The World Health Organization says Coronavirus-linked deaths in Africa surged by 43 per cent in the space of a week, driven by a lack of intensive-care beds and oxygen as the new Delta variant surged on the continent.
Fatalities associated with COVID in the WHO’s Africa region, which includes North Africa, rose to 6,273 in the week of July 5-11, compared with 4,384 in the previous week.
Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa says deaths have climbed steeply for the past five weeks. This is a clear warning sign that hospitals in the most impacted countries are reaching a breaking point.
She says under-resourced health systems in countries are facing dire shortages of the health workers, supplies, equipment and infrastructure needed to provide care to severely ill COVID-19 patients.

Senegalese health officials recommended Thursday that people refrain from travelling for the Eid al-Adha Muslim festival set to take place next week.
Health minister Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr recommended mask-wearing at all times and avoiding movement and travel during the Tabaski festival, as the holiday is known in the west and central Africa.
Families typically mark Tabaski by gathering for a sacrifice and may travel long distances in crowded cars and buses for the occasion.
Diouf Sarr also recommended working from home whenever possible and reducing staff elsewhere.
The ministry also announced the arrival of some 500,000 vaccine doses before the end of the month, hoping to end the current shortage.

The Senate approved President Muhammadu Buhari’s request for ongoing external loans to the tune of $8,325,526,537 and €490,000,000 under the 2018-2020 External Borrowing Plan.
The approval followed the consideration of a report on the 2018-2020 External Borrowing Plan by the Committee on Local and Foreign Debt.
Chairman of the Committee, Senator Clifford Ordia, says the Committee noted with utmost importance the genuine and very serious concerns of Nigerians about the country's borrowings' level and sustainability/serviceability in the Last Decade.
He explained that rapid infrastructural and human capital development is needed due to the shortfall in the country’s annual revenues.
Ordia noted that out of the total borrowing request of $36 billion in the re-forwarded request of Mr President, a sum of $26 billion is for funds proposed to be borrowed from various financial institutions from the Peoples Republic of China.

Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu says that persisting rumours and conspiracy theories about the COVID vaccine have affected the uptake of the vaccine in Nigeria despite the increasing demand for the vaccine in Lagos State.
Sanwo-Olu averred that false and alarming conspiracy theories about the COVID vaccine abound, seeking to sow doubts in the minds of the people.
The Governor noted sadly, that many of the rumours and misinformation have gained ground amongst the populace with a significant effect on the popularity of the vaccination campaign.
He says the myths and rumours need to be aggressively dispelled in order not to jeopardize the efforts of all stakeholders, and to ensure the protection of the health and wellbeing of our citizens.

The National Economic Council is urging for strict adherence to the COVID-19 response guidelines across the country, after receiving a regular state performance report from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
The report says the Coronavirus positivity rate has gone up in the country just as 3 cases of the Delta variant have now been detected.
The Council received the state performance report on COVID-19 from the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, who noted that the Delta variant is a new variant identified in 103 countries and is 60% more transmissible than the highly infectious Alpha variant which was previously identified.

The Federal Government has declared Tuesday, July 20, and Wednesday, July 21, 2021, as public holidays to mark this year’s Eid-el-Kabir celebration.
The Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, congratulates all Muslim faithful and Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora on this occasion.
The Minister assured that the Administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is committed to the security of lives and property of every Nigerian, empowering the citizens for successful living.
He added that provisions of social investments programmes and adequate security in the schools, especially with the spate of innocent school children

The Senate adopted a three per cent allocation to host communities in the Petroleum Industry Bill, despite protests by southern lawmakers at the National Assembly.
The southern lawmakers had demanded five per cent for host communities.
The number in dispute is the percentage of their total operating expenses oil companies are expected to contribute to a trust fund created for host communities.
Senator Sekibo said he is not part of the vote on the allocation clause and Senator Dickson said his privilege had been breached as his views were not accommodated.
Senate President Ahmad Lawan however says that the Senate had taken a resolution on the matter and could not go back on its decision.

The Nigerian Senate has approved the conditional electronic transmission of electoral results.
Senators voted publicly along party lines over section 52 of the electoral act amendment bill, which deals with electronic transmission of poll results.
28 Senators mostly from the PDP voted for the original amendment in the report while 52 Senators mostly from the APC voted for the amendment as proposed by Senator Sabi Abdullahi.
This means the majority of Senators voted that INEC may consider electronic transmission provided the national network coverage is adjudged to be adequate and secure by NCC and approved by the National Assembly.

The UN Human Rights Council called for those behind massive scale enforced disappearances in Syria over the past decade of conflict to be held accountable.
The resolution, presented by Britain and a number of European countries, along with the United States, Turkey and Qatar, decried that Syria’s crisis had entered a second decade marked by consistent patterns of gross violations.
Tuesday’s resolution, adopted with 26 of the council’s 47 members in favour, six opposed and 15 abstaining, voiced particular concern about the fate of tens of thousands of people who have vanished.
The text strongly condemns the continued use of involuntary or enforced disappearances in the Syrian Arab Republic, and related human rights violations and abuses, which have been carried out with consistency, in particular by the Syrian regime.
It also criticised enforced disappearances by other parties to the conflict, including the Islamic State group, but said the Syrian regime was the main perpetrator.

A cabinet minister has announced that Algeria is set to start producing coronavirus jabs from September.
Lotfi Benbahmed told National Radio Algeria that in addition to the Russian vaccine Sputnik, they will be producing the Chinese Sinovac as well.
He says Chinese technicians would arrive in Algeria by the end of the month to prepare the arrival of raw materials and the production of the vaccines would start in September.
He says the state-owned pharmaceutical company Saidal will be producing 2.5 million doses of both vaccines a month adding that locally made vaccines would be 45% cheaper than imports and 90% cheaper once the raw materials were produced in Algeria.