The 'Gam-COVID-Vac', also known as 'Sputnik V', COVID-19 vaccine.
LONDON / WASHINGTON / GENEVA / JOHANNESBURG / BERLIN / VIENNA / LISBON / PARIS / VILNIUS / ADDIS ABABA / SAO PAULO / BUENOS AIRES / HAVANA / ABUJA – Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine provided strong protection against COVID-19 in an interim analysis of an advanced clinical trial, while its backers said it appears to work against new strains.
The vaccine was well-tolerated and also worked among the elderly, according to the peer-reviewed findings, which were published Tuesday in the medical journal The Lancet. Sputnik V showed efficacy of 91.6 percent, validating claims by the developers last year.
The results, collated by the Gamaleya Institute in Moscow that developed and tested the vaccine, were in line with efficacy data reported at earlier stages of the trial, which has been running in Moscow since September.
“The development of the Sputnik V vaccine has been criticised for unseemly haste, corner cutting, and an absence of transparency,” Professor Ian Jones of the University of Reading and Professor Polly Roy, of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said in a comment shared by The Lancet.
Russia on Tuesday reported 16,643 new COVID-19 cases, including 1,701 in Moscow, taking the national case tally to 3,884,730 since the pandemic began.
Authorities reported 539 deaths in the last 24 hours, pushing the official death toll to 74,158.
Russia has extended a ban on flights to and from Britain until Feb 17 due to the new coronavirus variant detected in the UK, Russia’s coronavirus taskforce said on Monday.
Russia, which has already reported a case of the more infectious coronavirus variant, has had the flight ban in place since Dec 22.
Healthcare workers tend to people in cars at a drive-up vaccination center at City College of San Francisco, California, on Feb 1, 2021. (JEFF CHIU / AP)
US
The US government on Monday promised undocumented migrants the same access to COVID-19 vaccines as other civilians, and said inoculation centers would be immigration enforcement-free zones.
"It is a moral and public health imperative to ensure that all individuals residing in the United States have access to the vaccine… once eligible under local distribution guidelines," the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
The US hit a new milestone in the pandemic, as more Americans have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine than have tested positive for the virus
The pledge came as the US hit a new milestone in the pandemic, as more Americans have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine than have tested positive for the virus.
As of Monday morning, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had administered 32,222,402 doses of COVID-19 vaccines and distributed 49,936,450 doses.
Early data released by the CDC on coronavirus vaccinations on Monday suggests that Blacks and Hispanics received a smaller proportion of shots than their representation among healthcare workers and nursing home residents, two priority groups for COVID-19 inoculations.
So far, over 26.3 million people in the country have tested positive for the disease and more than 443,000 have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
January has been by far the deadliest month of the pandemic in the country with more than 95,000 COVID-19 deaths, surpassing December's total of over 77,000 deaths, according to JHU.
The latest CDC data showed that more than 470 cases of coronavirus variants have been reported in at least 32 US states as of Sunday.
In a bid to curb the spread of COVID-19, new rules took effect just before midnight Tuesday requiring millions of travelers in the US to wear masks on airplanes, trains, buses, ferries, taxis and ride-share vehicles and in airports, stations, ports and other transit hubs.
WHO
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday urged countries to improve their health information systems so as to have a better understanding of the health sector and respond more quickly to health emergencies.
About four in ten of the world's deaths are unregistered and in the African region, only one in ten deaths is currently recorded, according to the first-of-its-kind WHO SCORE Global Report. SCORE stands for Survey, Count, Optimize, Review, Enable.
The report includes a technical package of essential interventions, recommended actions, tools and resources that aims to support countries in addressing challenges and meeting health information system needs.
It highlights the urgent need to strengthen the standardized system to report causes of deaths to help the world respond to health emergencies and track progress towards global health goals.
"The pandemic has stretched the capacity of country health information systems around the world, as they must track both the disease and other critical health trends," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. "The SCORE report is an important step towards better data, for better decisions and better health."
The report estimates that 60 percent of the countries reviewed have a well-developed system for reviewing progress and performance of their health sector but only half have the capacity to monitor quality of care, while only 32 percent have good capacity for a national digital health strategy based on recommended standards.
Although there is good availability of data on areas such as immunization, tuberculosis and HIV incidence, there is less coverage on health issues such as mental health and cancer. Less than half of countries report national facility data on severe mental health disorders.
Global tally
Coronavirus cases worldwide exceeded 103.5 million while the global death toll topped 2.24 million, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
ALSO READ: Brazil COVID-19 outbreak shows signs of slowing
Africa tally
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases recorded on the African continent reached 3,567,552 as of Monday, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said, adding that the death toll stood at 91,006.
The global fight against the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has marked the beginning of a struggle that changed "everything globally," a senior African Union (AU) Commission official has said.
A member of the public collects a swab sample of her own at a COVID-19 testing facility set up in Goldsworth Park Recreational Ground, in the Goldsworth Park suburb of Woking, Surrey, southwest of London, on Feb 1, 2021. (ADRIAN DENNIS / AFP)
Nestle
Nestle SA, the world’s largest food company, plans to help distribute Covid-19 vaccines to communities, especially in developing countries, once shots become more readily available. The maker of KitKat chocolate and Nespresso coffee could help with the financing or logistics of the rollout, Chief Executive Officer Mark Schneider said.
Pfizer
Pfizer Inc. said it expects US$15 billion in revenue this year from the COVID-19 vaccine it developed with BioNTech SE, a sign of returns to come from the industry’s pandemic response efforts.
The New York-based drugmaker said it expects 2021 full-year revenue excluding the vaccine of US$44.4 billion to US$46.4 billion. Annual earnings per share will be US$3.10 to US$3.20. Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla said earlier this month that earnings would top out at US$3.10 a share. Pfizer said the guidance was raised primarily because of vaccine reveune.
Latvia
The Latvian Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) on Tuesday reported a slight increase in positive COVID-19 tests over the past week.
Last week, the average share of positive coronavirus tests rose by 0.3 percentage points, to 7.9 percent from 7.6 percent the week before, while the weekly number of tests gradually dropped during the first month of 2021, from 75,856 in the first week of January to 66,460 in the last week of the month.
Hungary
Hungary will receive its first 40,000 doses of Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday, enough to vaccinate 20,000 people, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.
“The first shipment will arrive today based on the deal we signed in Moscow,” Szijjarto said in a video on his Facebook page.
Under a deal signed last month, Russia will ship 2 million doses of the vaccine to Hungary in the coming three months, enough to inoculate 1 million people, Szijjarto said.
Sweden
Sweden’s health authorities won’t recommend that AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine be given to people over 65, according to a statement on Tuesday.
“The European Medicines Agency judges that AstraZeneca’s vaccine is safe to use and provides a good immune response,” the Swedish Public Health Agency said on its website. “However, there is still no data on how effective the vaccine is in protecting against severe Covid-19 disease in the older age groups.”
The agency said it will revisit the decision when more is known about the vaccine’s effect on people over 65, which it expects to be “later in the spring.”
“Pending these additional data, the Swedish Public Health Agency has decided to recommend that AstraZenaca’s vaccine be used in people under the age of 65 in Sweden,” it said.
UK
Deaths linked to COVID-19 in England and Wales climbed to the second-highest level of the pandemic, underscoring the seriousness of the latest wave of the virus even as the government sees signs new infections are flattening out. Fatalities mentioning the disease rose to 8,422 in the week to Jan. 22 the Office for National Statistics said Tuesday. That’s the highest since the peak of the first wave in April.
The United Kingdom defended the delay in imposing hotel quarantine for travelers arriving from virus hot spots, even as officials battle to contain the spread of a new variant of coronavirus from South Africa.
“The government is working on this initiative and wants to get it right,” Universities Minister Michelle Donelan told the BBC on Tuesday when asked why the policy has not been implemented. “It is a logistical effort.”
Britain begins a door-to-door COVID-19 testing of 80,000 people on Tuesday in a bid to stem the spread of a new highly infectious so-called South African variant of the novel coronavirus.
The move comes after 11 people in different regions of England tested positive for the variant without having any links to people who have traveled.
Public Health England’s Managing Director Susan Hopkins said the cases did not appear linked. “They’re more likely to be related to somebody who potentially had asymptomatic infection when they came in from abroad,” she said at a news conference.
Public Health England said it has identified a total of 105 cases of the South African variant since Dec 22.
The UK government reported 18,607 new cvses and 406 additional deaths on Monday, bringing the cumulative total to 3,835,783 with 106,564 deaths, official data showed.
British infection rates are flattening and possibly beginning to fall, but they remain at a high level which means there can be no premature easing of COVID-19 restrictions, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.
READ MORE: Nasal spray a weapon in fighting coronavirus
South Africa
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa hailed the arrival of the first doses of COVID-19 vaccine on Monday as a chance to “turn the tide” on a disease that has devastated the country.
Ramaphosa and other top officials were at the OR Tambo international airport to receive the 1 million shots of the AstraZeneca vaccine, produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII).
The shots that arrived on Monday will be checked over roughly 10 to 14 days before inoculations can begin. Once testing of the batches is completed, the first shots will be given to health workers, who have been stretched during a second wave of infections and have been critical of the government for not securing supplies sooner.
"In addition to the 1 million Covishield (the local name for the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine manufactured by SII) doses we received today, we expect another 500,000 doses from the Serum Institute of India to arrive later in February," he said. "We have secured 12 million doses in total from the global COVAX facility, which has indicated that it will release approximately 2 million doses by March."
Meanwhile, the country eased a ban on alcohol sales after a two-month spike in cases abated.
The country will remain on virus alert level 3, but liquor stores will be allowed to resume trading between Mondays and Thursdays and bars and restaurants can sell alcohol again throughout the week. Beaches, parks, dams and lakes that were closed in COVID-19 hot spots late last year will be reopened, a night-time curfew will be shortened by three hours and religious gatherings will be permitted.
South Africa has recorded the most COVID-19 infections and deaths on the African continent, at more than 1.4 million cases and over 44,000 deaths to date.
EU
The European Union (EU) made the right choice when choosing companies for vaccine contracts out of 160 applicants, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in an interview to several newspapers including Le Monde.
“I am convinced that the European vaccination strategy is the right one,” she said, adding that the development was "faster than expected".
Meanwhile, EU governments agreed to tighten rules for travelers to the bloc by requiring them to get a COVID-19 test within 72 hours of departure, highlighting concerns about new virus variants. The move covers essential and non-essential travelers to the EU except “transport and frontier workers,” officials said on the condition of anonymity because the deliberations on Monday in Brussels were confidential.
Diplomats also decided to open the door for member countries to impose self-isolation, quarantine and contract-tracing obligations for as many as 14 days after arrival from outside the EU, according to the officials. The deal among EU member-country envoys still needs formal approval – a step that is usually a formality.
The bloc also sought to ease concerns that its new export-authorization system for COVID-19 vaccines would hinder supplies to other parts of the world by saying shipments to Canada and the UK have been approved.
“So far, the information we have is that we’ve got two requests for deliveries — one for Canada and one for the UK,” Miriam Garcia Ferrer, trade spokesperson at the European Commission, told reporters on Tuesday in Brussels. “Member states have handled these requests very swiftly and these exports have been authorized in accordance with the opinion of the commission.”
The 27-nation EU established the export-authorization system four days ago amid political calls in the bloc to ensure adequate domestic supplies. The commission, the EU’s executive arm, has said the main aim is to collect information about the market situation as the bloc seeks to accelerate inoculations.
J&J
Johnson & Johnson (J&J) will ship some COVID-19 vaccines ordered by the EU to the US for the last stage of production, raising concern among some member states that the bloc’s inoculation program could be hampered by further delays, according to a diplomatic note seen by Bloomberg.
After diplomats asked whether the process could be carried out in Europe, a senior EU official told the ambassadors that doing some fill and finish in the US was a condition of the contract with the drugmaker, suggesting it could not be renegotiated, according to the note. The official explained that J&J had been transparent about the matter and that the company was intent on delivering on schedule, according to the note.
J&J’s exports would in principle be subject to that process, the European Commission said in an emailed reply to questions.
J&J said its manufacturing timeline will enable the company to meet its full-year 2021 supply commitments.
Europol
An Irish organized crime gang is behind a scheme to forge coronavirus test results for people traveling between countries, according to Europol.
Europol has received “intelligence on the alleged use of a mobile application by the Rathkeale Rovers Mobile Organised Crime Group which allows members of the organized crime group to manually falsify test results,” the law-enforcement group said in a statement Monday.
People arrive for vaccination against COVID-19 at a vaccination center at the fair grounds in Hannover, Germany, Feb 1, 2021. (OLE SPATA / DPA VIA AP)
Germany
Chancellor Angela Merkel promised all Germans a first shot of COVID-19 vaccine by the end of September, as long as drugmakers stick to their delivery commitments.
Even if new shots aren’t approved, Europe’s largest economy will have sufficient supplies despite earlier delays, the German leader said late Monday in Berlin after crisis talks with pharmaceutical executives, cabinet ministers, the country’s 16 state premiers and European Commission officials.
“There will be no shortage of money or commitment” to meet the target, she said, adding that current production plans don’t allow for a more aggressive rollout.
Merkel listed the decision to seek a regular, not an emergency, approval for vaccines in order to build public trust and the decision to stick to the prescribed interval between injections as reasons for the slower pace in vaccinations.
Health Minister Jens Spahn warned of “tough weeks of shortage in this first quarter and into April” and said that throwing cash at the problem would not make much of a difference at this stage of the program.
Bayer AG agreed on Monday to produce CureVac NV’s experimental shots. While the move won’t have an immediate effect, it’s at least some good news after a week of chaos surrounding Europe’s program.
Merkel on Monday also said that it was still unclear whether immunity would need to be renewed each year, and warned that there was no absolute certainty. A variant of the coronavirus could yet derail all plans.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 6,114 to 2,228,085, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Tuesday. The reported death toll rose by 861 to 57,981.
Italy
Italy registered the lowest daily increase in coronavirus cases since Oct 14 on Monday, as the government eased restrictions for many regions.
The country logged 7,925 new infections, down from 11,252 the day before. It also country reported 329 deaths, from 237 on Sunday.
In total, Italy has registered 88,845 deaths linked to COVID-19 and 2.561 million cases to date.
Austria
Austria will loosen its coronavirus lockdown from Feb 8, switching to a nighttime curfew from all-day restrictions on movement and letting non-essential shops and schools reopen.
The conservative-led government announced the move despite coronavirus infections staying higher than it would like, citing the social toll of continuing the country’s third lockdown, which began on Dec 26.
Only pupils who have been tested will be allowed to attend lessons, with others able to join online, the government said in a statement, adding that tests will be carried out in schools and older pupils’ classes will be split into separate groups.
Shops’ customers will have to wear FFP2 face masks – a higher standard than basic textile masks. Such masks are already required on public transport and the essential shops that are open. Museums, galleries and zoos will also be allowed to reopen, according to the statement.
Portugal
Portugal, which is facing one of world’s worst coronavirus outbreaks, now has an occupancy rate of about 94 percent at its intensive-care units, Secretary of State for Health Antonio Lacerda Sales said.
READ MORE: Portugal reports nearly half of all its virus deaths in Jan
Austria is willing to take intensive-care patients and is waiting for Portuguese authorities to propose how many they want to transfer, the Austrian embassy in Lisbon said.
Germany will send medical staff and equipment, with a plane carrying 26 doctors, nurses and hygiene experts, as well as 40 mobile and 10 stationary ventilators. The flight is due to leave for Lisbon on Wednesday.
Hard-hit neighbor Spain has offered help, too, but Portugal has yet to accept, a Spanish foreign ministry source told Reuters.
Portugal is starting to produce its first certified ventilators which meet Europe's CE marking requirements, the Portuguese Medical Association (OM) said on Monday.
Portugal on Monday reported 5,805 cases, with 275 deaths. Overall, the country has reported 726,321 confirmed cases and 12,757 deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
With 865 coronavirus patients in intensive care and 6,869 in hospital wards, hospitals are running out of beds and there is a shortage of doctors and nurses.
The Czech Republic
The Czech Republic recorded a 15 percent jump in deaths in 2020, with the virus driving the annual increase to its highest level since the end of World War II. The country recorded 129,100 deaths last year, 16,700 more than in 2019, the Statistics Office said Tuesday.
France
Analysis of positive tests in the Paris region found the UK variant accounted for 15 percent to 20 percent of cases last week, up from around 6 percent in the first week of January, according to hospitals operator AP-HP.
France on Monday registered 455 deaths caused by COVID-19, the highest daily toll since Jan 25, while hospitalizations in intensive care units were also on the rise, Health Ministry data showed.
France has now registeredd a total of 76,512 fatalities from COVID-19, the seventh-highest toll in the world.
The total number of patients hospitalized for the disease stands at 27,914, representing a single-day rise of 301. A total of 3,228 resuscitation beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients, after 70 serious cases were admitted to intensive care units in one day, up from Sunday's 45.
The number of new cases dropped to 4,347 on Monday. According to official data, France has confirmed over 3.2 million cases since the start of the pandemic.
About 1.49 million people in France have already received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, of whom 47,000 have received two doses by Sunday evening, according to data released by the ministry.
Mexico
Mexico’s health ministry on Monday reported 5,448 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases and 564 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 1,869,708 cases and 159,100 deaths.
Deputy Health Secretary Hugo Lopez Gatell said the country would receive between 1.6 million and 2.75 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine through the COVAX global vaccine sharing program this month.
Lithuania
Lithuania's Health Ministry confirmed on Monday the country's first case of the coronavirus variant that was first identified in Britain, local media reported.
"On Jan. 12, the National Public Health Surveillance Laboratory sent a sample to be analyzed in Rotterdam. On Jan. 27, we received a confirmation that the sent sample contained the mutated B117 strain," Vytautas Beniusis, head of the ministry's press service, was quoted as saying by local news agency Elta.
The new strain of coronavirus was found in a woman from Vilnius.
Meanwhile, the government on Monday gave the green light to outdoor ski facilities, allowing them to open from Tuesday.
So far, Lithuania has registered 182,893 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 2,825 related deaths, according to the Department of Statistics.
Uruguay
Uruguayans and foreign residents will be able to enter the South American country starting Monday, after six weeks of a total border closure in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an announcement by President Luis Lacalle Pou.
The move comes as the country has not reached the number of positive cases predicted in December, when an exponential increase was forecast, Lacalle Pou said.
Other curbs that were lifted include a ban on public shows and a closure of restaurants and bars until midnight.
Meanwhile, measures such as a ban on crowds and capacity limits in medium and long distance buses remain in force.
As of Sunday, Uruguay had reported 41,738 confirmed COVID-19 cases with 436 deaths, according to the Ministry of Public Health.
In this Jan 9, 2021 file photo, vials of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine are placed next to a loaded syringe in Throop, Pennsylvania. (CHRISTOPHER DOLAN / THE TIMES-TRIBUNE VIA AP)
Moderna
Moderna Inc said on Monday it is proposing filling vials with additional doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to ease a crunch in manufacturing as the company approaches the manufacturing of almost a million doses a day.
“The company is proposing filling vials with additional doses of vaccine, up to 15 doses versus the current 10 doses,” Moderna said in an emailed statement.
“Moderna would need to have further discussions with the FDA to assure the agency’s comfort with this approach before implementing,” the company said, referring to the US Food and Drug Administration.
Moderna’s president, Stephen Hoge, said in the statement that the additional doses would help address capacity constraints, noting that “beyond the amount of drug product available, is how many vials you can fill in a given period of time.”
CNBC reported on Friday that Moderna had asked the FDA for permission to fill its COVID-19 vaccine vials with up to five additional doses.
Chile
Chile reported on Monday 3,779 COVID-19 cases and 85 deaths were registered in the last 24 hours, bringing the total caseload to 730,888 with 18,537 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health.
In its daily report, the ministry reported there were currently 25,589 active cases while 686,374 people have recovered.
Argentina
Argentina reported 6,614 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, bringing the tally to 1,933,853, the health ministry said.
The ministry also reported 275 more deaths from the disease, bringing the death toll to 48,249.
The province of Buenos Aires remains the hardest-hit region with 806,914 cases.
Argentina has decided to keep its borders closed to non-resident foreigners until Feb 28 to prevent the spread of the virus, according to a a Government Gazette issued Monday.
Cuba
Cuba could set a new daily record of more than 1,500 COVID-19 cases by the end of February, scientists said Monday.
Data from a COVID-19 modelling showed that the island could register nearly 7,000 active cases in the coming weeks, as the number of people infected with the virus would continue to rise through the month before starting to decline in March.
In the past 24 hours, Cuba recorded 906 new COVID-19 cases and two deaths, bringing its tally to 27,592 infected and the death toll to 216, the Ministry of Public Health said.
The ministry said that the number of COVID-19 cases found in the pediatric age group continued to rise, with 111 fresh such cases registered in the past 24 hours.
According to data from the ministry, during the almost 11 months of pandemic management, 2,882 children and adolescents have been infected with COVID-19. Of those cases, 586 are now in the active stage.
Health authorities said that January ended as Cuba's worst month in this pandemic, with 70 deaths and 15,536 cases.
Tunisia
The Tunisian Health Ministry on Monday reported 1,160 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of infections in the country to 210,045.
The death toll from the virus rose by 48 to 6,802, the ministry said in a statement.
Earlier, Minister of Health Faouzi Mehdi said in a statement that 336,000 Tunisians have registered for the national vaccination campaign against COVID-19.
"Tunisia will receive the first batch of the vaccine, consisting of 93,600 doses, as part of the Covax initiative, on Feb. 15," said the minister.
Mehdi said that the Ministry of Health will set up more than 300 vaccination centers.
Algeria
Algeria on Monday reported 217 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of infections in the North African country to 107,339.
The death toll rose to 2,894 after three more fatalities were added, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.
A shipment carrying 50,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine arrived on Monday at the International Airport of Algiers as part of the North African nation's efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was the second shipment of COVID-19 vaccines that Algeria has received following 50,000 doses of the Sputnik V shot from Russia.
Brazil
Brazil registered 595 additional deaths from COVID-19 on Monday, taking its death toll to 225,099, the country's Health Ministry said.
Another 24,591 new coronavirus cases were also recorded, bringing the tally to 9,229,322, according to the ministry.
Sao Paulo, the most populated state and hardest-hit by the pandemic in the country, is in red alert due to a growing outbreak. The state has registered 53,090 deaths and 1,779,722 cases.
However, authorities on Monday announced that transmission rates have improved, so restrictions would be reviewed and possibly relaxed.
Meanwhile, the northern state of Amazonas, where the health system collapsed in January due to a lack of oxygen, said it has airlifted 406 patients to 16 other states for treatment.
The state registered 2,832 deaths in January alone, out of a total of 8,266 fatalities logged in the state.
So far, more than 2 million Brazilians in high-risk groups have been vaccinated against COVID-19 since the start of immunization, the ministry said.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia registered 734 new COVID-19 positive cases in the last 24 hours, taking the country's tally to 138,384, the Ministry of Health said Monday.
The death toll reached 2,103 after 10 more deaths were added, the ministry said.
It added that 106 new recoveries were logged during the past 24-hour period, taking the total recoveries to 122,968.
Nigeria
Nigeria's Inspector-General of Police Mohammed Adamu ordered on Monday the full enforcement of the COVID-19 Health Protection Regulations, an executive order signed last week by President Muhammadu Buhari, as part of measures to curb the spread of the virus.
The order stipulates maintaining a physical distance of at least two meters and limits the number of people to be admitted in an enclosed environment.
Gatherings of more than 50 people are banned in enclosed spaces, except for religious purposes, in which the number of people should not exceed 50 percent of the places' capacity, according to the law.
Also on Monday, health authorities said the number of Nigerian healthcare workers infected with COVID-19 is becoming "worrisome", as 75 new cases were confirmed in the past week.
Chikwe Ihekweazu, director-general of the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC), said the NCDC would roll out rapid diagnostic test kits in more health facilities over the next month as an additional form of protection.
The Nigerian Medical Association said last Saturday that at least 20 doctors lost their lives to the virus within a week in December.
Zambia
Zambia on Monday recorded 825 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the cumulative caseload to 55,042.
The death toll went up by 17 to 780.
Health authorities expressed satisfaction with the adherence to COVID-19 health guidelines in schools as institutions reopened in the southern African nation Monday.
Uganda
Uganda has approved the purchase of 18 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from the Serum Institute of India, said a government statement issued here Tuesday.
Uganda Media Center in a statement said on Monday the vaccines will be used to vaccinate the elderly, people with underlying health issues, health workers, and security personnel among other essential social service providers.
Uganda on Tuesday allowed the reopening of schools and institutions of higher learning provided they adhere to the strict COVID-19 prevention measures.
The Judiciary in Uganda on Monday issued new measures to stop the spread of COVID-19, as courts in the country braced themselves for increased election petitions.
The move came as the opposition National Unity Platform party filed a petition to the Supreme Court Monday, seeking to annul the results of the Jan 14 election which incumbent president Yoweri Museveni won.
The country is currently grappling with high cases of COVID-19. According to figures published by the Ministry of Health, Uganda has reported 39,579 cases, including 14,179 recoveries and 324 deaths.
Malawi
Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera has announced that his government has secured doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to help immunize "as many citizens as possible" against COVID-19.
Chakwera said that the first consignment of the vaccine will arrive at the end of February for rollout in March.
Chakwera said his government will administer the vaccines to 20 percent of the population, starting with frontline workers, the elderly, and those with underlying conditions.
Meanwhile, the president also announced that for the first time, scientists at the Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Trust (MLW) lab at one of the country's referral health facilities, Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, now have the capacity to sequence the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
Malawi has recorded nearly 24,000 COVID-19 cases out of more 144,000 tests conducted since April 2020.
Zimbabwe
Nearly 70 percent of Zimbabwe's confirmed COVID-19 deaths were recorded in January, highlighting a resurgence of the virus in the southern African country, the Ministry of Health and Child Care said Monday.
In a statement, the ministry said that in January alone, a total of 854 people had died from COVID-19, representing nearly 70 percent of all the 1,217 fatalities recorded in the country since the onset of the pandemic in March last year.
Several high profile Zimbabweans have succumbed to COVID-19, including four cabinet ministers.
A total of 33,388 infections had been reported since March 2020, of which 19,521 were recorded in January, data from the ministry showed.
Zimbabwe will be among the first three African countries to receive the COVID-19 vaccine from China.
People visit the Colosseum in Rome, Italy, on Feb 1, 2021 as it reopens after the government lifted some restrictions aimed at containing the spread of COVID-19. (CECILIA FABIANO / LAPRESSE VIA AP)
Albania
The Albanian Health Ministry reported on Monday 865 new coronavirus cases and 13 COVID-19 related deaths were registered in the past 24 hours, taking the cumulative total to 78,992 cases with 47,922 recoveries and 1,393 fatalities.
Deputy Minister of Health Mira Rakacolli, who is also head of the Technical Committee of Experts on the coronavirus situation, told reporters on Monday that over the past two weeks, health authorities have seen an increase in daily infection numbers and fatalities, as well as the number of patients who needed treatment at hospitals.
According to experts, the country has seen a high incidence of the disease, which has reached 209 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, mostly due to gatherings during the end-of-year holiday season and lack of compliance with COVID-19 measures.
The Technical Committee of Experts said that flights to and from the United Kingdom would be suspended indefinitely.
Ecuador
Ecuador registered 158 new COVID-19 infections and 25 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the tally to 250,986 and the death toll to 10,202, the Ministry of Public Health said Monday.
The ministry also reported another six "probable deaths" from COVID-19 in the same period, for a total of 4,688.
The capital city Quito is the hardest-hit with 80,940 cases. No more intensive care unit beds were available and dozens of patients were on waiting lists.
Finland
Finland's capital Helsinki on Monday began vaccinating people aged 85 and over, as well as their caregivers, against COVID-19, the city announced in a press release published on its official website.
Helsinki is going to receive around 6,000 vaccine doses this week. Most of the doses will be used as booster shots and approximately 2,500 vaccines will be available for vaccinating the elderly, according to the press release.
There are around 14,000 Helsinki residents aged 85 and over. Some 3,000 of them have already been vaccinated, most of whom are residents in nursing houses.
According to the city's authorities, more than half of the healthcare workers who are doing COVID-19-related work have received their first doses of the vaccine.
Morocco
Morocco announced on Monday 281 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally in the North African country to 471,483.
The number of recoveries increased by 892 to 450,052 after 892, while the death toll rose by 12 to 8,287, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
The first shipment of 2,000 doses of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine has arrived in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), said Alen Seranic, minister of health and social welfare of Republika Srpska (RS), one of the two BiH entities, on Monday.
The vaccines will be distributed upon approval from the Agency for Medicinal Products and Medical Devices of BiH.
Seranic said at a press conference that the medical professionals will be the first priority group to receive the vaccine, adding that 400,000 more Sputnik V doses are expected to arrive soon.
Meanwhile, the state-owned news agency Fena reported Monday that the Ministry of Civil Affairs of BiH had received a notification from the COVAX facility, saying that the delivery of approved vaccines to BiH would begin in mid-February.
BiH has acquired more than 1.2 million doses through the COVAX facility as well as 892,000 doses in cooperation with the European Union (EU) vaccine program.
Namibia
Namibia's health sector remains intact and the cabinet has begun working in earnest to ensure that the most vulnerable citizens will soon have access to COVID-19 vaccines, President Hage Geingob said Tuesday.
"All avenues will be exhausted when it comes to safeguarding the health of Namibians," Geingob said at an official opening of the cabinet session on Tuesday.
Namibia has so far recorded 34,168 confirmed cases and 353 deaths.
Denmark
Denmark will take the first step towards easing its coronavirus lockdown next week, reopening schools for the youngest children, the Nordic country’s government said on Monday.
Schools will reopen for children in 1st to 4th grade starting next Monday, Health Minister Magnus Heunicke told a news briefing.
He warned that the number of people infected with the more contagious virus variant first identified in Britain, which has now spread across Europe and elsewhere, is still on the rise in Denmark.
According to the Statens Serum Institut (SSI), Denmark registered 488 new COVID-19 infections and a further 20 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the tally to 198,960 and the toll to 2,145.
