WHO says There are Nearly 150 Prospective COVID-19 Vaccines with 19 in Clinical Trials + Other Updates

499 new cases of coronavirus have been recorded in Nigeria as confirmed by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

A breakdown of the new cases across states in the country is as follows; Lagos-157, Edo-59, Ondo-56, Oyo-31, Akwa Ibom-22, Borno-21, Plateau-19, Kaduna-18, Katsina-18, Bayelsa-17, FCT-17, Delta-14, Kano-11, Rivers-10, Enugu-8, Ogun-6, Kwara-4, Imo-3, Nasarawa-2, Osun-2, Abia-1, Ekiti-1, Niger-1, Yobe-1.

There are now 30,748 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country and 689 deaths has been recorded. 12,546 patients have also been discharged after recovering from the disease.

A breakdown of cases by state can be found via https://t.co/zQrpNeOfet#TakeResponsibility pic.twitter.com/kyUZJSjCbU

— NCDC (@NCDCgov) July 9, 2020

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The Oyo State government has confirmed the recovery of two more patients from coronavirus in the state.

In a series of tweets on Thursday, the state governor, Seyi Makinde, revealed that the two persons have been discharged from the government isolation facility after they received their second negative test results.

Giving an update on the outbreak of the disease, Seyi Makinde noted that this brings the number of discharged cases in Oyo to 811. He, however, disclosed that the COVID-19 confirmation tests for 43 suspected cases came back positive.

2. Also, the COVID-19 confirmation tests for forty-three suspected cases came back POSITIVE.

— Seyi Makinde (@seyiamakinde) July 9, 2020

3. Please call the Emergency Operations Centre on 08095394000 | 08095863000 | 08078288999 | 08078288800 or visit a community-based testing centre, if you have any COVID-19 symptoms: cough, fever, tiredness, body ache, loss of smell/taste and shortness of breath.

— Seyi Makinde (@seyiamakinde) July 9, 2020

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The World Health Organization (WHO) African region has said there are about 150 prospective COVID-19 vaccines being developed with 19 in clinical trials.  “Globally, there are nearly 150 COVID-19 vaccine candidates and currently, 19 are in clinical trials,” the WHO Africa said in a statement on its website.

Also, WHO Regional Director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti in a statement on Thursday called on the continent to take steps to ensure they have fair access to the vaccine.

She said:

It is clear that as the international community comes together to develop safe and effective vaccines and therapeutics for COVID-19, equity must be a central focus of these efforts. Too often, African countries end up at the back of the queue for new technologies, including vaccines. These life-saving products must be available to everyone, not only those who can afford to pay.

The WHO Africa region noted that South Africa is the first country on the continent to start a clinical trial for COVID-19 vaccines.

African Academy of Sciences only 2% of clinical trials conducted worldwide occur in Africa. I encourage more countries in the region to join these trials so that the contexts and immune response of populations in Africa are factored into studies.

Africa has the scientific expertise to contribute widely to the search for an effective COVID-19 vaccine. Indeed, our researchers have helped develop vaccines which provide protection against communicable diseases such as meningitis, Ebola, yellow fever and a number of other common health threats in the region.

Globally, there are 19 potential #COVID19 vaccines currently in clinical trials. South Africa is the first African country to start a clinical trial, with @WitsUniversity testing a vaccine developed by Oxford Jenner Institute. Trials for the vaccine are ongoing in UK & Brazil. pic.twitter.com/Euv5KDZxUn

— WHO African Region (@WHOAFRO) July 9, 2020

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The US records 60,646 new cases

The US saw a record number of new coronavirus cases in a single day Thursday, with 60,646 new cases reported, according to Johns Hopkins University.

There are at least 3,115,345 cases of coronavirus in the US and more than 133,000 people have died from the virus, according to JHU’s tally.

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Mexico records more than 7,000 new COVID-19 cases

Mexico saw its third day of record highs in coronavirus cases over the past week, recording more than 7,000 cases in a single day.

The Mexican Health Ministry recorded 7,280 newly confirmed Covid-19 cases Thursday, bringing the country’s total confirmed cases to 282,283. The ministry also recorded 730 new deaths from the virus, bringing the nationwide death toll to 33,526.

In Mexico, the daily average of new cases in the week to July 8 was 6,176 — the highest yet. A week ago, that average was 4,989, according to CNN’s analysis of official data. Deaths in Mexico from the coronavirus have fallen back from a daily average of 759 in the week to June 25 to 612 on July 8, but in recent days that daily average has begun to creep up again.

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India records the largest single-day jump in new coronavirus cases

India recorded 26,506 new coronavirus cases Thursday, its largest single-day total to date, according to John Hopkins University tally.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in India now stands at 793,802, with 21,604 deaths, according to the ministry. So far, a total of 495,512 people have recovered from the virus.

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Japan sees 357 new coronavirus cases as Tokyo hits record daily high

Japan recorded 357 new coronavirus cases Thursday, its health ministry said Friday. This is the first time the country has recorded more than 300 daily new infections since April 25.

The majority of the new infections came from Tokyo, which reported 224 new cases on Thursday, the largest single-day climb in the Japanese capital since the outbreak began, CNN reports.

Japan also recorded a coronavirus-related death Thursday, the health ministry said. So far, the coronavirus has infected 21,431 people and claimed 995 lives in Japan.