View of mural by Brazilian artist Priscila Barbosa as part of project "Grafite para Heróis" (Graffiti for Heroes) -a tribute to health workers- in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Feb 15, 2022. (NELSON ALMEIDA / AFP)
SAO PAULO / SOFIA / ADDIS ABABA – Brazil registered 29,922 new COVID-19 cases and 196 more deaths from the disease in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health reported Saturday.
The country's total caseload has now risen to 29,832,179, with the death toll reaching 658,762, according to the ministry.
Brazil continues to rank second in the world in the number of deaths from COVID-19, following the United States, and third in the number of cases, following the United States and India
Brazil continues to rank second in the world in the number of deaths from COVID-19, following the United States, and third in the number of cases, following the United States and India.
For the first time since July 2020, intensive care units in all states in the country are below the level of complete collapse or saturation, according to the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, a Brazilian scientific institution for research and development in biological sciences.
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Brazil has recently relaxed masking and social distancing rules due to the declining number of new cases.
As of Friday, 159.7 million people, or 74.3 percent of the country's population, had been fully vaccinated against the disease and 74.8 million, 34.8 percent of the population, had received booster doses, according to official data.
Africa
The African continent reported 1,850 new COVID-19 cases during the past 24 hours, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said Saturday.
Figures from the Africa CDC showed that the number of confirmed positive cases across the continent rose from 11,318,615 on Friday to 11,320,465 as of Saturday.
The death toll from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on the African continent has reached 250,912, while 10,627,934 people who have been infected with the disease have recovered, the specialized healthcare agency of the African Union said.
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South Africa has recorded the most COVID-19 cases in Africa with 3,710,766 cases, while the northern African countries Morocco and Tunisia reported 1,162,764 and 1,033,762 cases respectively, it said.
In terms of the caseload, southern Africa is the most affected region, followed by the northern and eastern parts of the continent, while central Africa is the least affected region in the continent, according to the Africa CDC.
A child receives a dose of the COVID-19 Pfizer / Biontech vaccine for children aged 5-11 in the Sofiamed hospital in Sofia on Dec 22, 2021. (NIKOLAY DOYCHINOV / AFP)
Bulgaria
The Bulgarian government on Saturday said it would not extend the COVID-19 emergency pandemic situation in the country beyond March 31.
The decision was made after the cabinet members discussed the topic in detail several times over the past month, the government said in a statement.
Bulgaria has been in an emergency pandemic situation for nearly two years, and at present the situation was being monitored and managed in a predictable manner, the statement said.
Therefore, a new extension of the restrictions for citizens and businesses was not necessary, it said.
As of April 1, the temporary anti-pandemic measures in the country would be abolished, such as wearing a face mask and observance of physical distance, the statement said.
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Next week, lawmakers would consider relevant solutions related to the adequate treatment of patients with COVID-19, and the ways for introduction of situational and regional measures in case of necessity, the statement added.
To date, 1,132,398 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 36,425 deaths have been registered in Bulgaria. Of these, 1,333 cases and 29 fatalities were reported by the health authorities in the past 24 hours.
Meanwhile, the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients stood at 2,020 with 235 in intensive care units.
The emergency epidemic situation was initially declared in Bulgaria on May 14, 2020, for a period of one month, replacing the state of emergency announced on March 13. It has already been extended several times, most recently until the end of this March.
