News
Coronavirus: Here’s an Update on the Situation of Things in Nigeria
Nigeria records 146 new cases of COVID-19
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has recorded 146 new cases of the coronavirus in the country.
In a tweet on Tuesday night, the NCDC said that the new cases have taken the total number of infections in the country to 4787. The agency said that 57 of the new infections were recorded in Lagos, 27 in Kano, 10 in Kwara, 9 in Edo, 8 in Bauchi, 7 in Yobe, 4 in Kebbi, 4 in Oyo, 3 in Katsina, 3 in Niger, 2 in Plateau, 2 in Borno, 2 in Sokoto, 2 in Benue, 1 in Gombe, 1 in Enugu, 1 in Ebonyi, 1 in Ogun, 1 in FCT and 1 in Rivers state.
Nigeria has a total of 4787 cases of coronavirus, 959 discharged patients and 158 death recorded.
A breakdown of cases by state can be found via https://t.co/Z5x7UFXpXd#TakeResponsibility pic.twitter.com/kQIw0QnBoY
— NCDC (@NCDCgov) May 12, 2020
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ThisDay Dome Treatment Centre launched in Abuja
On Tuesday, the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire launched the ThisDay Dome Treatment Centre in Abuja. The Dome Treatment Centre has a capacity of 300-bed space, a 54gene laboratory, built and equipped by the Sahara group to further enhance efforts of the federal government to contain the spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria.
Inauguration of @THISDAYLIVE Dome COVID-19 Testing, Tracing, Treatment Centre in Abuja, Nigeria. Powered by @iamsaharagroup & @THISDAYLIVE Supported by: @CCECC8 @cacovidng @africa_finance @cenbank @NNPCgroup pic.twitter.com/a1MT9oNwpI
— ARISE News Feed (@ARISEtv) May 12, 2020
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Boss Mustapha warns Nigerians against the practice of sharing facemask
Boss Mustapha, Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation SGF, speaking at the daily press briefing of the taskforce in Abuja, warned Nigerians against the practice of sharing facemask amongst themselves or picking face masks at dumpsites for recycling.
Mustapha also said the task force has been reliably informed of this unhealthy practice amongst some Nigerians. He said:
Particularly, the PTF has become aware of the on-going practice of sharing masks and picking of masks for recycling from dump sites. This places a lot of responsibilities on all of us to be self-educated and to educate others.
The following points are emphasized:
(i) With the exception of fabric masks, every disposable used mask is ahazardous medical waste and should be disposed of properly, preferably by burning;
(ii) It is very risky to share masks as the virus is capable of remaining on surfaces for several hours and you could get infected;
(iii) The unhealthy practise of picking up disposed masks for whatever purpose is harmful to both the individual picking it and whoever procures it later.Particularly, it will be helpful for high-risk people such as the elderly and those with comorbidities, to wear masks or face covering and avoid crowded places. As we reminded you earlier, please keep grandchildren away from their grandparents to avoid any transmission. Most importantly, emphatically say no to stigmatization.
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CBN will be funding research for a Nigerian coronavirus vaccine
At the unveiling of THISDAY Dome testing, tracing and treatment centre in Abuja on Tuesday, Godwin Emefiele, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, revealed that the CBN will be funding research for a Nigerian coronavirus vaccine.
He said they are currently designing a framework which includes grants and long term facilities for “researchers, science institutions and biotechnology firms to develop the Nigerian Vaccine.”
The CBN Governor said:
I wish to acknowledge however, that our ability to restore the growth of our economy is dependent on how we address the public health crisis brought on by COVID-19. It is in realization of this fact that the CBN recently launched a N100bn healthcare intervention fund. Practitioners in the Pharmaceutical and health care sectors will be able to access finance at single digit rate through this fund.
Our objective is to improve the capacity of our health system to address emerging public health challenges.
Furthermore, in order to encourage greater research and development in Nigeria of drugs and vaccines that would help prevent the spread of the virus, the CBN is developing a framework under which grants and long term facilities will be provided to researchers, science institutions and biotechnology firms to develop the Nigerian Vaccine. Needless to state that if we are to wait for foreign countries to develop their own vaccines, we will be the last in the queue to receive curative remedies for our teeming population.
The Central Bank of Nigeria today challenges Nigerian scientists at home and in the diaspora to go back to their laboratories and develop a Nigerian vaccine.
Once validated by the Health Authorities, the CBN will step in and do the needful for the sake of over 200 million Nigerians now confronted by COVID-19.
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12 COVID-19 patients discharged in Kaduna State
The Kaduna State Government has announced that 12 patients who tested positive for coronavirus have been discharged after recovering from the disease. According to Governor Nasir El-Rufai, among the discharged patients, are 11 Almajiris, and this brings the total number of coronavirus survivors in Kaduna state to 27.
Nasir El-Rufai tweeted:
KADUNA UPDATE: 12 Covid-19 patients were discharged today, including 11 almajirai. Kaduna State has now discharged a total of 27 persons.
https://twitter.com/GovKaduna/status/1260317824482004992?s=20
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US CDC urges doctors to look out for inflammatory syndrome in children linked to COVID-19
While COVID-19 has infected millions, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC) is now urging doctors to look out for a dangerous inflammatory syndrome in children that may be linked to the virus, CNN reports.
According to CNN, a CDC spokesperson said that the agency is preparing to release an alert warning for doctors as the new syndrome, the paediatric multi-system inflammatory syndrome, is potentially associated with COVID-19. The syndrome is reportedly marked by a persistent fever, inflammation, poor function in one or more organs, and other symptoms similar to shock.
While speaking to the media outlet, the CDC spokesperson said that the agency was preparing an alert to go out on the Health Alert Network (HAN) to thousands of physicians and other clinicians around the country as an informal panel of paediatricians organised by Boston Children’s Hospital reported it to be associated with the deadly coronavirus.
“We will provide a working case definition of what cases look like. They’ll be asked to report cases to state and local health departments so we can try to learn about much about this syndrome as we can,” the spokesman said.
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WHO says there is “potentially positive data” on COVID-19 drugs
The World Health Organization (WHO) says “some treatments appear to be limiting the severity or length of suffering caused by COVID-19 and that it is focusing on learning more about four or five of the most promising ones”.
According to The Guardian, spokeswoman Margaret Harris who spoke during a virtual briefing, referring to the body’s “solidarity trial” of drugs against the disease said, “We do have some treatments that seem to be, in very early studies, limiting the severity or the length of the illness, but we do not have anything that can kill or stop the virus”.
“We do have potentially positive data coming out but we need to see more data to be 100% confident that we can say this treatment over that one,” she added.
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Twitter announces employees will be allowed to work from home ‘forever’
Chief Executive Officer of Twitter, Jack Dorsey said in a company-wide email on Tuesday, that Twitter will allow its employees to work from home “forever”.
“We were uniquely positioned to respond quickly and allow folks to work from home given our emphasis on decentralization and supporting a distributed workforce capable of working from anywhere,” the company said in its blogpost.
“The past few months have proven we can make that work. So if our employees are in a role and situation that enables them to work from home and they want to continue to do so forever, we will make that happen.”
Read the full statement:
#LoveWhereverYouWork
Twitter was one of the first companies to go to a work from home model in the face of COVID-19, but we don’t anticipate being one of the first to return to offices.
We were uniquely positioned to respond quickly and allow folks to work from home given our emphasis on decentralization and supporting a distributed workforce capable of working from anywhere. The past few months have proven we can make that work. So if our employees are in a role and situation that enables them to work from home and they want to continue to do so forever, we will make that happen. If not, our offices will be their warm and welcoming selves, with some additional precautions, when we feel it’s safe to return.
Here’s how we’re thinking about the next few months:
- Opening offices will be our decision, when and if our employees come back, will be theirs.
- With very few exceptions, offices won’t open before September. When we do decide to open offices, it also won’t be a snap back to the way it was before. It will be careful, intentional, office by office and gradual.
- There will also be no business travel before September, with very few exceptions, and no in-person company events for the rest of 2020. We will assess the 2021 events later this year.
We’re proud of the early action we took to protect the health of our employees and our communities. That will remain our top priority as we work through the unknowns of the coming months.
#LoveWhereverYouWork
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WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 03: Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) holds the gavel during the first session of the 116th Congress at the U.S. Capitol January 3, 2019 in Washington, DC. Under the cloud of a partial federal government shutdown, Pelosi will reclaim her former title as Speaker of the House and her fellow Democrats will take control of the House of Representatives for the second time in eight years. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Nancy Pelosi introduces a new stimulus bill called the ‘Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act (HEROES Act)’
US House Democrats led by House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi introduced a new stimulus bill called the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act, or the “HEROES Act”. This $3 trillion proposal far exceeds the cost of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act, which is the largest stimulus bill in U.S. history.
According to Pelosi, “The Heroes Act is based on a simple premise: that it’s not enough just to expand testing, tracing and treatment. We must ensure all Americans have access”.
The HEROES Act would provide funding for a wide range of groups, a new stimulus check, funding for state and local governments, hazard pay for essential workers, funding for coronavirus testing, rent and mortgage assistance, an extension of the $600 weekly unemployment expansion, additional funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, additional funding for small businesses, emergency relief for the U.S. Postal Service, and provisions for election safety and facilitating voting by mail.
Today, @HouseDemocrats introduced the #HeroesAct, bold legislation to address the COVID-19 health and economic crisis. https://t.co/K2Pz9FR0Vu
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) May 12, 2020
