Coronavirus
Ekiti bans traditional festivals in towns, villages
The Ekiti State Government has directed traditional rulers in towns and villages to either postpone or cancel for the rest of the year, all pending local festivals in their domains to curb the spread of Coronavirus. The State Coordinator of COVID-19 Task Force Response Team, Prof Bolaji Aluko, made the announcement in a statement in Ado Ekiti. He disclosed that Ekiti State had cumulatively recorded 78 positive Coronavirus cases, with 29 active, 2 deaths and 47 discharged, warning that the cases can rise dramatically if public assemblies continued unchecked. He said as the state was gradually entering the full blown season of Traditional Festival, therefore, travels from within Ekiti State and various parts of Nigeria by indigenes and visitors to the various towns and villages during this p...
England to Allow Indoor Concerts Beginning Next Month
Earlier this week, veteran talent agent and Lollapalooza co-founder Marc Geiger predicted that concerts likely won’t return in the US until 2022 — a much bleaker timeline than the one previously provided by health experts. Meanwhile, our friends across the Atlantic will allow indoor concerts to take place beginning August 1st, 2020. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed the news on Friday, July 17th, as part of a larger discussion about the UK entering stage 4 of their five-stage reopening plan. While live indoor events will be allowed to return, there will be a strict set of guidelines in place, including social distancing measures, reduced capacity for venues, required online ticketing, frequent sanitization of sites, and staggered performance schedules. “The UK’s performing arts...
England to Allow Indoor Concerts Starting Next Month
Social distancing will be required as the country enters phase 4 of a five-stage reopening plan. Audiences who adhere to social distancing can return to indoor theaters, music and performance venues beginning Aug. 1, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Friday (July 17). The policy represents the fourth phase in the country’s five-stage reopening plan for live events. In the lead up to the August start date, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport will conduct pilots of performances with socially-distanced audiences — including the London Symphony Orchestra at St. Luke’s London — using the findings there to inform final guidance for venues. The announcement notes that “audiences, performers and venues will be expected to maintain social distancing at all tim...
Inception Is Why We’ll Wait for Christopher Nolan’s Tenet
Blockbuster Month is celebrating the true titans of the genre. All month long, you’ll read through a variety of features digging deep into the greatest hits of Hollywood, from popcorn classics to underrated gems. Today, Sam Mwakasisi delves into the daunting challenges Christopher Nolan and his potentially game-changing new film, Tenet, face in these uncertain times. Every era in film comes with its own technological advancements, but it takes that perfect note to unify the tools of the times. Amidst the ensuing pandemic, and its share of indefinite delays, hope for a solid note is thinning, not least with the filmmaker who has been central to the conversation for the past decade. On July 16, 2010, exactly 10 years ago yesterday, Christopher Nolan unleashed Inception into theaters, galvani...
Melinda Gates tasks policymakers on protection of women, girls in fight against coronavirus
In a paper titled “The Pandemic’s Toll on Women and Girls,” Co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Melinda Gates, has tasked global leaders and policymakers on the protection of women and girls in the fight against the coronavirus. Gates said that to recover fully from this pandemic, leaders must respond to the ways that it is affecting men and women differently. In the paper, she puts forward a set of specific, practical policy recommendations that governments should consider in their pandemic response—to improve health systems for women and girls, design more inclusive economic policies, gather better data, and prioritize women’s leadership. Writing in the paper, Gates described how previous disease outbreaks, including AIDS and Ebola, tend to exploit existing forces of ine...
No Mask, No Entry: Walmart, CVS & Target Will Require Customers To Wear Face-Coverings
Source: ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / Getty In a move that makes all the sense in the world right now, big retailers will now require customers to wear masks. Kicking off things off, Walmart said in a blog post would start enforcing a new rule requiring patrons to wear face masks beginning Monday (Jul.20). Per Walmart: “As the number of confirmed cases has spiked in communities across the country recently, so too have the number and types of face-covering mandates being implemented. Currently, about 65 percent of our more than 5,000 stores and clubs are located in areas where there is some form of government mandate on face coverings. To help bring consistency across stores and clubs, we will require all shoppers to wear a face-covering starting Monday, July 20. This will give us time to inf...
Talent Agent and Lollapalooza Co-Founder Marc Geiger Predicts Concerts Won’t Return Until 2022
One of the concert’s industry’s top executives believes that live music won’t fully return until 2022. Marc Geiger, the former global head of music at talent agency William Morris Entertainment and co-founder of Lollapalooza, made the startling prediction during an appearance on The Bob Lefsetz Podcast. Asked when he thought concerts would return in the era of COVID, Geiger responded, “In my humble opinion, it’s going to be 2022.” In Geiger’s estimation, “It’s going to take that long before, what I call, the germaphobic economy is slowly killed off and replaced by the claustrophobia economy — that’s when people want to get out and go out to dinner and have their lives, go to festivals and shows.” “It’s my instinct, that’s going to take a while because super-spreader events — spor...
Audio Engineer Kesha Lee in Atlanta, in a Pandemic: ‘I’m Getting to the Place Where I’m Wanting to Create’
Lee was planning to travel for audio engineer work when her car broke down — now, she’s collaborating with a local songwriter on her own music. Since getting her start through a chance meeting with Gucci Mane, Atlanta-based audio engineer Kesha Lee has worked on chart-toppers like Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” and Migos’ “Bad and Boujee” and is now the go-to audio engineer for rappers including Playboi Carti and Lil Uzi Vert. She spent the past two-and-a-half years working on Uzi’s Eternal Atake album in the artist’s native Philadelphia, before it was released on March 6 — mere weeks before the near-national lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus began. As part of Billboard’s efforts to best cover ...
Tom Hanks Questions Patriotism of Americans Who Don’t Wear Masks
As one of the first American celebrities who contracted COVID-19 and recovered safely, Tom Hanks doesn’t have time for people who don’t wear masks. The beloved actor has been urging people to practice safety guidelines during the coronavirus pandemic, even going so far as to say, “Don’t be a pussy.” Now, he’s doubling down on that sentiment by questioning the patriotism of Americans who choose not to wear masks. During an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday, Hanks was asked by Stephen Colbert what it’s like to be a coronavirus survivor. The two discussed a range of topics, including whether or not Hanks would donate his plasma to help scientists find a cure (Hanks confirmed he already has and he hopes it will result in the “Hank-ccine” vaccine). Out of all the quest...
Super Eagles star recovers from coronavirus
KRC Genk has confirmed that Super Eagles striker Paul Onuachu has fully recovered from the ravaging coronavirus. Former FC Midtjylland forward had tested positive for the deadly virus when all the Belgian Jupiler League clubs have to undergo compulsory test and has to be quarantined for 7 days. He missed the club’s last training match but is expected to resume training with the rest of the players. Team head coach Hannes Wolf said he should be available for the team next warm-up game. “But Friday he will just train with the group,” said coach Hannes Wolf. “Paul can also compete against Excelsior on Friday in the exhibition match.” The other players and the rest of the entourage also tested negative”, he stated. Get more stories like this on Twitter You Deserve to Make Money Even When you a...
Live Nation Shares Bounce on Encouraging Vaccine Trial
Stocks of out-of-home entertainment companies got a boost from biotech company Moderna’s announcement on Tuesday. As markets reacted enthusiastically to a promising coronavirus vaccine trial, shares of concert promoter Live Nation leaped 12.2% to $52.09 on Wednesday (July 15) before closing at $51.84, up 11.7%. On Tuesday, biotech company Moderna published the results of an initial study for a coronavirus vaccine called mRNA-1273. The vaccine “elicits a robust immune response” in all trial participants, said chief medical officer Tal Zaks in a statement, and will enter the next phase — with approximately 30,000 participants — later this month. Jumps in other entertainment companies’ stocks reflect how desperate investors were for good news about markets brought to a...
Lagos government opens recruitment portal for doctors, health workers
The Lagos State Government on Wednesday, opened its portal for the recruitments of over 700 doctors and other health workers. It said that the exercise is in a bid to ensure adequate manpower in all its health facilities and the need to fill the vacant positions in the 27 General Hospitals across state necessitated the recruitment exercise for efficient and top-class healthcare delivery in all government health facilities. The State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said that approval was given for the Health Service Commission to employ over 760 health workers of which 400 would be doctors in line with the government’s commitment towards addressing the shortage of health workers across the state. He however disclosed that the exercise has been phased in batches to ensure compliance with coron...
