A school security guard measures the temperature of the pupils at the entrance of Kitante Primary School in Kampala, Uganda on Jan 10, 2022. (HAJARAH NALWADDA / AP)
BRASILIA / BUENOS AIRES / CAIRO / KAMPALA – Uganda has warned that it is experiencing an increase in the number of daily COVID-19 cases compared to the stable trends it observed since January.
The increase is similar to the rise the country faced in June 2021 when the Delta variant was prevalent, Ruth Aceng, the minister of health, said in a tweet late on Sunday.
"As a country, we are well prepared to respond and save lives than before. We have no indication for travel restrictions, or lockdown in the current circumstances," she said. "We will optimize the existing control and mitigation tools at personal and community levels."
The minister said the measures being taken to address the resurgence include vaccination for all, requiring mask wearing at all times especially by the vulnerable population, and hand washing.
Uganda experienced the second wave of the pandemic in June last year, which left several people dead and hundreds hospitalized, forcing the country into a lockdown.
A health worker attends to a patient in an intensive care unit designated for people infected with COVID-19 at a hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Oct 2, 2020. (NATACHA PISARENKO / AP)
Argentina
Argentina registered another 46,045 COVID-19 cases and 84 more deaths in the past week, indicating a downward trend after 51,778 infections and 64 deaths had been reported in the previous week, the Ministry of Health said Sunday.
The latest figures have brought the total caseload to 9,276,618 and the national death toll to 128,973, the ministry said in its weekly report.
A total of 344 patients are currently hospitalized in intensive care units, with a bed occupancy rate of 43.1 percent nationwide.
Argentina began its vaccination campaign against COVID-19 in December 2020 and 103,507,017 doses have been applied so far, according to the ministry's Public Vaccination Monitor.
Former Brazilian president (2003-2011) and presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva smiles during the event "Lula embraces Contagem", in Contagem, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil on May 10, 2022. (PHOTO /AFP)
Brazil
Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his newly wed wife Janja tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday and will remain isolated for the next few days, the leftist leader and front-runner for the October election said on Twitter.
They are both well, Lula with no symptoms and his wife with mild symptoms, the message said. The tweet included the diagnosis issued by his doctor Roberto Kalil.
Recent polls show Lula has increased his advantage over far-right incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro, with pollster Datafolha finding 48 percent of voters backing him.
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Lula, a 76-year-old widower, last month married sociologist Rosangela da Silva, 55, known as Janja.
A handout picture released by the Egyptian Presidency on Jan 10, 2022, shows Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi speaking during the opening of the World Youth Forum in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. (EGYPTIAN PRESIDENCY / AFP)
Egypt
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi pledged on Sunday to provide 30 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to African states in coordination with the African Union.
"Allow me to humbly announce an initiative of providing 30 million doses of anti-coronavirus vaccines to our brothers in African states, hoping this will be coordinated with the AU," said the Egyptian president.
Sisi made the remarks at the opening of the first edition of Africa Health ExCon, a massive African medical exhibition and conference held in Cairo from June 5 to 7 under the slogan of "Your Gate to Innovation and Trade."
The three-day conference is organized by Egypt's Unified Procurement Authority, with the participation of over 2,000 representatives of government health authorities from Africa and the Middle East, 350 companies from over 100 countries, as well as prominent medical figures, experts, professors and scientists.
Monaco
Princess Charlene of Monaco, who had been away from the principality for months due to health issues, has tested positive for COVID-19, as the number of cases in neighbouring France begin to rise again.
