COVID-19 Updates

New York, U.S. | Xinhua | Global COVID-19 cases topped 300 million on Thursday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The United States reported 58,449,898 cases and 833,957 deaths, both the highest counts around the world, accounting for more than 19 percent of the …

Lima, Peru | Xinhua | Peru’s Health Ministry on Thursday reported the country’s first fatal case of “flurona” (a simultaneous infection of flu and COVID-19), involving an 87-year-old patient with comorbidities who was not vaccinated against the coronavirus. The deceased was one of three cases of flurona detected in northern Peru’s …

Lamwo, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Leaders in Lamwo district are concerned about the increasing cases of COVID-19 registered over the past four days. The district has recorded 79 cases between January 2 and January 5, 2022, from the various testing centres. Reports from the district taskforce indicate that there were …

Luwero, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Luwero district taskforce on COVID-19 has issued a directive to block unvaccinated residents from accessing the district headquarters. Juliet Najjuma Ssenkoole, the chairperson of Luwero district taskforce on COVID-19 says that the directive is intended to protect the civil servants and encourage the public to …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Ministry of Education has halted the requirement for learners to undergo mandatory COVID-19 testing before being allowed to access schools as education institutions reopen next week. With the surge in COVID-19 cases registered in the country, managers of several boarding schools especially in the …

Cairo, Egypt | Xinhua | China’s Sinopharm and Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines protect against “severe hospitalization” caused by the Omicron variant, the United Arab Emirates-based news outlet The National reported Tuesday, quoting a World Health Organization (WHO) expert as saying. Abdi Mahamud, the WHO’s incident manager for the pandemic, said that “more …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The government has withdrawn the condition that passengers must prove that they are fully vaccinated before using public transport. The cancellation of the directive comes barely a week after it was announced by President Yoweri Museveni, as a condition for reopening the economy and allowing …

Yaoundé, Cameroon | Xinhua | Cameroonian authorities said on Tuesday stricter anti-COVID-19 measures will be applied before, during and after the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) which begins in the Central African nation on Sunday. More staff and equipment have been deployed to entry points, lodging facilities, competition sites and fan …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The envisaged factory for the production of Covidex, a herbal remedy for the management of COVID-19 will need a minimum of sh10 billion to become operational in Soroti. The Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) offered five acres of land in Soroti Industrial Park last year to …

Malaba, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Business at the Malaba border in Tororo district is on the halt as truck drivers enter a third day of strike. The truck drivers are protesting against the mandatory fee of Ugx100,000 (3,600 Kshs) charged for COVID-19 testing as they cross to the Ugandan side. …