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Tag: COVID-19

  • France struggling to curb rate of COVID-19 pandemic, says health official

    France struggling to curb rate of COVID-19 pandemic, says health official

    France says it is struggling to curb the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the country, its top health official Jerome Salomon said on Monday, as authorities consider whether to implement a partial lockdown.

    Salomon expressed his regret that many Parisians had ventured out in large numbers on Sunday despite official advice to stay at home and a government shutdown on bars and restaurants around the country.

    “A lot of people have not understood that they need to stay at home, and this low level at which people have adhered means that we are not succeeding in curbing the outbreak of the epidemic,’’ Salomon told France Inter radio.

    He added that it would be catastrophic if France were to reach a stage on deciding whether to save the lives of certain patients over that of others.

    “This morning, I appeal to all French people to mobilise in the fight,’’ he said.

    The number of deaths in France from the Coronavirus increased by more than a third on Sunday to 127 and over 5,400 have been infected.

    Sources told Reuters on Sunday that France is preparing an order that would put its inhabitants under partial lockdown to combat the pandemic, a move that would tighten further restrictions on public life.

  • COVID-19: Oil Price Drop, Wake up Call to Nigeria – Omo-Agege

    COVID-19: Oil Price Drop, Wake up Call to Nigeria – Omo-Agege

    The market slump of crude oil price due to the global outbreak of Coronavirus pandemic is a wake up call for Nigeria to look towards a life without oil, Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege has said.

    This, according to him, would require bold policy changes to restructure the country’s mono-product economy.

    Speaking as Guest of Honour at the 50th anniversary of the Nigerian Military School, Zaria, 1970 Set, Senator Omo-Agege also called on the old students to fashion out creative solutions to the challenges confronting the country.

    He said: “The recent global outbreak of the COVID-19… obviously poses peculiar challenges, not only for personal health, but also for the economy and business. As we have seen already in the global oil and foreign exchange markets, these are frightening challenges that we must solve.

    “Although the present administration has taken bold measures to stave off the outbreak from our shores, I am sure this global threat remains in the mind of every one of us here.

    “We need to deal with the sharp drop in global oil prices and its impact on the 2020 budget and the exchange rate, and by implication, on the short, medium and long-term health of the economy.

    “We will get through this, but it is going to require, more than anything else, bold policy changes to restructure the economy because it is still too dependent on crude oil.

    “And this would necessitate some drastic changes in our ways of life. It will not be easy. I am very optimistic however, that we can do it. And my optimism about Nigeria going forward is in part because we have people like you who have the discipline associated with your Alma Mata”.

    Recall that, last week, the Senate constituted a joint committee on Finance, National Planning and Appropriation to engage relevant federal ministries on the recent oil price crash.

    This followed a Point of Order raised by the Senate Majority Leader, Senator Abdullahi Yahaya.

    The Delta Central lawmaker, who also chairs the Senate Committee on Constitution Review, revealed that the panel would soon receive memoranda from Nigerians on the Fifth Alteration of the 1999 Constitution.

    “I am glad to inform you that the 9th National Assembly has boldly taken up the gauntlet. Electoral reforms, Petroleum Industry Bill and reforms in the budgeting process are of special interest to the National Assembly.

    “Recently, a Constitutional Review Committee of which I am honoured to be Chairman was set up by the 9th Senate. We have begun work on this important national assignment. How far-reaching this will be, depends on all of us. Soon, we will be having public hearings, as well as receiving memoranda. It is my hope that you will avail us your experience in this regard,” he stated.

    He therefore called for support for the ongoing reforms of the Muhammadu Buhari administration, aimed at achieving sustainable economic growth for Nigerians.

  • Sultan of Sokoto blows hot, shares what kills Nigerians than coronavirus

    Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar, has charged the government to take urgent steps to improve the living standard of Nigerians, insisting that “hunger virus” is killing Nigerians more than the dreaded COVID-19 (Coronavirus).

    The Sultan who spoke at the first quarterly meeting of Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC), in Abuja, on Thursday, said that even though, Coronavirus is killing hundreds of people across the world, “hunger virus” is the major killer of Nigerians.

    He said: “There is a very serious virus that is killing Nigerians much higher than Coronavirus. That virus is hunger. There is hunger virus and it’s very serious. You need to go round the country, into the villages, into the towns and see how people are really struggling to survive.

    “These are very serious issues, and as religious and community leaders, we must continue to talk about these issues, and also send our recommendations to the government and watch how the government will implement the recommendations.”

  • Just in: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Wife Tests Positive

    Just in: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Wife Tests Positive

    Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s wife, Sophie Gregoire, has tested positive for COVID-19.

    “Following medical advice, she will remain in isolation for the time being. She is feeling well, is taking all the recommended precautions and her symptoms remain mild,” according to a statement tweeted by Cameron Ahmad, the prime minister’s communications director.

    Health professionals are set to reach out to people who have been in close contact with Gregoire Trudeau. The prime minister himself is in “good health with no symptoms,” Ahmad said.

    “As a precautionary measure and following the advice of doctors, he will be in isolation for a planned period of 14 days,” the statement added. “Also on the advice of doctors, he will not be tested at this stage since he has no symptoms.”

    Trudeau will address Canadians on Friday, the statement said.

    Gregoire Trudeau thanked people in a personal statement that Ahmad shared on Twitter. She said although she is experiencing “uncomfortable symptoms of the virus, I will be back on my feet soon,” and noted that other Canadian families and patients may be facing more serious health concerns.

  • COVID-19: CAF to maintain schedule of all competitions

    COVID-19: CAF to maintain schedule of all competitions

    The Confederation of African Football (CAF) saiys it will maintain the schedule of all competitions, as the World Health Organisation (WHO), is yet to declare any African country as a high risk of the Coronavirus.

    This is contained in a statement on the continental football governing body’s website on Wednesday.

    ”CAF wishes to inform Member Associations and the entire African football family that we are closely monitoring the evolution of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) around the world and in particular the African Continent.

    ”According to World Health Organisation (WHO), no African country till date has been declared a high risk.

    ”Consequently, CAF has decided to maintain the schedule of all competitions.

    ”Also, CAF has been informed of the restrictive measures taken by the authorities of some Member Associations and is in contact to find solutions on a case-by-case basis, with the option of the organisation of matches behind closed doors,” it said.

    CAF added that regarding the Total African Nations Championship (CHAN) Cameroon 2020, a delegation from the CAF Medical Committee would visit Cameroon from March 14 to March 15.

    ”The purpose of this mission is to assess all the preventive measures taken by the Local Organising Committee,” it said .

  • Another patient dies of COVID-19

    Another patient dies of COVID-19

    Egypt’s Health Ministry has confirmed the first death of a German citizen from the new coronavirus in the country.

    The ministry’s spokesman Khaled Megahed said in a statement the 60-year-old man landed in Egypt one week ago and showed symptoms of high temperature after he arrived in Hurghada from the city of Luxor.

    The spokesman said the man went to a hospital in Hurghada on Friday, where he tested positive for the coronavirus.

    The man was put under intensive care, as he was suffering from respiratory failure caused by an acute pneumonia, the spokesman said.

    The man refused to be moved to another hospital for quarantine.

    His condition deteriorated, and he died on Sunday.

  • COVID-19: 23 suspected cases identified in 5 states

    COVID-19: 23 suspected cases identified in 5 states

    The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says 23 suspected cases of Coronavirus (COVID-19) have been identified in Edo, Lagos, Ogun, FCT and Kano states, out of which one was confirmed positive “index case” with no death.

    NCDC Director-General, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, disclosed this while speaking with News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday in Abuja, adding that as at March 7, there was no new confirmed case of COVID-19 in the country.

    This was the eighth national situation report, following the confirmation of the first case of COVID-19 disease in the country on Feb. 27, 2020.

    Ihekweazu said that a total of 219 contacts were identified, including contacts from hotel, workplace and healthcare workers.

    “No new contacts have been reported in Lagos and Ogun states,” he stressed.

    He said the confirmed case was clinically stable at the designated treatment facility for COVID-19 at the Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) Yaba, Lagos.

    He reiterated that a multi-sectoral national Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) activated at level three, had continued to coordinate the national response activities, led by NCDC.

    He noted that the field investigations were ongoing and all contacts were undergoing daily symptom monitoring.

    According to him, Index patient is currently being managed at IDH, Lagos, while passenger screening is ongoing at all international airports.

    He added that there was also centralised follow up of Persons of Interests (POIs) initiated for persons outside Lagos and Ogun states.

    “Testing of samples collected through the national influenza sentinel surveillance system as part of enhanced surveillance is ongoing.

    “A draft tool for tracking and monitoring HCW infection has been developed,” he said.

    Ihekweazu said that resources on COVID-19 had been developed by NCDC, for guidance of schools, Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations for health workers.

    He said that Nigeria had published the first African SARS-CoV-2 genome sequence, from the COVID-19 case.

    This, he said was carried out in collaboration with the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID) and the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH).

    He added that the project was coordinated by the World Health Organisation(WHO) and NCDC.

    The global situation, as at March, 6, 2020 was 98,192 confirmed cases which had been reported. 88.4 percent cases in China, 3,400 deaths.

    The nine countries in Africa with reported cases are – Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Senegal, Nigeria, South Africa, Cameroon and Togo.

    The WHO global risk assessment however, remained high.

  • COVID19: Nigeria yet to access funding from international donors – FG

    COVID19: Nigeria yet to access funding from international donors – FG

    The Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) says it is yet to access funding from international donors on Coronavirus (COVID19) preparedness in the country and that all expenditures on it are domestically funded.

    Mr Abdulaziz Mashi Abdulaziz, Permanent Secretary, FMOH, said this while the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, was giving an update on the disease in the country, on Friday in Abuja.

    News of Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that IMF is making available about 50 billion dollars through its rapid-disbursing emergency financing facilities for low income and emerging market countries that could potentially seek support.

    Ten billion dollars of the amount is available at zero interest for the poorest members through the Rapid Credit Facility.

    The World Bank Group President David Malpass, also announced an initial package of up to 12 billion dollars in immediate support for countries coping with COVID-19.

    The package will include emergency financing, policy advice, and technical assistance.
    Abdullaiziz, said: “it is just the domestic funding that we have.

    “The one that was announced by International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group, are interventions made by the two institutions.

    “But guidelines and framework of accessing the money is still yet to be developed.

    “I believe the country representatives in various countries where the disease manifested will be getting in touching with them to see how we can access it, but for now I think it is strictly domestic funding the country is accessing.”

    Abdulaziz disclosed that some donors and partners met with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), to see how they could support with detection and response to the disease.

    He described the interventions as a timely and important by their commitment to fight against Covid19.

    “The interventions are timely. This is not just a public health crisis, it is rapidly becoming a global crisis of health, economics and politics.

    “That’s why the country is ramping up to execute COVID19, response, isolation, quarantine, as well as develop measures to contain and detect the outbreak,” he said.

    Abdulaziz recalled that such intervention gave birth to the establishment of the National Ebola Emergency Operations Centre (EEOC) in Yaba, Lagos state.

    The Perm. Sec said that the government was mobilising relevant agencies to get the country ready for the virus.

    He urged Nigerians to join in taking the actions needed to be safe, smart and disregard fake reportage of the virus.
    “We will emphasise early detection, isolation, treatment and the government’s engagement,” he said.

    While responding to the remarks of the Senate President on the poor state of the isolation centre in Gwagwalada, Abuja, Ehanire said that the facility was now in good condition.

    The minister clarified that all the monies approved to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), had been disbursed.

    Ehanire revealed that the government had already set plans in motion to put up a state of the art

    According to him, construction is ongoing, and the contractor has also been asked to fast-track it.

    “They said it will be finished by next month, so they used the building which they wanted to use for intensive care, it has been furnished and prepared, staff have been trained and all protocols have been established.

    “The Senate President went there when the finishing touches were being put and I think he expected that the bed was already made.

    “Another team visited the next day, they saw that it was already completed and the chairman of the senate committee said there has been a lot of improvement.

    “All monies approved got to NCDC, but had to go through a lot of process, but NCDC had made procurement on credit from its regular suppliers, they were given materials on credit, but many of them have been settled,” he explained.

    He added that the measure taken not to wait until money was available before making the necessary procurement was a good one.

    Responding to a question from newsmen the minister confirmed Prof. Maurice Iwu, former INEC Chairman’s claim to have a product that could be used to treat the Covid-19.

    Ehanire said “Iwu in 2015 developed a product to work against the SARS virus, and suggested that since the virus is similar to COVID19, it could be used”.

    He clarified that the product developed by Iwu was not new and was already being tested by some research institutions in the United States of America.

    NAN reports that Nigeria has published the first African SARS-CoV-2 genome sequence, from the COVID19 case in Nigeria.

    This was carried out in collaboration with the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, (NIMR), African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID), and the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH).
    The project was under the coordinations of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and NCDC.

  • How to properly wash your hands to avoid COVID-19

    As the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) fear grips the world, health officials have advised on how to properly wash hands to avoid the deadly virus.

    First you wash your hands with soap scrubbing the back of your hands five times. Secondly, you wash the middle of your palms five times with soap. Thirdly, you scrub the tips of your fingers five times also using soap.

    Fourthly, you wash both wrists five times and while washing your hands you sing happy birthday song and before you finish the second stanza you must have completed the ritual.

    WATCH VIDEO BELOW:

  • Never before seen photo: COVID-19 leaves Islamic holy site in Saudi Arabia empty

    Never before seen photo: COVID-19 leaves Islamic holy site in Saudi Arabia empty

    The Holy Ka’abah, an Islamic holy site in Saudi Arabia was captured empty, possibly for the first time in history, as countries and organizations, including religious centres, take preventive measures against the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Dr. Yasir Qadhi, an Islamic Theologian and Scholar, who is the Dean of Academic Affairs, The Islamic Seminary of America, was among those who shared videos of the development on Twitter.

    “Subhan Allah, the Ka’ba is empty, the tawaf has stopped as the authorities clean the Ḥaram because of the coronavirus scare. May Allah protect all of us!” Dr. Qadhi tweeted.

    Followers of the Islamic scholar on Twitter were left perplexed, with one particular follower responding that it was the first time to ever seen the Ka’abah empty.

    https://twitter.com/be_prepared1/status/1235556848171757568

    The Holy Ka’abah in Saudi Arabia, also known as al-Ka’bah al-Musharrafah, is a building at the center of Islam’s most important mosque, Great Mosque of Mecca in the Hejazi city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

    It is the most sacred site in Islam and considered by Muslims to be the Bayt Allāh, and has a similar role to the Tabernacle and Holy of Holies in Judaism. Its location determines the qiblah. Wherever they are in the world, Muslims are expected to face the Ka’abah when performing Salah, the Islamic prayer.

    A photo of the Holy Ka’abah in Saudi Arabia filled to the brim
    A photo of the Holy Ka’abah in Saudi Arabia filled to the brim

    One of the Five Pillars of Islam requires every Muslim who is able to do so to perform the Hajj at least once in their lifetime. Multiple parts of the hajj require pilgrims to make Tawaf seven times counter-clockwise around the Kaaba, the first three times fast, at the edge of the courtyard, and the last four times slowly, nearer the Kaaba.

    Tawaf is also performed by pilgrims during the ʿUmrah (Lesser Pilgrimage). However, the most significant time is during the hajj, when millions of pilgrims gather to circle the building during a 5-day period.

    In 2017, the number of pilgrims coming from outside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to perform hajj was officially reported as 1,752,014 and 600,108 Saudi Arabian residents bringing the total number of pilgrims to 2,352,122. In the 2019 hajj, The Kingdom reported 2,489,406 foreign pilgrims and 634,379 domestic pilgrims bringing the total number of pilgrims to 3,123,785.

    However, in the wake of the COVID-19 epidemic, the Saudi Arabia government temporarily banned travellers from coming to the Kingdom for either Umrah, an Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, or to visit the Prophet’s Mosque in the city of Medina, as a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of the COVID-19.

    A photo of the Holy Ka’abah left empty in wake of the COVID-19 epidemic
    A photo of the Holy Ka’abah left empty in wake of the COVID-19 epidemic

    “Suspending entry to the Kingdom for the purpose of Umrah and visiting the Prophet’s Mosque temporarily,” Saudi Arabian Foreign Ministry announced in a statement in February.

    Saudi Arabia also banned travellers with tourist visas issued by countries “in which the spread of COVID-19 is a danger, according to the criteria determined by the competent health authorities in the Kingdom.