure to agree on the bill could deny cheques to millions of Americans on the brink.
In Brazil, the CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd showed efficacy between 50 per cent and 90 per cent in trials, Sao Paulo’s state health secretary said, and full trial results will be released on Jan. 7.
The South American country has registered 7,448,560 confirmed coronavirus cases and 190,488 deaths due to COVID-19, the country’s health ministry said on Friday.
In Europe, Queen Elizabeth released her annual Christmas message in which she acknowledged the “difficult and unpredictable times” while paying tribute to front-line workers and young people who have helped their communities during the pandemic.
With infection rates soaring in recent weeks and many hospitals nearing their capacities, the British government on Dec. 19 cancelled Christmas gatherings and festive shopping for millions in a bid to control the spread of the virus.