Within the past few weeks, Nigeria has experienced a significant decrease in the number of confirmed infections and fatalities – giving a strong indication of the possible end of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

The latest statistics released by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Sunday morning, shows that the country recorded three cases on Saturday, the lowest daily infections since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020.

With no fatalities were recorded, the disease centre noted that the confirmed cases were reported by Katsina and Kaduna states in the North-west with two and a single case respectively.

NCDC noted that the country’s infection toll now stands at 254,640, while the death toll still stands at 3,142, as no fatality has been recorded since February 18.

Meanwhile, the data on the NCDC website shows that a total of 2,325 people are still down with the illness in Nigeria, while 249,171 people have been successfully treated and discharged nationwide.

NCDC also added that five states: Nasarawa, Plateau, Kano, Rivers, and Sokoto reported that they recorded no cases on Saturday.

President Muhammadu Buhari has welcomed the designation of Nigeria as one of the six countries in Africa designated as manufacturing bases for the COVID-19 vaccine.

The President spoke on Friday in Brussels, Belgium, while contributing to the Roundtable on Health Systems and Vaccine Production at the ongoing 6th Europe-Africa Summit.

He said, “I am delighted to receive the news of the selection of Nigeria among recipients of mRNA vaccine technology transfer. We shall ensure the best use is made of the opportunity. Nigeria also offers to host the bio-manufacturing training hub proposed by the World Health Organisation (WHO). We commit to providing support to make the hub functional in the shortest possible time.

“Accordingly, we are prioritising the manufacture of vaccines on the African continent and in the sharing and transfer of technology and intellectual property rights. We call on the European Union (EU) to support the World Trade Organisation (WTO) towards the conclusion of negotiations on intellectual property rights’ waiver to ensure that the manufacturing of vaccines can start early in Africa.”

Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, in a statement, noted that with the addition of Nigeria to the countries earlier approved for the vaccine production on the continent, efforts by the Buhari administration to change the selection that the country considered unrepresentative of the needs, capabilities and population distribution in Africa had yielded the desired result.

President Buhari, who also called for collaboration to address the effects of the pandemic, commended the efforts of the foreign partners in making the COVID-19 vaccine available.

He, however, urged them to do more as less than 10 per cent of the African population had gotten the jab, stressing that it could negatively affect Africa’s developmental projections.

The Ugandan government will no longer conduct COVID-19 tests for passengers travelling into the country through the Entebbe International Airport, the country’s ministry of health has said.

The director-general of health services, Henry Mwebesa, in a statement issued on Wednesday, said the decision was made following a decrease in COVID-19 infections globally.

Mr Mwebesa said the government noticed a few new cases were being recorded at the airport and that the threat of new coronavirus variants and community transmissions has reduced.

“The Ministry of Health would like to inform the public that the mandatory COVID-19 testing of all incoming travellers at Entebbe International Airport upon arrival has been stopped with effect from today, 16 February 2022,” the statement published on the ministry’s website reads.

“The suspension of mandatory testing is informed by the decline in positive cases identified at the airport and reduction in the global threat of new Variants of Concern (VoC) and therefore reduced risk of importation of VoC that will increase community transmission.”

Entebbe international airport is the biggest airport in Uganda.

The Uganda government had imposed mandatory testing at the airport in September 2021 following the detection of more variants of Omicron imported from neighbouring countries in travellers who arrived via the airport.

Before the restrictions, incoming travellers were only required to show a valid negative PCR certificate obtained from an accredited laboratory in their countries of origin.

Despite the latest development, the government said travellers are still required to be tested 72 hours before arrival or departure from the airport.

“Our health workers will continue to screen all travellers both at arrival and departure and verify their COVID-19 test certificates,” Mr Mwebesa said.

According to data on Worldometer, over 11 million COVID-19 cases and 245,814 deaths have been reported in Africa. Uganda accounts for 162,865 of these cases and over 3,000 persons have died from COVID-19 related complications.