TheNewsGuru

Tag: Coronavirus

  • Covid-19: Ebonyi records 9th case, discharges one patient

    Covid-19: Ebonyi records 9th case, discharges one patient

    Ebonyi state Governor, David Umahi on Thursday announced a new case of Coronavirus in the state.

    This brings the total number of confirmed cases in the state to nine.

    This is even as one of the earlier confirmed cases has tested negative and is set to be discharged today.

    The governor who noted that the viral load of the rest of the seven, are becoming very negligible said the medical team is hopeful that by next week most of them will be discharged too.

    According to the governor, the 9th patient is a 26 year old man who hails from Odenigbo Village of Ngbodi Ward in Ikwo LGA.

    He said the patient deals on phone accessories and was staying at Salvation Army Street in Ibadan , Oyo State.

    “He came into Ebonyi State on 8th of May, 2020 and was intercepted at the border and brought into the Stadium and his sample was collected on 9th of May, 2020 and the result came out positive of Covid-19”.

    “The patient has been moved to the isolation center and he has commenced treatment in our treatment center at Unity Square , Abakaliki”.,the governor said.

    He also thanked the situation room members , all the health workers and all members of Covid-19 Team for doing great work in Ebonyi State.

    Mr Umahi encouraged the people to observe all the safety protocols so as to stay safe frombtyebdreaded covid-19.

  • Coronavirus: Delta State epicentre records more cases, with no testing centre

    Coronavirus: Delta State epicentre records more cases, with no testing centre

    The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Wednesday confirmed five new cases of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Delta State, bringing the total number of cases in the State to 22.

    While the State had discharged 6 cases and had recorded 3 deaths, the number of active cases in the State now stands at 13.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the five new cases of COVID-19 recorded in the State are from Warri South (4) and Oshimili North (1) Local Government Areas of the State.

    In total, the Warri metropolis, comprising of Warri South, Uvwie and Udu LGAs have recorded 16 COVID-19 cases, becoming the epicentre of the disease in the State.

    However, the indication is that the two mobile testing centres established in the State are not situated anywhere close to the epicentre.

    Recall that the Delta State Government had in April announced the establishment of two COVID-19 testing centres in the State. The testing centres are located in Asaba, capital of the State.

    Meanwhile, the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Mordi Ononye has disclosed that the State now has the testing capacity of 4,000 samples daily.

    Dr. Ononye made the disclosure as the State on Wednesday inaugurated a 100-bed Isolation/Treatment Centre (ITC) at the Permanent Orientation Camp of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Issele-Uku in Aniocha North Local Government Area of the state.

    “This is a 100-bed isolation unit. It is fully equipped with mobile X-ray and mobile ultra-sound and every facility required to handle patients that will be treated here even though it was initially designed to be a holding centre.

    “We are hoping that with the coming on board of this facility, the capacity of the state’s COVID-19 response team to deal with COVID-19 related issues has been greatly enhanced, he”.

    Ononye also disclosed that the State has begun the process of community testing for the COVID-19 with 19 wards in Udu LGA, while paying special attention on Oshimili South and Oshimili North LGAs.

  • Delta gets new cases as 184 new Coronavirus infections are reported, total now 4,971

    Delta gets new cases as 184 new Coronavirus infections are reported, total now 4,971

    Nigeria has recorded 184 fresh cases of the deadly Coronavirus pandemic, taking its overall total to 4,971.

    According to the figures released by the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, on Wednesday, Lagos sits at the top with 51 new cases; Jigawa is second with 23 new infections, while Bauchi and Katsina are joint third with 16 new cases each.

    Kano has 14 fresh cases; FCT, 10 cases; Rivers, 10 cases; Kwara, nine cases; Delta and Kaduna, five cases each; Sokoto and Oyo, four cases each.

    Others are: Kebbi, Nasarawa and Osun, three cases each; Ondo, two, while Ebonyi, Edo, Enugu, Anambra, Plateau and Niger have one case each.

    Six new deaths were recorded on Wednesday, taking the total Coronavirus deaths so far in the country to 164.

    How States Stand

    51-Lagos
    23-Jigawa
    16-Bauchi
    16-Katsina
    14-Kano
    10-FCT
    10-Rivers
    9-Kwara
    5-Delta
    5-Kaduna
    4-Sokoto
    4-Oyo
    3-Kebbi
    3-Nasarawa
    3-Osun
    2-Ondo
    1-Ebonyi
    1-Edo
    1-Enugu
    1-Anambra
    1-Plateau
    1-Niger

  • Tests upon tests for players as PGA Tour prepares for return

    Tests upon tests for players as PGA Tour prepares for return

    Golfers and caddies returning to the PGA Tour next month will face a battery of tests and safety measures as they adjust to tournament golf in the era of novel coronavirus.

    Golf Channel said on Tuesday it had seen the 37-page health and safety document being sent to players as the PGA Tour shut down since mid-March by the COVID-19 pandemic, prepares for a June 11 to June 14 return at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas.

    Players can expect a “layered testing approach” according to Golf Channel, which will start at their homes. They will receive a pre-travel screening test and be tested again on arrival at the tournament.

    Testing will be required as a condition of competition.

    Anyone testing positive will be removed from the competition and self-isolated for at least 10 days. A player who tests positive after making the cut at an event will receive last place earnings.

    Players, caddies and tournament officials will be kept inside a tournament bubble at one or two hotels and a charter plane will take them to the next tournament to limit possible exposure.

    Everybody must be tested again before boarding the charter.

    Golfers are also encouraged to perform many of the tasks left for their caddies, such as selecting and replacing clubs or whatever they need from the bag.

    “I don’t know what even to expect,” Brooks Koepka, winner of four majors, told Golf Channel. “I am assuming no fan, that’s been said, but I am kind of in the dark. I don’t know too much about it.

    “Whatever restrictions they put on, I am going to be in the first three events, so whatever I need to do to play those three events I am going to make sure I do.”

    In addition to the Charles Schwab Challenge the tournaments set to be held without fans are the RBC Heritage (June 18-21) in Hilton Head, S.C., the Travelers Championship (June 25-28) in Cromwell, Conn., and the Rocket Mortgage Classic (July 2-5) in Detroit.

    The first tournament tentatively preparing for spectators is the July 6-12 John Deere Classic in Silvis, Ill., followed by the Memorial.

  • 2019/2020 Bundesliga restarts amid pandemic

    2019/2020 Bundesliga restarts amid pandemic

    The eyes of the sports world will be on Germany’s Bundesliga this weekend as it becomes the first “big league’’ to restart after the COVID-19 shutdown.

    But little would have changed on the pitch with Bayern Munich hunting an eighth straight crown.

    The German Football League decided last week to resume the first and second divisions from May 16 after a two-month suspension.

    The teams will undergo a seven-day isolation period after testing for the new coronavirus.

    Leaders Bayern Munich begin the final nine match days with a trip to Union Berlin on Sunday with Borussia Dortmund, four points behind the Bavarians, playing Schalke 04 a day earlier.

    “The Bundesliga manages to become the first big league worldwide to restart,” Bayern Munich Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said.

    “And with the Bundesliga as the only league to be broadcast on TV, I expect we will have an audience of a billion,” he said on Wednesday.

    Strict health regulations mean all games will be played in empty stadiums with only some 300 essential staff and officials in and around the arenas.

    Players have been told not to spit, celebrate in groups, or touch hands with team mates.

    Also, some clubs will use music and cardboard cutouts of fans to enhance the atmosphere at matches.

    The league is desperate to complete the season by June 30 for contractual reasons.

    The organisers say they are aware of the risk of another suspension if there are many positive virus cases among players.

    It has already warned of the “existence-threatening” financial situation of several clubs due to the suspension and has warned another interruption would be disastrous for both league and teams.

    The interruption has allowed the league’s top goalscorer, Robert Lewandowski, to recover from a leg injury.

    It was an injury that would have ruled the Bayern Munich forward out of several matches had the season not been halted.

    The Pole has been back fit for weeks and will look to pick up where he left off.

    This means he can add to his 25 league goals as he chases the season record of 40 set by Gerd Mueller in 1972.

    Borussia Dortmund, on 51 points, one ahead of RB Leipzig, have not given up on the title but will restart without injured captain Marco Reus.

    Borussia Dortmund have the more difficult run-in and RB Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann hopes to give Bayern Munich a run for their money.

    “If Bayern Munich are in top form then the title will be decided by them, especially when they have such a lead,” he said.

    “But we will still try to win this nine-game tournament to create the theoretical conditions to end very high up.”

    Borussia Moenchengladbach, fourth on 49 points, and Bayer Leverkusen, on 47 points, still have to play Bayern Munich.

    But they look almost certain to battle it out for the fourth UEFA Champions League spot with Schalke 04 a further 10 points back in sixth.

    At the other end of the table, Paderborn’s Bundesliga stint looks set to come to an end after one season.

    They are last on 16 points, six off the relegation playoff spot occupied by Fortuna Duesseldorf.

    The 2004 champions Werder Bremen, in 17th place on 18 points, will need to step up a gear if they are to avoid their second relegation since 1980.

  • Twitter expresses readiness to allow employees work from home ‘forever’

    Twitter announced on Tuesday that it could allow employees to continue to work from home indefinitely even after the end of the coronavirus crisis.

    Jennifer Christie, Twitter’s head of human resources, said if employees were in a position to work from home and they wanted to continue to do so “forever”, Twitter would “make it possible”.

    Christie’s post said Twitter was one of the first companies to implement the stay-at-home model in early March.

    According to media reports, several other tech companies, such as Google, Microsoft, and Amazon, did the same.

    The company said offices would remain closed until at least September, “with very few exceptions”.

    “Opening offices will be our decision,” a company spokesperson told NBC News.

    “When and if our employees come back, will be theirs,” the spokesman added.

  • COVID-19: NITDA boss tasks ICT experts on post-pandemic innovations

    COVID-19: NITDA boss tasks ICT experts on post-pandemic innovations

    Mr Kashifu Inuwa, the Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), has called on ICT experts in Africa to prepare for post-Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic innovations that would boost economies.

    Inuwa made this appeal during the Africa Tech Leaders webinar series organised by Digital Jewels, with theme: “COVID-19 Pandemic: The Africa Leaders’ Outlook”, monitored on Tuesday night in Abuja.

    He said it was obvious countries across the globe, including Africa, were embracing digitisation as alternative means of boosting their ecomomies with the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    According to him, post-COVID-19 pandemic will witness another wave of digitisation and technology driven processes.

    “Digital transformation has positively played a big role during this pandemic in accelerating the trends of digital technologies and how it will also help us to address the changes.

    “The promising silver lining in this pandemic is accelerating technology trends and shaping the future of digital economy and transformation in general.

    “It is time Nigerian and African technology experts got ready for innovations and ideas after the world might have defeated the Coronavirus that is ravaging our economies,” he said.

    Inuwa said that President Muhammadu Buhari, on assumption of office in 2015, set up a committee on Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), which identified ICT as a key enabler.

    He also said that the Ministry of Communications was redesignated to Communications and Digital Economy in 2019 to help achieve targeted objectives toward digital growth.

    The NITDA boss further said the agency, in that line and since the emergence of COVID-19 pandemic, had initiated some programmes to cushion the economic impact of the disease.

    “We initiated Nigeria COVID-19 Innovation Challenge that brought innovators together to proffer digital strategies and how to contain the spread of the virus and prepare us for post-COVID-19 era.

    “The Federal Executive Council set up a policy that is being cascaded to Ministries, Departments, Agencies (MDAs), while NITDA is issuing regulatory instruments that can help MDAs to perform its work better.

    “We issued guidelines, standard and frameworks for government policy makers and other stakeholders to deliver their technological services efficiently,” he said.

    He reiterated that NITDA made sure all IT projects from MDAs were being cleared according to the law, guaranteeing the value for money and local content compliance, which aligns with National e-Government Masterplan.

    According to him, NITDA has conducted extensive capacity building training for MDAs and citizens in general on how to adopt and embrace digital technology.

  • Thailand reports no new coronavirus cases for first time since March 9

    Thailand reports no new coronavirus cases for first time since March 9

    Thailand, the first country outside China to discover a case of the new coronavirus, on Wednesday reported no new daily cases for the first time in two months.

    Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman for the government’s Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration, said the report made the government to consider easing more restrictions on businesses.

    “We all can be relieved but not complacent.

    “We need to continue with the main measures, wash hands, practice social distancing and wear masks,” Taweesin said.

    Thailand detected its first coronavirus case, a tourist from China on Jan. 13.

    Since then it has recorded a total of 3,017 infections and 56 deaths.

    Taweesin said areas that were still most at risk included Bangkok and surrounding provinces, as well as southern Thailand, where there has been a large number of cases in the past two weeks.

    Fuelling the rise in southern cases has been a cluster at an immigration detention centre in Songkhla province and in provinces bordering Malaysia.

    Thailand’s neighbour to the south has had 6,742 coronavirus cases and 109 deaths.

    The last day Thailand recorded no new cases was March 9, but within two weeks the daily numbers jumped to double digits and then to over 100 a day.

    That sharp escalation prompted the government to order the closure of shopping malls, restaurants, gyms and other businesses and to impose a 10 p.m. curfew.

    Recently, as the numbers of new cases fell, some of those restrictions were lifted, with businesses such as hair salons and pet groomers allowed to open.

    Report says the government is considering reopening shopping malls next week.

    It is, however, expected to meet on Friday to decide on the easing of measures.

  • 111 people test negative for Coronavirus in Kogi

    111 people test negative for Coronavirus in Kogi

    Kogi Government said on Tuesday said that 111 people it tested for coronavirus had returned negative.

    The state Commissioner for Information and Communication Strategy, Mr Kingsley Fanwo, made the disclosure in a statement in Lokoja.

    Fanwo, however, said that the Coronavirus tests were conducted on the persons without the supervision of officials from the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

    The commissioner said that the testing kits procured by the state were used to conduct the tests, and that those tested were picked randomly.

    “Kogi State got testing kits independently but followed NCDC guidelines.

    “One hundred and eleven COVID-19 rapid tests were conducted in Kogi State yesterday and all results came out negative,” he said.

    The commissioner noted that the state still remained COVID-19-free.

    “We shall not go to streets to pick people to be tested for COVID-19, but hospitals where people with similar symptoms are found and also based on any information of suspected cases,” he stated.

  • Delta govt releases COVID-19 result of American woman who died in hotel

    Delta govt releases COVID-19 result of American woman who died in hotel

    The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) test result of an American woman (name withheld), who suddenly died in a hotel Delta State has been released.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the American woman died on Saturday at Acemco Hotel, Okuokoko in Okpe Local Government Area of the State.

    Following the lodgement of the death case at the Orerokpe police station, health officials in Delta carried out an autopsy, including a COVID-19 test to ascertain the cause of the death.

    The COVID-19 test returned negative, according to the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Mordi Ononye, who made it known in a statement on Tuesday.

    According to several sources, the American woman reportedly entered Nigeria on the 3rd of March 2020 at the invitation of her online Nigerian boyfriend.

    Sources revealed that the American woman and her Nigerian boyfriend have been lodged at the Okuokoko hotel since her arrival in the country.

    While report of the American woman’s escapade in Nigeria is yet to be confirmed, the cause of her death is yet to be confirmed, as well, after the negative COVID-19 test.

    According to the Delta State Commissioner for Health, the young man suspected to be the deceased boyfriend also tested negative to the Coronavirus.

    The Commissioner advised residents to comply with government’s directives on precautionary measures to protect from the disease, stressing that this was the only way to contain the scourge.

    Meanwhile, the police have started investigations to unravel the cause of the death of the 67 years old Caucasian American woman.

    The lady’s boyfriend who took her corpse to the Orerokpe police station, according to reports, is being monitored at the isolation unit of the Central Hospital Warri.

    The American Embassy in Abuja and the Consulate in Lagos State are yet to comment on the matter.