News
“What we don’t want is an explosion of new infections” – NCDC on avoiding Another Lockdown
245 new cases of coronavirus cases have been recorded in Nigeria on Monday, May 4.
According to Nigeria Center for Disease Control NCDC, out of the 245 new cases of COVID-19, 76 were recorded in Lagos, 37 in Katsina, 32 in Jigawa, 23 in Kano, 19 in FCT, 18 in Borno, 10 in Edo, 9 in Bauchi, 6 in Adamawa, 5 in Oyo, 5 in Ogun, 1 in Ekiti, 1 in Osun, 1 in Benue, 1 in Niger, and 1 in Zamfara.
Nigeria now has 2802 confirmed cases of COVID-19. 417 patients have been discharged from various Isolation centers across the country, while 93 deaths have been recorded.
245 new cases of #COVID19;
76-Lagos
37-Katsina
32-Jigawa
23-Kano
19-FCT
18-Borno
10-Edo
9-Bauchi
6-Adamawa
5-Oyo
5-Ogun
1-Ekiti
1-Osun
1-Benue
1-Niger
1-Zamfara2802 confirmed cases of #COVID19 in Nigeria
Discharged: 417
Deaths: 93 pic.twitter.com/IkHR3dpcVV— NCDC (@NCDCgov) May 4, 2020
Nine cases previously announced as discharged cases, were reported in error. Therefore, there are 417 cases that have been discharged
One case reported in Nasarawa was a repeat test. The state has a total of 11 confirmed caseshttps://t.co/Z5x7UFXpXd pic.twitter.com/yKYwuQ9djm
— NCDC (@NCDCgov) May 4, 2020
3,000 samples yet to be tested in Lagos over shortage of reagents – Governor Sanwo-Olu
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has revealed that 3,000 samples are yet to be tested in Lagos state. The Governor blamed the development of the global shortage of reagent for molecular testing of the samples. He said the state is hoping to get the reagent soon to test the samples collected.
The statement shared on the Lagos State Government website reads;
We have 3,000 samples collected but we have not been able to carry the test because of the global shortage of reagent for molecular testing. We are hoping that some of the reagents will be supplied tomorrow and Tuesday.
It would not be out of place to see positive cases in the range of 20 percent out of the 3,000 samples collected. We are improving the capacity of our isolation facilities in preparation to take care of more patients.”
Nigeria Risks Exponential New Infections, Another Lockdown – NCDC
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), has warned that there might be a possible spark of new Coronavirus infections and lockdown in the country unless Nigerians abide by the guidelines, The Cable reports.
Chikwe Ihekweazu, Director General, NCDC raised the alarm during the Presidential Task Force Briefing on COVID-19, following the easing of restriction placed on movement to control the spread of COVID-19 that stated on Monday. He further alerted that the Federal Government might be left with no other option than to reorder the restriction on movement, saying the guideline that was put in place for easing the lockdown was abused.
The statement read:
It is not the guidelines per se, it is the thinking behind it. How do we want to manage the risk of explosion and transmission? Today, we might forgive a little bit because it is the first day.
We will have infection because of what happened today, no doubt about that. But how can we learn from the mistakes of today into tomorrow, next tomorrow so by Friday hopefully we have normalised some of these things. Yes, we knew today would be a problem because for the first time, people were let out of their homes but now they are out and we have seen the sunlight again, the challenge for us as a society is how do we now organise ourselves to mitigate these risks and limit transmission?
We might have a few extra infection today and tomorrow but what we don’t want is an explosion of new infections. If we do have that infection, there will be almost no choice left for the leadership of the country than to ask all of us to go back into our homes. So for the benefit of coming out to reopen parts of the economy, there is a price to pay which is to reorganise ourselves to do this safely.
Minister of Foreign Affairs – Geoffrey Onyeama
Evacuation of Nigerians abroad to commence on May 6 – Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffery Onyeama
Nigeria’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeamasays the evacuation of Nigerians from abroad due to the Coronavirus pandemic, will commence on Wednesday, May 6th with the first evacuation from Dubai.
The Minister disclosed this when he spoke at the daily briefing of the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 today May 4. According to Onyeama, an Emirates flight from Dubai is expected in Lagos on Wednesday, May 6, this will be followed by a BA flight from the UK on Friday, May 8.
Min of Foreign Affairs @GeoffreyOnyeama: Evacuation flights for Nigerians will commence Wednesday this week—an Emirates flight from Dubai to Lagos. Will be followed by a BA flight on Friday, London to Lagos. All will be mandatorily quarantined in hotels and monitored for 14 days.
— Covid-19 Presidential Task Force (PTF) | Nigeria (@DigiCommsNG) May 4, 2020
Minister @GeoffreyOnyeama: There are almost 4,000 Nigerians wishing to come back home. There are various constraints on us, the biggest one is quarantine capacity (in hotels) for when they arrive. So we will have to do it in batches. #PTFCOVID19
— Covid-19 Presidential Task Force (PTF) | Nigeria (@DigiCommsNG) May 4, 2020
3.5million confirmed Coronavirus cases have now been recorded around the world
The coronavirus has now infected more than 3.5million people worldwide in the latest grim milestone for the pandemic. At least 3,506,729 people have been sickened by the virus since it emerged in China late last year, according to Johns Hopkins University figures.
Some 247,381 people have died after contracting the disease, the majority of them (142,667) in Europe. The United States has the world’s highest figures with 1,176,548 known infections and 68,066 deaths.
Mauritius says no new case of Coronavirus has been recorded in the last 8 days
Mauritius recorded no new COVID-19 cases for the past eight days, according to statistics provided by the National Communication Committee on Monday, May 4, Africa News reports.
Currently, there are only three active cases out of the 332 positive confirmed cases registered including 10 deaths. While 315 people have recovered from the virus. Despite no new cases in the last eight-days, the sanitary curfew put in place on March 20, and which should have ended today, was extended until June 1.
Kenya begins mass COVID-19 testing in Nairobi, Mombasa city
Kenya has launched its mass COVID-19 testing campaign in its capital Nairobi. Kawangware, the working-class district of the capital has become a hotspot for the virus, hence authorities have pitched a tent there.
Local residents have come to find out their status. The tests are being rolled out in other highly infected areas such as Kibera, Eastleigh, and the city of Mombasa. As of May 4, Kenya had 465 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There are 24 deaths and 167 recoveries. Kenya’s tally is among the top infected in the East, Horn of Africa region. Their figure is lower than only Djibouti with 1000 plus cases and 480 in Tanzania.
Norway pledges $1 billion to vaccines against Covid-19 and other diseases
Norway Prime Minister Erna Solberg said her country would give $1 billion to support the worldwide distribution of any vaccine developed against Covid-19, as well as vaccines against other diseases.
Oslo made the pledge as part of a donor conference held on Monday by the European Union to raise 7.5 billion euros ($8.23 billion) towards the testing, treatment, and prevention of the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
In the fight against #covid19, we protect ourselves by protecting each other. As co-leader of #UnitedAgainstCoronavirus, we support research, development, distribution of vaccines. We support @CEPIvaccines with USD 220 mill, and @gavi with USD 1 billion. https://t.co/nQVu01x4ga
— Erna Solberg (@erna_solberg) May 4, 2020
