Lagos JSS3 & SSS3 students to resume August + More COVID-19 Updates

Nigeria records 626 new cases of coronavirus

On Thursday, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) recorded 454 new cases of coronavirus.

A breakdown of the new cases across different states in the country is as follows: Lagos – 87, Edo – 63, FCT – 60, Ondo – 41, Benue – 32, Abia – 31, Ogun – 29, Oyo – 19, Kaduna – 17, Delta – 16, Enugu – 15, Borno – 14, Plateau – 9, Nasarawa – 8, Kano -5, Bauchi – 4, Gombe – 2, Katsina – 1, Kogi – 1.

There are 27,564 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country. 11,069 patients have been discharged and 628 deaths have been recorded.

A breakdown of cases by state can be found via https://t.co/zQrpNeOfet#TakeResponsibility pic.twitter.com/J85c1pVC0h

— NCDC (@NCDCgov) July 3, 2020

FAAN releases New Guidelines for Air Travel

 The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has released new guidelines for air travel ahead of the resumption of local air travel in Nigeria.

These guidelines were made known in a press release shared to the FAAN website on July, 3 2020. The guidelines state that all passengers must travel with masks and ensure physical distancing. Anyone traveling with pets must get clearance from Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Services (NAQS), Travellers luggage will be disinfected before entry into the departure halls. Passengers are to wash their hands as often as possible. Passengers are only expected to speak to properly tagged Aviation Security (AVSEC) officer.

Read the full press release HERE for more details.

US Donates N16bn to the fight against COVID-19 in Nigeria

The United States has said over N16bn ($41.3m) has been donated to assist Nigeria’s fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

According to The Punch, this was contained in a statement by the US Department of State on Thursday.

The statement reads in part,

More than $41.3 million in assistance, which includes more than $3.3 million for health assistance and $34 million in IDA humanitarian funding for risk-communications, water and sanitation, infection-prevention, coordination, and emergency food assistance; and nearly $4.1 million in MRA humanitarian assistance for vulnerable people. This assistance joins more than $8.1 billion in total assistance for Nigeria over the past 20 years, including more than $5.2 billion for health.

The US said over $12.5bn has been allocated globally in COVID-19 response, including commitments for the development of vaccines and therapeutics, amongst others.

 Lagos JSS3 & SSS3 students to resume August

The Lagos State Government has announced that schools will reopen for students in JSS 3 and SSS 3 from August 3. This was made known by the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, in a televised press briefing on Friday, The Punch reports.

He said,

Tertiary institutions will remain closed. We continue to support online teaching during this period. However, students in the transitional classes who have mandatory public examinations ahead of them will be permitted to resume for revision classes and examinations. The commencement date for this opening will be from August 3, 2020. All education establishments are to follow established public health guidelines and protocol for re-opening the schools for these categories of students.

He went on to add:

SSS three and TEC three students are to start; for JSS3 we will wait for another one week or two before resumption. This permitted opening will be for only day schooling. No boarding activities are permitted during this time. School Authorities are expected to spend the period between now and the day of re-opening to put in place infrastructure, protocols, and essential items required to comply with all hygiene, safety, and physical distancing requirements.

The governor also mentioned that Primary Six pupils will be graded by their already recorded continuous assessment to pass over to secondary schools.

Churches & Mosques to remain closed in Lagos

The Lagos State Government has said worship centres will remain closed in the state. This was made known by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Friday during a televised press briefing at Alausa Ikeja, The Punch reports.

He said the worship centres are to “remain shut until further notice”. Sanwo-Olu also stated that “all restrictions applying to mass gatherings will remain in force”.

He said,

Places of worship will remain closed in Lagos State, until further notice. All social and events centers, and social clubs, will also remain closed, for now. All bars, day and night clubs, cinemas, games arcades, beaches, and beach fronts, gyms and spas continue to remain closed. Eateries and restaurants are to continue to open as normal for takeout only. In-dining is still prohibited.

Sanwo-Olu stressed that the government would now be strict in enforcing the use of face mask in public places.

He said,

At this phase in the evolution of the pandemic in our society, taking personal responsibility is now more important than ever, not only for self-protection, but also for protecting other people, including your loved ones. Mask usage is mandatory in public places. We are asking offices and business and commercial premises to refuse entry to any persons not wearing masks, in line with the Presidential Task Force directive on ‘No mask, No service’. Enforcement agencies will from this week charge defaulters to court, as the period of grace is now over.”

NCDC says there’s an increased spread of COVID-19 among youths

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says there is an increasing spread of COVID-19 among youths in the country.

According to The Punch, the NCDC Director-General, Chikwe Ihekweazu, stated this on Thursday in Abuja, during a briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, and cautioned against undue and unrestrained social activities.

He said,

As more people are infected across the world, you would have seen the numbers; it is increasingly obvious that transmission among younger people really, not children, but people aged between 20 and 40 as far as we know, are really driving the spread of this virus, but those that are bearing the brunt of it are people age 50 and above. Three out of five people who died from COVID-19 are 50 years and above; so we have to work harder, all of us collectively, to protect our elderly. We are on the verge of opening our airports, we have relaxed intercity travel.

Ihekweazu asked the people not to go on social visits which might further the spread of the virus.

Air France to cut more than 7,500 jobs following the effects of COVID-19

Air France says it will cut 7,580 jobs “following the Covid-19 crisis which has hit the group hard” and the lasting decline in air travel, CNN reports.

In a statement, the airline said,

For three months, Air France’s activity and revenue fell by 95%, and at the height of the crisis, the airline was losing 15 million euros per day. Recovery looks set to be very slow due to the uncertainties regarding the health situation, the lifting of travel restrictions and changing commercial demand. In this way, even on the basis of ambitious recovery assumptions, Air France predicts that it will not see the same level of activity as in 2019 before 2024.

The group said it will cut 6,560 jobs at Air France (out of a current total of 41,000) by the end of 2022. At least 1,020 jobs will be cut over the next three years at HOP!, Air France’s subsidiary low cost domestic carrier, out of 2,420 current positions. The company said roughly 3,700 of the cuts can be achieved through normal departure of staff, mainly due to retirement.