TheNewsGuru

Tag: Coronavirus

  • EXCLUSIVE: Unilever fires staff after massive donations for Coronavirus

    EXCLUSIVE: Unilever fires staff after massive donations for Coronavirus

    Multinational company, Unilever has fired a massive number of staff in Nigeria after donating the sum of 100 million euros to help fight the dreadful global Coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Unilever, one of the world’s leading consumer goods companies, also fired a number of brand ambassadors in the country.

    The dismissal, TNG learnt, is expected to take effect from June, barring any last minute intervention.

    “Why should our dismissal be now, of all time! We have spent all we have during this pandemic and we were not expecting something like this.

    “Good people of Nigeria, help us beg Unilever to at least give us till the end of the year to be able to save something before asking us to go. Please don’t do this to us,” one of those affected told TNG in tears.

    According to a source who refused to be named, over 400 staff and brand ambassadors of the company are affected.

    The staff and brand ambassadors of Unilever Nigerian Plc affected had already been notified, the source revealed to TNG.

    While reasons for the retrenchment are yet to be known, efforts to reach Oluwasoromidayo George, Director of Corporate Affairs and Sustainable Business, Ghana and Nigeria at Unilever proved abortive at the time of filing this report.

    Also, the Unilever Ghana and Nigeria Corporate Communications department refused comments.

    Recall, however, that in April, Unilever Nigeria Plc announced Q1 results of its operations. Key extracts of the three-month report for the period ended March 31, 2020.

    In the period, the company saw a 30 percent drop in revenues, reflecting a tough start to the year for the consumer goods giant.

    The firm’s turnover dropped from N19.24 billion in first quarter 2019 to N13.33 billion in first quarter 2020.

    Gross profit declined from N3.87 billion to N3.43 billion. Operating profit slumped to N453.45 million in first quarter 2020 compared with N1.32 billion in first quarter 2019.

    Profit before tax dropped by 53 per cent to N948.47 million in 2020 as against N2.03 billion in 2019.

    With tax gains, net profit after tax increased to N1.11 billion in first quarter 2020, but still below N1.52 billion recorded in comparable period of 2019.

    Earnings per share stood at 19 kobo by March 2020 as against 26 kobo posted by March 2019.

    Unilever Nigeria had witnessed a general decline in performance in 2019 as the company struggled with sluggish market and declining margins.

    The audited report for the year ended December 31, 2019 had shown that turnover dropped from N92.89 billion in 2018 to N60.5 billion in 2019.

    The company recorded a loss after tax of N7.42 billion in 2019 as against net profit of N10.55 billion in 2018.

    However the bad outlook, Unilever was not deterred from going ahead to make massive contributions to the global response against COVID-19, at the detriment of its employees.

    During the quarter, Unilever introduced a wide-ranging set of measures to the tune of 100 million euros to support global and national efforts to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Also, the firm made available the sum of 500 million euros of cash flow relief for it’s suppliers and retail customers, to retain market relevance while the fate of employees is left hanging.

  • Ex-presidential spokesman, Okupe, wife contracts coronavirus, discharged after treatment

    Ex-Presidential aide, Dr Doyin Okupe and his wife, Aduralere, have been discharged from an isolation centre in Ogun State.

    They tested positive for coronavirus on April 23 and underwent treatment.

    Okupe was Special Assistant to Former President Obasanjo (Media & Publicity) and Senior Special Assistant to former President Jonathan (Public Affairs).

    They were discharged on Tuesday morning.

    Okupe, who stated these, on his twitter handle @doyinokupe, thanked Governor Dapo Abiodun and medical personnel at the centre for their recoveries.

    He tweeted: “On the 23rd of April my wife aduralere and I tested positive to covid19 virus. To the Glory of God we were discharged this morning after obtaining 2 negative reports.

    ‘’I thank Almighty God for His Mercies. I thank Gov Dapo Abiodun,d hon com of health dr Coker & staff of d centre.’’

  • 113-Year-Old woman, Maria Branyas becomes oldest person in world to beat Coronavirus

    113-Year-Old woman, Maria Branyas becomes oldest person in world to beat Coronavirus

    Spain’s oldest person, Maria Branyas, a 113-year-old woman has become the oldest reported survivor of the novel coronavirus.

    The mother of three who is a resident of the Santa Maria del Tura care home in the city of Olot in the eastern Spanish province of Girona in the Catalonia region is reported to have survived CIVID-19.

    Branyas tested positive to coronavirus in April and was isolated in her room in the care home as she fought the disease before finally testing negative.

    Branyas who was born in San Fransisco in the United States on March 4, 1907 is no doubt a survivor as she has survived quite a number of tragedies that have killed many.

    She lived through the Spanish flu pandemic that swept the world in 1918 and 1919, killing an estimated 50 million people.

    She also lived through World War I (1914 – 1918) and World War II (1939 – 1945), as well as the Spanish civil war between 1936 and 1939.

    Considered the oldest person in Spain by the Gerontology Research Group, a global group of researchers in various fields which verifies and tracks supercentenarians – people who have reached the age of 110.

    There have been other reported cases of people over the age of 100 to have survived the coronavirus but Branyas is the only confirmed supercentenarian to have done so.

    Other people over the age of 100 to have survived the disease include a 107-year-old Dutch Woman, Cornelia Ras, who lives in a nursing home in which twelve people died, and a 104-year-old American, Bill Lapschies.

    Zhang Guangfen, a 103-year-old woman from Wuhan where the virus is said to have originated from, is also a survivor.

    Anyone over the age of 70 is considered to be at particular risk from the coronavirus, as is anyone with any underlying health conditions, making Branyas’ recovery even more remarkable.

    Branyas says ‘having good health’ is the key for a long life, adding that she never smoked but only ever went for walks with friends as a form of sport.

    She married doctor Joan Moret in 1931 and had three children, 11 grandchildren (one of whom is 70 years old) and 13 great-grandchildren.

  • Afreximbank cancels 27th AGM over COVID-19 pandemic

    African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has cancelled its 27th Annual General Meeting due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is now to hold it by correspondence

    Its President Prof. Benedict Oramah said, in a statement, that the decision to hold the Shareholders’ meeting by correspondence was made after the consideration of available options to ensure that the bank complies with its governance requirements.

    He announced that the seminars’ component of the AGM, which were expected to be held from June 10 to 13, in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, were cancelled in the light of global mobility restrictions and the need to ensure social distancing imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

    “Our priority is to guarantee the well-being and comfort of our shareholders and partners which requires that we comply with health and safety protocols put in place by our host country,” he said.

    Oramah explained that these decisions, while difficult, were necessary and in line with the bank’s proactive efforts to combat the pandemic.

    “As a leading Pan-African institution, Afreximbank’s response strategy has been to lead by example in taking proactive and timely measures,” he said.

    “We remain fully dedicated to supporting efforts to mitigate the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on African economies and its people. We will continue to be at the frontline with bold initiatives, forging global partnerships towards mitigating the health and economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on Africa,” the Afreximbank chief said.

    Afreximbank Annual Meetings are among the Bank’s most prominent events. They are sought-after keenly by banking industry professionals, trade and trade finance practitioners and other parties involved in economic development from across Africa and beyond.

    They are also attended by business and political leaders and have been ranked among the most important gatherings of economic decision-makers in Africa.

    Afreximbank’s next Annual General Meetings will take place in 2021.

  • Lagos, Kano lead as Nigeria announces 242 new coronavirus cases

    Nigeria has recorded 242 fresh cases of Coronavirus, taking its total infections to 4,641.

    Lagos still tops the grim statistics.

    Of the figures released by the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, late Monday night, Lagos recorded 88 new cases, with Kano coming close with 64 fresh cases.

    Katsina recorded 49 new cases, while Kaduna has 13 fresh infections.

    Others are: Ogun, nine cases; Gombe, six cases; Adamawa, four cases; FCT, three cases, while Ondo, Rivers, Zamfara, Borno and Bauchi have one case each.

    According to the NCDC, seven new deaths were recorded on Monday, while the total number of people discharged so far has reached 902.

    How States Stand

    88-Lagos
    64-Kano
    49-Katsina
    13-Kaduna
    9-Ogun
    6-Gombe
    4-Adamawa
    3-FCT
    1-Ondo
    1-Oyo
    1–Rivers
    1-Zamfara
    1-Borno
    1-Bauchi

  • Coronavirus in control of Nigeria’s situation – Peter Obi

    Coronavirus in control of Nigeria’s situation – Peter Obi

    Former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, has said that there is a need to do more work in Nigeria as coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to spread across the country.

    Obi said this on Monday in an interview on MONEY LINE with Nancy, which was aired on AIT.

    He noted that Nigeria is still not in control of the most critical measure of how the virus is spreading, which is testing.

    According to Obi: “We have not really taken care or control of the [COVID-19] situation in Nigeria as it should be because the most critical measure of how this is spreading we are still not in control of it, which is testing.

    “For me, the issue of lockdown and relaxing it, we all still have to go through this very serious precaution and follow strict protocols.

    “Because where South Africa said they are in control of the situation in their country, here in Nigeria, the virus is in control of the situation.

    “We do not know what is happening. There is a need to do more work.”

    Meanwhile, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has announced another 248 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, bringing to 4,399 confirmed cases in the country as of Sunday night.

  • Bauchi gov, Bala Mohammed says 150 deaths recorded in one month in Azare not from COVID-19

    Bauchi gov, Bala Mohammed says 150 deaths recorded in one month in Azare not from COVID-19

    Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State on Sunday said the 150 deaths witnessed in Azare, headquarters of Katagum Local Government, in the last 30 days was not from COVID-19 as speculated in some quarters.

    The governor emphasized that the deaths were from hypertension and other related diseases.

    Although, he said the deaths were not linked to Coronavirus, he explained that Azare recorded 27 positive cases out of the 44 new cases announced for the state by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Saturday night.

    As a result of this, Katagum, Giade and Zaki local government areas will be on lockdown from tomorrow.

    Deputy Governor Baba Tela has also been dispatched to Azare to supervise testing and the enforcement of the lockdown.

    Tela said the situation was being blown out of proportion.

    Recall that a former House of Representatives member Ibrahim Baba had over the weekend raised an alarm in a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari of a “massive outbreak of coronavirus and deaths” in Azare.

    He said the town recorded over 100 COVID-19 deaths in one week alone, creating panic among residents.

    In a similar letter to the governor, the Deputy Public Relations Officer (P.R.O) of the State Asset and Recovery Committee, Musa Azare, claimed that 301 fresh graves were dug at the Azare Cemetery in the “last 14 days.”

    Azare who posted the letter on his Facebook wall, said: “Information reaching me from Azare says that as at on Sunday there were 301 fresh graves in the Azare cemetery, dug in the last 14 days.”

    He claimed to have verified the information from multiple sources.

    But the governor told reporters at the Government House, in Bauchi, that about 150 had died so far in the last 30 days according to a report received from the committee set up to investigate the strange deaths.

    Mohammed said: “We have reviewed the rumour about Azare that it has become a morgue; it’s not true, we have gotten the statistics of the death in the last 30 days.

    “About 150 died in Azare, an average of about eight death per day and most of them we have found the causes to arising from hypertension, and other related diseases, it’s not true that people are falling and dying in Azare, even if that is the situation, we are moving there as a government.”

    He said the lockdown in Katagum and two other Local Government Areas, “is sequel to the massive deaths and community transmission of coronavirus which has risen.”

    The governor said: “Just yesterday (Saturday) some tests were returned for some areas, especially Azare and Giade and we discovered out of 44 new cases, 27 tested positive for coronavirus in Azare, about seven from Giade and other places. And we discovered that this is as a result of community transmission and there was a widespread rumour that Azare was becoming very bad in terms of hygiene.

    “As a result, we are thereby enforcing a total lockdown of Katagum, Giade and Zaki Local Government Areas for the period of 10 days to enable us enforce our contact tracing , quarantined the people suspected to have the virus and establish a robust and durable administration of managing the situation.

    “During the period, we will also spray and decontaminate the towns in the affected local government areas, we would embark on massive testing of residents , and we have already delegated about seven committees to be headed by the deputy governor to stay in Azare during the period of the lockdown to see that our aim is achieved. We are calling on the security agencies especially the military garrison in Azare to help us with the total lockdown.”

  • 67-year-old US citizen invited by young lover dies after showing COVID-19 symptoms in Delta

    67-year-old US citizen invited by young lover dies after showing COVID-19 symptoms in Delta

    A 67-year-old United States citizen who was invited to Nigeria by her young lover, a resident of Delta state who she met on the Internet, has died after showing symptoms of COVID-19.

    The Nigerian lover who is currently in detention was said to have invited her over to Nigeria before the airports were shut.

    They had reportedly lodged at a hotel in Warri in Delta and later relocated to Orerokpe, still in Delta.

    According to reports, the lady who arrived Nigeria on March 3, died on Sunday May 10, after manifesting symptoms of the virus and was rushed to a private hospital at Osubi, Orerokpe under Okpe Local Government Area of the state.

    A security official attached to a police station in the local government disclosed that the young man and the white lady had been lodged at a hotel in Osubi town since she arrived in Nigeria.

    “The young man and the American white lady lodged in a hotel in Osubi where they spent some weeks. The white lady fell sick and she began to manifest some symptoms of COVID-19, especially severe coughing. At this stage, her lover rushed her to a private clinic in Osubi but she gave up the ghost this morning.

    “Immediately she died at the hospital, her Nigerian lover carried her corpse in a Venza car to the Orerokpe Police Division and he was arrested by the police. While still at the station, a doctor was brought and took samples from the corpse for test.” the security guard told Sahara Reporters.

    The commissioner of police in the state, Hafiz Inuwa, also confirmed the incident, narrating how the woman died.

    “While they were together, the woman was coughing and having difficulty in breathing and stooling. So, she was taken to a hospital on Saturday when her condition became worse and eventually died,” Inuwa said.

    However, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has taken man’s samples for a test before he was later sent to the isolation center in Warri under police watch.

    Delta has recorded 17 cases of COVID-19.

  • Operators cannot switch on 5G technology in Nigeria – NCC

    Operators cannot switch on 5G technology in Nigeria – NCC

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said no licence for 5G technology has been issued to any mobile network operator (MNO) in Nigeria and that no MNO can switch on such technology in the country.

    Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, who made this known in a statement by Dr. Henry Nkemadu, Director, Public Affairs of NCC, enjoined Nigerians not to rely on information emanating on social media.

    The statement reads: “The attention of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has been drawn to a mischievous statement making the rounds on social media like Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, LinkedIn and other sites that the Nigerian telecoms industry is going to switch on Fifth Generation (5G) in Lagos this Sunday 10th, Monday 11th or Tuesday 12th May 2020.

    “The statement from the faceless individuals or groups cannot be further from the truth. The Commission has unequivocally stated that there is no deployment of 5G in Nigeria at the moment.

    “The NCC back in November 2019 approved trial test for 5G for a period of three (3) months and the trial has been concluded and installation decommissioned.

    “Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, said that ‘’the trial among others was to study and observe any health or security challenges the 5G network might present. Relevant stakeholders including members of the security agencies were invited to participate during the trial.’’

    “The NCC will continue to maintain its policy of technology neutrality and will continue to encourage service providers to deploy the best technology that will meet the needs of the society in a secured and friendly manner.

    “The NCC had provided clarifications through Frequently Asked Questions on 5G in view of the recent developments in which misleading materials with no proven evidence are being circulated to link CORONAVIRUS or COVID-19 with 5G technology and therefore refutes the claim that there will be switching on of 5G in Lagos in its entirety.

    “The Commission also provided clarifications on the laying of fibre optic cables within Lagos and other parts of the country to the effect that the laying of additional fibre optic cables is to strengthen the existing 3G and 4G infrastructure to provide robust and pervasive telecoms infrastructure to improve network performance.

    “5G is a fifth generation of mobile technology, which is an improvement of today’s 4G technology with enhanced capabilities. 5G technology provides the platform for new and emerging technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Big Data to improve the way we live and work.

    “NCC has not issued any licence for 5G in Nigeria and therefore, the mobile network operators (MNOs) cannot switch on such technology. NCC is technology-neutral. As such, we don’t license technology but assigns spectrum to operators for deployment of any service when allocated by National Frequency Management Council (NFMC).

    “As the telecoms regulator, we enjoin Nigerians to get accurate information from us rather than relying on information emanating on social media by some individuals out of ignorance to misinform our people,” said Danbatta”.

  • French lockdown ends after 54 days

    French lockdown ends after 54 days

    France’s strict 54-day coronavirus lockdown was officially over on Monday, however many restrictions were due to remain in place.

    French people will now be able to leave their homes without carrying a signed declaration as to why they are on the streets and most shops and other workplaces are set to reopen.

    However, in a country with one of Europe’s highest COVID-19 death tolls, 26,380 as of Sunday, authorities are anxious to keep social mingling to a minimum for the moment.

    “Anyone who can continue to work from home should still do so.

    “Cafes and restaurants will remain shuttered for the moment,” the government said.

    The government also said primary schools would reopen gradually starting this week, with middle schools reopening the week after only in areas less affected by COVID-19.

    It said signed declarations would still be required for anyone taking public transport at peak hours in the greater Paris region, with usage reserved for commuters and those on essential trips.

    The government said masks would be required on public transport nationwide, and travel restrictions remained between mainland France, the Mediterranean island of Corsica, and overseas territories.

    It said in Paris and north-eastern France, categorised as “red zones” with a higher rate of COVID-19 infections or hospitalisations, public parks would remain closed.