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Tag: Peak

  • We have passed peak of COVID-19 pandemic – Lagos Govt declares

    We have passed peak of COVID-19 pandemic – Lagos Govt declares

    The Lagos State Government on Wednesday said the state has passed the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    This was revealed by the Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi.

    The Commissioner however warned that the state could witness a surge in cases if Lagosians lose guard.

    Abayomi spoke on Wednesday during a monitored talk show on Nigeria Info 99.3FM, themed, ‘Fighting COVID-19 in Lagos’.

    He said, “Lagos might be a its peak in the COVID-19 pandemic, but it’s not over yet as we may see an escalation of positive cases. However, until we see a decline in the number of positive cases, we shouldn’t relent.

    “We believe the lockdown was not effective because of the reality of a city where people go out to fend for themselves on a daily basis. If not, you will replace a health crisis with an economic crisis.

    “Concerning the number of positive results seen this period, we have sample collection centres in every local government in Lagos, so the more we test the more cases we find. If there are no more positives, then the outbreak is slowing down.

    “Our observation is that Lagos has passed the worst of the pandemic; it has passed the peak of the pandemic and is now on the flattening stage and over time, we will experience a down slope of the virus, then the end of COVID-19.”

    TheNewsGuru.com, TNG reports that the commissioner on August 24 tested positive for the virus and has been receiving treatment in isolation since then.

  • Lagos likely to reach COVID-19 peak in July with 120,000 cases – Commissioner

    Lagos likely to reach COVID-19 peak in July with 120,000 cases – Commissioner

    Commissioner for Health in Lagos, Prof. Akin Abayomi said the state may record between 90,000 and 120,000 cases of Coronavirus [COVID-19] disease by July or August when it reaches the peak.

    Abayomi, spoke Friday at a news conference in Alausa, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria, where he gave an update on Coronavirus in the State.

    He said the state is yet to reach the virus peak, which will likely be around July and August.

    Abayomi stated that Lagos has ramped testings to reach large number of people in a bid to flatten the curve.

    He attributed the increase in cases being recorded to the decentralisation of sample collection to the 20 Local Governments.

    According to him, if government had not been proactive, the Lagos would have by now recorded 6,000 cases rather than the 1,491 cases it has now.

    Abayomi disclosed that Alimosho, Oshodi and Isolo have begun to record more COVID-19 cases.

    He, however, noted that 97 percent of positive cases at its isolation centres were mild and moderate cases.

    Only three percent were severe cases.

    The commissioner said COVID-19 mortality rate has been mainly among males.

    He said males with pre-existing ailments such as diabetes, cancer, hypertension and others are prone to die.

    He said the 10 positive staff of the State House, Marina, have been taken to isolation centres.

    He said 80 people at the State House, Marina, including the governor and his family were tested.

    It was only 10 people who were found to be positive, he said.

  • African countries heading for coronavirus peak in weeks – WHO

    African countries heading for coronavirus peak in weeks – WHO

    Some African countries could see a peak in coronavirus cases in the coming weeks and testing should be urgently increased in the region, World Health Organisation (WHO) officials have said.

    “During the last four days, we can see that the numbers have already doubled,” Michel Yao, the WHO Africa programme manager for emergency response, told a media teleconference yesterday.

    “If the trend continues, and also learning from what happened in China and in Europe, some countries may face a huge peak very soon,” he said, adding that it could arrive in the coming weeks, but without naming countries.

    The numbers of recorded coronavirus infections in Africa have been relatively low so far – with nearly 11,000 cases and 562 deaths, according to a Reuters tally based on government statements and WHO data.

    Yesterday, Zambia imposed several measures, including the closure of all education institutions, banning public gatherings of 50 or more people and suspending non-essential foreign travel.

    The WHO’s Africa chief, Matshidiso Moeti, said there is an urgent need to expand testing capacity beyond capital cities in Africa as the virus spreads through countries.

    “Without help and action now, poor countries and vulnerable communities could suffer massive devastation,” WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told diplomats in Geneva.

    Meanwhile, the African Union (AU) said yesterday that a controversial suggestion made by French doctors to test a coronavirus vaccine in Africa smacks of colonialism and will not be pursued.

    “We condemn in no uncertain terms any attempt to come and try this vaccine on Africa and we reject it totally.

    “The times of the colonialists are past gone,’’ Kwesi Quartey, the Deputy Chairperson of the AU said in Addis Ababa.

    He noted that the continent has had the “least amount of casualties’’ from the virus, with a total of 572 deaths recorded and suggested that any vaccine be tested in the worst-affected places such as New York, Paris or Italy.

    During a programme that aired on French television recently, Camille Locht from France’s National Institute of Health and Medical Research and Jean-Paul Mira from the Cochin Hospital in Paris suggested Africa as a location for vaccine tests.

    According to them, people there do not have masks, treatments or resuscitation.

    The doctors’ comments caused uproar and were condemned by the French embassy in South Africa, among others.

    Quartey also took issue with recent comments by U.S. President Donald Trump criticising the coronavirus response by the World Health Organisation, which is led by Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, an Ethiopian national.a