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Tag: COVID-19

  • No ban on religious activities in custodial centres – official

    No ban on religious activities in custodial centres – official

    The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) has said it had not banned religious activities of inmates in custodial centres across the country, as purportedly stated by those it described as ‘mischief makers’.

    The Service Public Relations Officer (SPRO) Mr Francis Enobore disclosed this in a statement issued to newsmen on Sunday in Abuja.

    Enobore said that it had come to the notice of management of the service, the spread of the unfounded statement purportedly, issued by the Controller General, Haliru Nababa.

    “According to him, the statement is false, misleading, as it is only a figment of the author’s imagination.

    “The service in fact, encourages all forms of genuine visits to inmates by relations and well-meaning individuals/group. This is in order to promote psycho-social support, which is pivotal to reformation and rehabilitation of inmates.

    “To put the records straight, visits to custodial centres was temporarily suspended in April, 2021, in compliance with National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) COVID-19 protocol in order to prevent the dreaded pandemic from spreading to the custodial centres.

    “Since the pandemic has not abated but continue to mutate, with the current virulent Omicron variant still uncaged, the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19, in its wisdom, has advised the sustenance of preventive protocols.

    “This includes, crowd control and strict monitoring of migration amongst others. Hence, the management of the NCoS is yet to relax the restriction on visits to custodial centres, “he said.

    Enobore noted that custodial centres in Nigeria, with its overwhelming population phenomenon, were able to maintain zero infection status among the inmates.

    “This is made possible through strict adherence to various preventive measures.

    “Similarly, it would be recalled that disease outbreaks like Ebola, Cerebral Spinal Meningitis (CSM), Lassa Fever just to mention a few, have been successfully prevented from entering custodial centres in Nigeria.

    “And no inmate has been lost to any of these diseases. This was possible through proactive and professional management of health issues amongst inmates,” he said.

    According to him, Nababa commended the cooperation of members of the public in complying with the preventive measures.

    He said the custodial centre boss also assured that the health and complete well-being of inmates in custody would continue to enjoy prime attention in his administration.

    He then prayed for an end to the pandemic, assuring that all restrictions would be lifted as soon as advice to this effect was received from the appropriate authorities.

  • BREAKING: Queen Elizabeth of England tests positive for COVID-19

    BREAKING: Queen Elizabeth of England tests positive for COVID-19

    The longest reigning British Monarch, Queen of England tests positive for Covid-19.

    The Queen, 95, has tested positive for coronavirus, Buckingham Palace has said.

    The Queen is experiencing mild cold-like symptoms but expects to continue light duties at Windsor this week, the palace said, Sky News reports.

    Prince Charles tested positive for COVID for the second time this month, with palace sources saying he had seen his mother a few days before then.

    The announcement was made just a few weeks after the Queen, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, reached her historic Platinum Jubilee of 70 years on the throne.

    A statement by Buckingham Palace said: “Buckingham Palace confirm that The Queen has today tested positive for Covid
    Her Majesty is experiencing mild cold-like symptoms but expects to continue light duties at Windsor over the coming week.

    “She will continue to receive medical attention and will follow all the appropriate guidelines.

  • Corruption hampering US-made vaccine distribution and global equity

    Corruption hampering US-made vaccine distribution and global equity

    The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the deaths and severe illness of many people and the disruption of normal lives, and not many countries been able to get vaccines, especially the low-income countries, many media sources have reported that most of the vaccines is reserved by wealthy nations. US distribution companies and government officials are already implementing corruption schemes in the distribution of western-produced COVID19 vaccines in developing countries.

    Unfortunately, even during the current situation, we are still facing corruption, there are millions or billions of people that need the vaccine to survive, while others are attempting to generate money from this emergency, rich countries have been blamed for the underlying unequal distribution of COVID-19 vaccines around the globe, according to an analysis published earlier this year, high-income economies with around 16% of the world’s population have secured over 70% of doses of the five major coronavirus vaccines for 2021.

    In USA investigative journalists have exposed that the Group DC which is close to president Biden received $600,000 from Trinidad and Tobago and $400,000 from Barbados to help speed up vaccine shipments, the affair that linked to the Group DC showcase the way that organizations and countries like USA control the distribution of the vaccine.

    In June 2021, the US sends Taiwan 2.5 million vaccine doses, Taiwan, which had been relatively unscathed by the virus, has been caught off guard by a surge in new cases since May of last year and is now scrambling to get vaccines.

    The COVID-19 death toll on the island of 24 million people is 851, from only about a dozen prior to the outbreak. while others countries of low income in Africa and Latin America where people have minimum or very little access to health care services, and desperately need doses for their masses, USA do not consider distribute vaccine to this countries for political and economic reasons.

    Developed countries with high purchasing power and sufficient money to feed their population are blamed for the unequal COVID-19 vaccine distribution. Some have been perceived as creating a hegemony or monopoly on the manufacturing and distribution of the vaccine, as the USA imposed a ban on the export of AstraZeneca and the necessary raw material needed to create vaccines.

    COVID-19 vaccine global access, generally known as COVAX, is a worldwide act and worldwide initiative to provide equitable access to vaccines. Dr. Tedros has criticized wealthier nations for hoarding COVAX and has accused them of hoarding the global vaccine supply by ordering multiples times more than the actual needs of their populations, COVAX currently aims to provide 0.3% vaccination to developing countries and 50% vaccination to rich countries. Berlin-based NGO wrote in its annual (CPI) Corruption Perception Index “The Coronavirus crisis isn’t just a crisis of health and economy, but a crisis of corruption as well, with the lives of countless lost as a result of corruption”

    Corruption not only involves legal wrongdoing, it also involves moral wrongdoing. Some actions may be legal in many regions but are ethically wrong or immoral, such as doing favors for countries you may know by suppressing other countries rights or not doing your job correctly

  • UK’s Prince Charles tests positive for COVID-19 second time

    UK’s Prince Charles tests positive for COVID-19 second time

    Britain’s Prince Charles has tested positive for COVID-19, his office said on Thursday.

    This is the second time that the heir to the British throne has contracted the disease.

    “This morning, the Prince of Wales has tested positive for COVID-19 and is now self-isolating,’’ Clarence House said, adding that he had cancelled his planned engagements.

    Charles, 73, had tested positive in March 2020 and later said he had suffered only mild symptoms.

    He had spent seven days in self-isolation at his Birkhall home in Scotland before resuming his duties.

    On Wednesday, he attended a reception for the British Asian Trust where other guests in attendance included Finance Minister, Rishi Sunak and Health Minister, Sajid Javid.

  • Kogi health agency reacts to allegation of COVID-19 vaccination bribery

    Kogi health agency reacts to allegation of COVID-19 vaccination bribery

    The Kogi State Primary Health Care Development Agency (KSPHCDA) has reacted to an allegation by an NGO, the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) at a news conference in Bauchi State, that vaccine administrators in Kogi have allegedly demanded money from clients before vaccinating them.

    Reacting to the allegation through a statement by the Executive Director of the agency, Dr Abubakar Yakubu, on Tuesday in Lokoja, said the report was misleading and far from the reality of COVID-19 vaccination in the state.

    He stressed that the report was most likely not true as the NGO failed to back up its purported findings with actual facts, and without using, appropriate channels.

    The KSPHCDA boss added that the said discovery should have been addressed to the appropriate agency in the state, rather than addressing newsmen in Bauchi.

    Yakubu added that the agency had been engaging in high-level social sensitisation and mobilisation advocacy across communities in the state, in order to improve on the vaccination exercise.

    ”How can something we are practically persuading people to take now be the same thing we are demanding for money before administering?” Yakubu queried.

    He emphasised that the agency was closely monitoring the activities of the administrators and how they persuaded people across the state to take the COVID-19 vaccine.

    He maintained that the claim by the NGO was practically impossible to happen in Kogi, where the Agency and the State Ministry of Health were still doing high-level advocacy and community sensitisation alongside relevant NGOs for COVID-19 vaccine uptake.

    ”The state government completely reject the report and thereby demand an immediate and unreserved apology from the publisher of the fake news as well as its generator, CITAD.

    “Failure to tender an apology, the government will take punitive measures against the NGO and its collaborators,” he said.

    Meanwhile, Yakubu explained that the agency had set up a team of investigators who were painstakingly analysing the report in order to expose the perpetrators as well as the motive behind their action.

    Speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mr Folayan Idowu, the State Coordinator National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) described the publication, as unfounded.

    Idowu, who is also a member of the State Joint Task Force on COVID-19 Vaccination, said the task force had been embarking on weekly patrol to monitor the administration of COVID-19 vaccines across the state.

    He added that there was no record of such an incident.

  • FG takes delivery of 2m doses of J&J COVID-19 vaccine

    FG takes delivery of 2m doses of J&J COVID-19 vaccine

    The Federal Government has taken delivery of two million doses of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine donated by the European Union.

    The handover of the vaccines was done on Monday at the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), National Strategic Cold Store, Abuja.

    The EU ambassador, Mr Samuela Isopi, who presented the vaccines, said the donation was part of the EU’s commitment to jointly combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The Executive Director, NPHCDA, Dr Faisal Shuaib, said the Federal Government also, in combating the pandemic, had procured over 39 million doses of the J&J vaccine, through the AFREXIM bank.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Federal Government in August 2021 took delivery of 177,600 J&J vaccines in Abuja, marking the first wave of arrivals of COVID-19 vaccines procured through the African Union.

    In September 2021, additional 1,123,200 doses of the J&J vaccine were received, which the NPHCD said were part of the 39,800,000 doses procured by the Federal Government.

    The single-shot J&J vaccine was received through the African Vaccine Acquisition Team (AVAT) of the African Union, a facility provided by Afri.

    Shuaib said about 12 million doses of this single-shot vaccine were currently in the cold store.

    According to him, the J&J vaccines will be given to those who are in the hard-to-reach areas (riverine areas, desert areas and security-compromised areas).

    He said this was because the J&J vaccine required only a single dose for full vaccination, noting that by this, the health workers would be able to do what is called a ‘touch and go’ without compromising their safety.

    He said the Federal Government was committed to a safe, equitable and effective COVID-19 vaccination programme.

    “Let me also mention that the availability of different vaccine brands does not in any way mean that some categories of people are selected for high quality vaccines while others are targeted for low quality vaccines.

    “All COVID-19 vaccines approved by the World Health Organisation are safe and can deliver adequate protection against the disease.

    “While choice of vaccine is left for eligible persons to make, it is important to note that no particular vaccine brand is preferable to the other,” he said.

    The NPHCDA stated that the country had vaccinated 15,792,392 (14.1 per cent) of her eligible population with the first dose.

    “We are using the platform of COVID-19 vaccination to also make available access to other primary healthcare interventions.

    “We have been engaging with the poor performing states to identify areas where they would require more support from us and to also help them in identifying areas where they can improve in order to ramp up their vaccination coverage.

    “Last week, we were in Enugu State where we engaged all the stakeholders in the five South East states with our attention now focused on the states.

    “We hope to see a more rapid vaccine coverage over the next couple of weeks,” he said.

  • Africa’s COVID-19 cases near 10.9m – Africa CDC

    Africa’s COVID-19 cases near 10.9m – Africa CDC

    A total of 10,896,302 COVID-19 cases were reported in Africa as of Saturday evening, the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.

    The specialised healthcare agency of the African Union said the COVID-19 death toll across the continent stands at 241,112, and 9,917,757 patients have recovered from the disease so far.

    South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia and Ethiopia are among the countries with the most cases on the continent, said the Africa CDC.

    In terms of caseload, southern Africa is the most affected region in Africa, followed by the northern and eastern parts of the continent, while central Africa is the least affected region, said the Africa CDC.

  • Chelsea edge past Plymouth in FA Cup fourth round

    Chelsea edge past Plymouth in FA Cup fourth round

    Chelsea edged out League One Plymouth Argyle after extra time to reach the fifth round of the FA Cup at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

    Marcos Alonso’s extra-time goal gave Chelsea a 2-1 win over Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup fourth round at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, despite the visitors being given a late penalty.

    Chelsea were without head coach Thomas Tuchel after he tested positive for COVID-19 a few hours before kick-off and they needed 120 minutes to edge past their League One opponents.

    The hosts had three attempts at goal in the opening five minutes but it was Plymouth who opened the scoring, with Macaulay Gillesphey flicking in a header from Jordan Houghton’s curling free-kick after seven minutes.

    Chelsea dominated the remainder of the half but hit the woodwork three times before Cesar Azpilicueta finally found an equaliser in the 39th minute.

    The frustration continued for Tuchel’s side after the break, with a couple of stunning saves from Plymouth goalkeeper Michael Cooper keeping the score level and taking the game to extra time.

    It took until the 106th minute for Alonso to find Chelsea’s winner, sliding in a first-time finish from a Kai Havertz cross.

    Plymouth had a chance to equalise with two minutes to go after Ryan Hardie was awarded a penalty, but the striker’s attempt was saved by Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga to take his side into the fifth round.

  • How EPL clubs spent almost $400 million in January transfer window

    How EPL clubs spent almost $400 million in January transfer window

    A flurry of big-money moves before the transfer deadline at midnight Monday took spending by English Premier League (EPL) clubsides to the second-highest ever for a winter window.

    The likes of Luis Diaz, Bruno Guimaraes and Rodrigo Bentancur in the last few days of January left the league’s gross spending at 295 million pounds (396 million dollars), according to estimates from finance company Deloitte.

    It is only the fifth time the 200 million pounds mark has been breached, with January 2018’s 430 million pounds figure out on its own.

    But this season’s figure is in line with the “best of the rest”.

    The window two years ago accounted for 230 million pounds of spending, pipping 2011’s then-record 225 million pounds total, while 215 million pounds were spent in January 2017.

    Dan Jones, head of Deloitte’s sports business group, said: “This transfer window indicates that the financial pressures of COVID-19 on Premier League clubs are easing, with spending firmly back to pre-pandemic levels and remarkably among the highest we’ve ever seen in January.

    “The Premier League continues to lead the way globally, retaining its status as the world’s biggest domestic football league in financial terms, once again supported by full stadia and securing strong overseas broadcast deals.

    “Other large European leagues are also edging back to higher spending, but it is Premier League clubs that have notched up the largest total spend in this transfer window, spending almost 150 million pounds more than Serie A clubs, the closest competitor.”

    The initial 37.5 million pounds fee Liverpool reportedly paid for Diaz is the highest of the window.

    It is narrowly ahead of Guimares’ 35 million pounds arrival at Newcastle United who also paid 25 million pounds for ex-Burnley striker Chris Wood.

    Lucas Digne was another player to move for more than 20 million pounds, from Everton to Aston Villa.

    Bentancur’s 19 million pounds move to Tottenham stood out as the highest of deadline day.

  • COVID-19: NCDC registers 22 additional infections

    COVID-19: NCDC registers 22 additional infections

    The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Sunday registered 22 additional lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in four states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    The NCDC, via its verified website on Monday morning, said that the additional figure coronavirus infections in the country had moved up to 253,023 as of Sunday.

    Newsmen reports that there was a significant decrease in the number of infections, with the Sunday figure, compared to 89 reported on Saturday.

    The centre said that no patients died of coronavirus-related complications on Sunday, while 317 patients were successfully treated and discharged on Sunday.

    It added that the nationwide death toll from the virus remained 3,135 and in total, 229,019 people had been discharged from hospitals after their symptoms improved.

    According to NCDC, Lagos State led the chart with nine new infections, followed by FCT with six cases, Delta with four cases, Rivers with two and Kano State with one case.

    It noted that the Sunday report included zero cases reported from Bauchi, Bayelsa, Ekiti, Kaduna, Ogun, Ondo, Oyo, Plateau, and Sokoto while the four cases reported in Delta were backlogs from Jan. 28, (3) and Jan. 29, (1).

    The agency said with the additional figures, the caseload in the country reached 253,020 and the death toll remained 3,135 since the outbreak of the pandemic.

    It noted that the one death reported on Saturday was a backlog from Imo which occurred on Jan. 24.

    According to NCDC’s latest COVID-19 situation report spanning from Jan. 17 to Jan. 23, the number of new infections decreased to 1,258 from 2,617 reported in the second week of the year.