Hello Twentyten Daily Readers,
We are always pleased to keep you up to date on Covid-related conversations, vaccination progress and infection rates as Africa battles a third wave of the Coronavirus. Last week, Nigeria recorded 1,149 active cases, its highest since the beginning of the year. South Africa and Uganda are not left out in the rise of Covid-19 cases. Skyrocketing Covid-19 rates in Uganda has forced the government into fresh lockdowns as it struggles with vaccine scarcity. Here is a roundup up of Covid-19 related articles for the week.
Nigeria Records Highest COVID Rate In Over A Year
Nigeria has recorded the highest number of infections in any single day since February 2020, according to the Nigerian Centre For Disease Control (NCDC).
The new records stand at 1,149, pushing the cumulative number of Covid-19 infections to 184,593. The NCDC added that the new cases involve 393 persons in Lagos alone.
Active cases in Nigeria now stands at 14,619, which is an increase from the 13,756 cases reported in the previous day.
Read more here
The Struggle For Covid-19 Vaccines In Uganda
Uganda’s struggle to access vaccines to reach its target of inoculating 22 million people seems to be at no immediate end as the world’s rich nations continue to hold onto vaccine doses.
The country has only received some 2 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine and 300,000 doses of the Chinese-developed Sinovac shot since inoculation began in the first quarter of the year.
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Unemployment Rate In South Africa Rises To 44.4%
Due to tightening Covid-19 restrictions in the face of a massive third wave of the virus and the eruption of deadly riots in July, experts claim unemployment data would likely deteriorate in the third quarter of the year.
According to Statistics South Africa, the unemployment rate rose from 34.4% to 44.4% in the second quarter of the year. In the first three months through March, the unemployment rate was 32.6%.
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MPs In Uganda Receive $30M For Luxury Cars Amid Covid Crisis
Uganda, a country of 45 million people, has recorded 91,710 COVID-19 cases and 2,496 deaths. The actual totals are believed to be much higher. Only a few thousand samples are tested daily. Only about one million people have been vaccinated so far
Despite the rise in covid-19 cases and the pressure on the already fragile health and economic sector, the present government has now lavished $30 million on its lawmakers.
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Variant Alert: Scientists Discover Lambda Covid-19 Variant
In recent months, mutations like the delta variant have usurped other mutations like the alpha variant in terms of transmissibility and the potential to cause hospitalizations in both vaccinated and unvaccinated people. The delta variant is responsible for the skyrocketing infection rates globally in what is termed the third wave of the virus.
Now scientists have discovered a new variant they believe may be deadlier than the delta variant. Here are a few things to know about the lambda variant.
Read more here
Covid-19 Infection Surge Threatens Global Oil Demand Growth
The International Energy Agency (IEA) said that slowing demand for crude in the wake of restrictions imposed to curb the fast-spreading Delta variant is colliding with a recent increase in global crude production.
The oil market report showed that global oil demand “abruptly reversed course in July, and the outlook for the remainder of 2021 has been downgraded due to the worsening progression of the [coronavirus] pandemic and revisions to historical data”.
Read more here
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