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Tag: Coronavirus

  • COVID-19: SERAP tasks governors to use security votes, life pensions to fund healthcare

    COVID-19: SERAP tasks governors to use security votes, life pensions to fund healthcare

    The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has tasked governors of the 36 states of the federation to channel their security votes and life pensions of ex-governors to the fight the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

    Deputy-Director of SERAP, Mr Kolawole Oluwadare, on Sunday, revealed that Freedom of Information (FoI) requests had been sent to all the governors to urgently provide information on spending on COVID-19 in their respective states.

    SERAP said in the FoI requests that the public funds initially budgeted for security votes and former governors’ life pensions should be redirected by the serving governors to improve public healthcare facilities and access to quality education in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    In a letter written to the governors dated April 25, the organisation urged them to show leadership, transparency and accountability to effectively respond to the COVID-19 crisis.

    The organisation said in the letter: “Redirecting security votes and life pension funds to invest in public healthcare facilities and access to quality education in your state will improve your ability to respond to COVID-19.

    “It will provide palliatives and socio-economic reliefs to residents, and meet the expectations of Nigerians,” it said in a statement.

    SERAP said it would be a betrayal of the constitutional oath of office if the governors continued to receive security votes, pay life pensions and “other needless allowances” at a time of public health crisis in their respective states.

    The FoI requests sent by SERAP said: “The situation in Kano State must be urgently addressed.

    “The Kano situation shows the urgent need for all state governors to demonstrate leadership at a time of public health crisis.

    “This should be done by immediately stopping payment of security votes and life pensions and redirecting the funds to respond to COVID-19, investing in healthcare facilities and access to quality education in your state.

    “We ask you to provide the requested information within seven days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter,” it further said.

    SERAP noted that failure to respond to the request would spur the Registered Trustees of the organisation to take appropriate legal action under the Freedom of Information Act to compel the governors to comply with the requests.

    “By the combined reading of the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2011 and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, there were transparency obligations imposed on all public officials to disclose information to the public on spending details on COVID-19.

    “We urge you to provide information on details of funds so far received from the Federal Government, private donations and other sources,” SERAP said.

    The organisation said in responding to the FoI requests, the states should provide details of the exact amounts so far received from the Federal Government, private donations and other sources and details of spending of any such funds.

    The states are urged to provide details of palliatives and other socio-economic reliefs so far provided to the poorest and most vulnerable citizens and the list of beneficiaries of such palliatives.

    The FoI request urged the governors to provide details of what they were improving testing for COVID-19, provision of resources for isolation centres and safe protective equipment for health workers.

    The governors are also urged to give information on the coordination and support that their states were providing to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to improve their state’s capacity to respond to COVID-19.

  • COVID-19: ‘If you love yourself, you better stay home’ – Pastor Adeboye [VIDEO]

    COVID-19: ‘If you love yourself, you better stay home’ – Pastor Adeboye [VIDEO]

    As the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) lockdown announced by President Muhammadu Buhari reaches day 26, General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye has advised Nigerians to continue staying at home.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Pastor Adeboye gave the advice during a live service on Sunday while teaching on a message titled ‘power’, stressing that where the word of a president is, there is power.

    “Now, there are categories of power. There is political power. Ecclesiastes chapter 8 verse 4 says, where the word of the king is, there is power. You put it in the modern language, where the word of the president is, there is power.

    “If you don’t believe that, just check what is happening. President sits in his house, makes a decree or a pronouncement: everybody stay home. If you love yourself, you better stay home,” Pastor Adeboye, fondly referred to as Daddy GO said.

    Nigeria has been under lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After President Buhari imposed the lockdown for Lagos and Ogun States, and the federal capital territory (FCT), Abuja as parts of measures to control the disease, other States followed suit.

    Even, the Governors of the 36 States of the federation through the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) recently wrote to the President to include inter-state lockdown, overnight curfew and compulsory wearing of face masks in the public in his next pronouncements.

    As of March 30 when Buhari first pronounced the 14-day lockdown, there were 97 cases of COVID-19 in the country but on April 13 when the lockdown elapsed, the cases had risen to 323. The President, however, extended the lockdown by two weeks, explaining that “alarming” increase in cases made him do so.

    Nigerians are anxious to know the next presidential directive on the lockdown as there are currently 1,182 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country.

  • JUST IN: Suspected killer of Fasoranti’s daughter tests positive for Coronavirus

    Ondo State has recorded another three coronavirus cases on Sunday.

    This is happening just a day after a policeman from Lagos State tested positive for COVID-19 in the state.

    The governor, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu, disclosed the new cases on his Twitter handle on Sunday.

    Akeredolu disclosed that one of the three new cases is a suspect arrested and arraigned over the killing of Mrs Funke Olakunrin, the daughter of the leader of the Afenifere, Pa Reuben Fasoranti.

    READ ALSO: No evidence COVID-19 survivors can’t be reinfected – WHO

    Akeredolu said, “We have confirmed three other cases in Ondo State. One of the cases involves one of the recently arraigned suspects in the murder of Mrs Funke Olakunrin, Pa Fasoranti’s daughter.

    “The Commissioner of Police has been duly informed and the line tracing of police officers and others in the SARS facility, where he was kept has started and their specimens are being collected.

    “The suspect has been isolated from others and will be moved to the IDH for treatment. The commissioner of Police has assured the state that there will be adequate security around the IDH premises to prevent his escape and while on treatment, he will be manacled to the bed.”

    The governor said he will expatiate on all cases in his weekly press briefing on Monday

  • JUST IN: Another 13 Nigerian returnees from Togo arrive Seme border amid COVID-19 fears

    JUST IN: Another 13 Nigerian returnees from Togo arrive Seme border amid COVID-19 fears

    As the number of confirmed cases of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues to rise in the country, another batch of 13 Nigerian returnees from Togo Republic have arrived at Seme Border Post in Lagos State.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the 13 Nigerian returnees from Togo arrived at Seme Border Post in Lagos State in a Toyota Coaster bus with Togolese registration number TG 5923 A in the early hours of Sunday.

    According to NAN, the Nigerian returnees were resident in Togo but decided to return to their country following the outbreak of the COVID-19.

    “The Nigerians were screened with the infrared thermometer by our officials when they arrived today. We have called Lagos State Ministry of Health and they have promised to come and evacuate them to the quarantine facility in Badagry,” a Port Health official told NAN at Seme border.

    The arrival of 13 returnees from Togo on Sunday brings to 103 the total number of Nigerians that arrived through Seme border post after the border closure on March 21.

    Recall that 67 Nigerians resident in Ivory Coast returned on April 8, at Seme border post in a luxurious bus with registration number Osun XA 240 EJG.

    Another batch of 23 Nigerian returnees, who came from different parts of the world and landed in Lome, Togolese capital, on Ethiopian Airlines, arrived at the Seme border on April 19 and were quarantined in Lagos.

  • COVID-19: Saudi Arabia partially lifts curfew, maintains lockdown in Mecca

    Saudi Arabia on Sunday began to loosen its nationwide curfew imposed last month to limit an outbreak of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

    Saudi King Salman ordered the curfew partially lifted starting from Sunday until May 13, allowing people to go out from 9 am (0600 GMT) until 5 pm, the state Saudi news agency SPA reported.

    A 24-hour curfew will, however, remain in place in the holy city of Mecca, the agency added.

    In his decree, the monarch also allowed some businesses, including shopping centres, retail and wholesale stores, and factories to reopen for two weeks, beginning next Wednesday.

    The agency said the latest steps were taken on a recommendation from the health bodies and out of the monarch’s interest to ease restrictions on the public.

    Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, has suspended congregational prayers in mosques and halted religious journeys to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina as part of strict measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

    The country has reported so far a total of 1,699 virus cases and 136 deaths.

  • Kano state records 4 new COVID-19 cases, total infection rises to 77

    Kano state records 4 new COVID-19 cases, total infection rises to 77

    The Kano State Government says it has recorded four additional cases of the COVID-19, making a total of 77 confirmed cases in the state.

    The state’s Ministry of Health made this known on its verified Twitter handle @KNSMOH.

    “Update as at 12:30 a.m. April 26, 2020; four new COVID-19 cases confirmed.

    “Total confirmed cases in Kano State are now 77, one COVID-19 death was recorded,” it said.

    It enjoined residents of the state to stay-at-home to break the chain of the virus transmission.

  • British PM to return to work on Monday as COVID-19 deaths pass 20,000

    British PM to return to work on Monday as COVID-19 deaths pass 20,000

    British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will return to work on Monday after recovering from the novel coronavirus, a government spokesperson confirmed to dpa.

    He has been recuperating at Chequers, the prime minister’s residence outside London, after he was released from hospital on April 12.

    Johnson spent a week undergoing treatment for COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel virus, at St Thomas’ Hospital in London, including three nights in intensive care after his condition dramatically deteriorated.

    Johnson is understood to have held a three-hour meeting on Friday ahead of his return with senior cabinet members including Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who has been deputising for him, Britain’s Press Association news agency reported.

    Sky News on Saturday quoted a government source as saying that Johnson was “raring to go” ahead of his return to Downing Street on Monday.

    Johnson’s return to work comes at a crucial time, as pressure mounts on the government to ease coronavirus lockdown measures.

    On Saturday, the COVID-19 death toll in Britain surpassed 20,000, according to the most recent information from the Health Ministry.

    Although experts believe that the worst of this infection wave has passed, the death rate could still rise for a while, as the great number of people already infected either convalesce or die.

    The new data, released on Saturday, showed that 813 people died in the 24-hour period up to 5 pm (1600 GMT) on Friday, for a total of 20,319 dead.

    In that same time period, 4,913 people tested positive for the coronavirus for a total of 148,377 infections.

    However, the deaths listed only include those who died in hospital, meaning the true number is likely higher.

    Johnson’s government has been criticised for what some say was a delayed and ambivalent response to the spread of the disease, which has spread worldwide since it was first reported in China late last year.

  • Plateau: COVID-19 breach at Vom annoys government

    The Plateau government is investigating the circumstances surrounding the leak of the confidential laboratory result of some suspected COVID-19 cases carried out at the National Veterinary Research Institute (NVRI) Testing Centre in Vom.

    The commissioner for Information and Communication, Mr Dan Manjang, stated this in a press release issued on Sunday in Jos.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that on Thursday, 23rd April, the result of a suspected person with COVID-19, which tested positive, was circulating in different platforms of the social media.

    This went on before the official announcement by the National Centre for Disease Control and the Plateau govt.

    The patient, who is the first state index case, came into Jos from Kano on April 17.

    The commissioner said government was disappointed over such unprofessional act, which had breached ethical medical standards and exposed the suspected case to negative consequences, including stigmatization and discrimination.

    He said the State Government totally condemned the act, which “regrettably has the tendency of jeopardising its efforts in fighting the coronavirus pandemic that is ravaging the world.

    Manjang said that the state was conducting investigations to unravel those responsible for the unethical act with a view of punishing them to forestall future occurrence.

    He said the investigation would cover the entire process of the test, from sample collection, investigation and result dissemination.

    The commissioner assured members of the public not to be deterred by the incident as all measures had been taken to ensure that such incident did not occur again.

    Meanwhile, the acting Director of NVRI, Dr Rueben Ocholi, has reacted to the development in a statement issued on NVRI official website http://www.nvri.gov.ng on Saturday, April 25.

    Ocholi stated that the Institute was highly professional and had consistently provided high quality diagnostic and research data for many years without a case of breach of ethics.

    He explained that NVRI adhered to the established system of communication of COVID-19 diagnostic results developed by the NCDC.

    Ocholi, however, called on all stakeholders involved in managing COVID-19 case information for Plateau State to quickly investigate the breach.

  • COVID-19: Gov. Ikpeazu declares dusk to dawn curfew in Abia

    Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia has declared a dusk to dawn curfew on the state as part of government efforts to check further spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the state.

    Ikpeazu said this on Saturday in Aba while addressing newsmen on the state government’s efforts toward handling recent developments in the state.

    He said that an extensive contact tracing exercise had commenced in Ukwa West, Ikwuano and Umuahia North Local Government Areas, which are thd epicentre of the state’s index cases.

    “Presently, about 207 contacts have been established and we are still counting. Unfortunately our epidemiologists are experiencing some problems in some communities in Ukwa West.

    “The TC chairman of Ukwa West and the traditional rulers must yield unfettered access and cooperation to our medical team or risk immediate suspension,” he warned.

    Ikpeazu said that transition committee chairmen of the councils were expected to take the exercise serious, adding they will be held responsible in the event of any lapses.

    The governor said that from April 26 midnight, the three affected local government areas would be on total lockdown for seven days.

    He added that this was aimed at enabling the state government’s epidemiologists to successfully conduct and conclude the ongoing contact tracing exercise in the areas.

    Ikpeazu acknowledged receiving 1,800 bags of rice from the Federal Government for Abia people, adding that the wholesomeness of the supply will be examined and a pattern for distributing the items will be evolved.

    He said that the state had also received a number of face masks from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), and commended the federal government for the gesture.

    “We make bold to state that in Abia, we are self-sufficient in the production of facemasks and as such do not need any imported face masks and PPE in Abia,” Ikpeazu however said.

    He directed that Christian Association of Nigeria, traditional rulers, Civil Society Organisations and women journalists as well as presidents of town unions and development associations should be included in the Committee on Palliatives.

    “From next week the committee would embark on the distribution of relief materials in various communities in the state,” he said.

    Ikpeazu added that plans were underway to ensure that more groups and individuals would benefit from the state government relief materials distribution exercise.

  • Authorities begin investigation into ‘creepy’ case of misidentified dead woman

    Authorities begin investigation into ‘creepy’ case of misidentified dead woman

    Ecuadorian authorities are looking into the “creepy” case of a family that received the remains of a woman misidentified as their relative, Health Minister Juan Carlos Zevallos said on Saturday.

    According to local media, 74-year-old Alba Maruri on Thursday regained consciousness in a public health facility, almost a month after her family cremated what they were told were her remains.

    The family had been told that their relative had died in a hospital in Guayaquil, the epicentre of Ecuador’s coronavirus outbreak and the country’s most populous city.

    “I have contacted the hospital authorities,” the minister told reporters on Saturday after he was asked about the case.

    “I know it is a lady who had a disability. I do not have any other details.

    “I prefer to have all the information before giving an opinion,” Zevallos was cited by local media as saying.

    “They (at the hospital) are working on the issue,” he added.

    El Comercio said that Maruri, who presented symptoms of the disease caused by the coronavirus, had been unconscious for three weeks.

    He added that when she regained consciousness she asked for her family to pick her up.

    “It’s a miracle”, the woman’s sister told El Comercio, who cited another relative as saying that the family still did not know whose remains they cremated.

    According to figures by the Health Ministry, more than 15,000 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new virus, have been confirmed in Guayaquil’s surrounding province of Guayas.

    Ecuador, one of the worst-affected countries in Latin America, has recorded more than 500 coronavirus-related deaths so far, though the real number is thought to be significantly higher, President Lenin Moreno recently admitted.