COVID-19
Morocco confirms 129 new coronavirus cases, total now 6,870
The Moroccan Ministry of Health on Sunday confirmed 129 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of cases to 6,870 in the country. Meanwhile, 192 people have died from the novel coronavirus so far, while 3,660 have recovered after 173 recoveries were added during the last 24 hours, Mohamed El Youbi, Director of Epidemiology at the ministry, said at his daily briefing. On April 18, Morocco extended the state of medical emergency until May 20 in an effort to strengthen preventive measures to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus. Get more stories like this on Twitter
Bauchi governor orders payment of salaries
Bauchi State Governor, Sen. Bala Mohammed, has approved the payment of May, 2020 salaries of Civil Servants in the state ahead of the Eid-el Fitr celebration. His Senior Special Assistant on Media, Muktar Gidado, revealed this on Sunday in a statement. He said the Governor has directed the State Accountant General to ensure that the salaries are paid on or before the 20th of May. He explained the development was to enable workers, including pensioners enjoy a happy Eid-el Fitr celebrations. Mohammed assured civil servants in the state of the commitment of his administration to prompt payment of salaries in addition to other reforms introduced to ensure effective service delivery. He equally enjoined them to ensure total compliance with all the protocols against COVID-19 pandemic. Get more ...
Newborn baby tests positive for coronavirus in Russia
A baby was born with the coronavirus in Russia’s Caucasus region, health officials were quoted by TASS news agency as saying on Sunday, to a mother who is also infected. The birth in the North Ossetia city of Beslan follows one in mid-April in Peru, which health officials there said was the second known case of a COVID-19 positive newborn worldwide. In North Ossetia, “a pregnant woman was infected by the coronavirus, and her baby was born infected”, a regional health ministry spokesman was quoted by the state agency TASS as saying. “They are now at home, their state is satisfactory,” the spokesman added. The head of the hospital’s maternity unit, Hassan Tagaiev, was quoted by local television as saying that 17 of 35 women who were about to give birth there had tested positive for COVID-19....
Federal government donates 5,318 metric tons of foodstuff to Kano
The Federal Government said it has delivered a total of 139 truck-loads of foodstuff which is equivalent to 5,318 metric tons to Kano State, for distribution to the less-privileged, and people living with disabilities as palliatives against the effect of COVID-19. The relief items were 10 trucks of rice; 2,438 metric tonnes of Maize; 1,380 metric tonnes of millet and 900 metric tonnes of sorghum in a total of 139 trucks each ferrying 60 metric tons to feed 300,000 households. Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, who stated this in a statement, yesterday, disclosed that the10 trucks of rice came from the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), while maize, millet and sorghum were drawn from the country’s strategic food reserves as authori...
Governor Fayemi: Ibrahim Gambari’s appointment excites governors
The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) has expressed excitement over the appointment of Prof Ibrahim Gambari as the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari. The Forum also expressed its readiness to work with Gambari for the progress and development of the country. In a congratulatory message signed by its Chairman and Governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi, in Abuja on Sunday, the NGF expressed confidence in Gambari’s competence for the job. “As you know, this appointment comes with great responsibilities and unconventional demands, requiring candour, discipline, professionalism, loyalty, focus, diligence and the highest level of service. “Your credentials, pedigree, experience and career trajectory both locally and globally speak to your capacity. As State Governors, we are excited a...
Madagascar records first death from coronavirus
Madagascar has registered its first coronavirus death, two months after its index case, the national COVID-19 taskforce said on Sunday, according to news site Reuters. The taskforce spokeswoman, Hanta Vololontiana, was quoted by Reuters to have said in a televised statement that the man had died on Saturday night. “A man died from COVID-19 in Madagascar … he is 57 years old and a member of the medical staff,” she said. The first casualty of the island on the east coast of Africa was said to be a 57-year-old medical worker who suffered from diabetes and high blood pressure. Newsmen had about a fortnight ago did a rundown of countries with a clean death slate. This included Vietnam, Rwanda, Faroe Islands, Madagascar, Cambodia, Nepal, Uganda, Central African Republic, and Mozambique, accordin...
No ‘miracle cure’ for coronavirus until clinical trials prove Madagascar’s herbal medicine
Scientists are putting an herbal remedy from Madagascar, purported to cure COVID-19, to the test. Researchers at Germany’s Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, in Potsdam, are collaborating with a U.S. company, ArtemiLife, to test an extract from the plant Artemisia annua to determine its effectiveness in speeding recovery from the virus. “We are working with two independent laboratories to ensure the highest possible quality and exclude any bias in the results,” Peter Seeberger, lead researcher, told VOA in an email response. Seeberger is hopeful the first results will be back soon. “We have collected a significant body of data but are again repeating the work to make sure any results are reproducible multiple times,” he said. “Within the next couple of weeks, we will be in a ...
NIDO flays Nigerian government’s directive on payment of N297,600 by stranded nationals in Thailand
Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO), Thailand, has described the directive by the federal government that stranded Nigerians in Thailand must pay the sum of N297,600 for their quarantine, isolation, accommodation centres or hotels before their departure as insensitive and harsh. Its President, Dr. Lloyd Nwafor, in a letter dated May 17 and addressed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, titled: ‘Appeal to Reconsider Decision on Payment for Quarantine, Isolation, Accommodation Centres or Hotels’, said it came to the stranded Nigerians in Thailand as a shock. He said that some of the evacuees are families who lost their jobs because of the coronavirus pandemic, some are at the Immigration Deportation Camp (IDC), while others are visitors stranded in Thailand. Nwafor...
Nasarawa Assembly members test negative for coronavirus
Nasarawa State Government All the members of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly have tested negative for coronavirus (COVID-19), the Chairman, House Committee on Information, Alhaji Mohammed Omadefu, has said. Omadefu disclosed this during an interview with newsmen on Saturday in Keffi. Expressing gratitude to God over their COVID-19 status, the spokesman restated the assembly’s commitment in containing the spread of the pandemic in the state. “At last, all members of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly have been certified COVID-19 negative. “This followed the fact that the only member out of the 23, whom controversies surrounded his COVID-19 status, Hon. Mohammed Bello Isa, member representing Uke/Karshi, has been cleared this afternoon as his two tests results of COVID-19 were all neg...
PDP asks President Buhari to explain whereabouts of Chinese doctors
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has given the federal government a 48-hour ultimatum to declare the whereabouts of the Chinese medical team it brought in to assist in the fight against the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in our country. The PDP’s position is predicated on the declaration by the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, that he could not account for the whereabouts of the Chinese team, who were brought into the country from the global epicentre of the pandemic. The 15-member team of Chinese medical personnel arrived in the country on April 8 “to share their experiences in fighting the COVID-19.” Some Nigerians had kicked against the federal government’s decision to invite the medical experts, saying the country had enough doctors to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. The Nigerian M...
Rivers monarchs accuse IGP of reversing presidential lockdown order
President Muhammadu Buhari has been asked to reverse the order of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) on the movement of agricultural produce, livestock, goods and services in Rivers State. The call was made on Saturday by the Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers, which noted that the IGP had set up a Joint Technical Task Force at the instance of the Federal Ministries of Agricultural and Rural Development, Defence, Environment as well as various security agencies, to ensure free and unhindered movement of food, livestock, agricultural inputs and others into the State. The State Chairman of the Council, King Dandeson Jaja, speaking on behalf of the council in Port Harcourt wondered why the IGP would unilaterally lift the ban on the Presidential order restricting interstate movement...
Coronavirus: Lagos begins chloroquine clinical trial this week
The Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Gbenga Omotoso, has said the state will this week commence the clinical trial treatment of COVID-19 using chloroquine as approved by NAFDAC. The state, which is the epicentre of the virus in the country, had previously disclosed plans to carry out the chloroquine clinical trial. Omotoso, in an interview with newsmen on Saturday, said, “We are ready for the chloroquine clinical trial because we have just secured all the approvals. The documentation has also been completed. Those that will be used for the trials are ready too. By next week we should be ready for the trial. “Also, Lagos got a supply of additional 20,000 testing kits, although we were expecting 40,000. It means that the testing will increase now.” In a related devel...
