I had the notification badge too. I scrolled the bottom bar left untill I got to the "..." then tapped that. I can't remember what I did next but it then went away, HTH.
They are actually not updates, but a badge icon to show you the apps that have been updated that include a corresponding iMessage app.
Another forum member pointed out that to get rid of the red icon, you must tap on the ...More tab on the far right of the App Drawer, tap edit, and toggle on all of the apps. This will get rid of the red notification and then you can turn back off the apps you don’t want.