Month: March 2020

Nigeria Records Second Death From Coronavirus.

The Nigerian Government has confirmed the second death from coronavirus (COVID-19) in the country.

The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, announced this on Monday during the Presidential Task Force Briefing on COVID-19 in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

He said, “Till date, three persons have been discharged after successful treatment. But sadly, another fatality was recorded over the weekend in the person of a patient who had severe underlying illnesses.

“We have intensified contact tracing and our strategy remains to promptly detect cases, isolate them, and follow up with their contacts and also isolate and treat, in order to reduce the spread of the infection.”

“As of today, the 30th of March, 2020, we have recorded 111 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Nigeria of which 68 are in Lagos, 21 in the FCT, seven in Oyo, three in Ogun, two in Bauchi, two in Edo, two in Osun, two in Enugu, and one each in Benue, Ekiti, Kaduna and Rivers States,” Ehanire added.

He stressed that Nigeria has 111 confirmed cases of COVID-19, saying a majority of them were persons who came in from overseas.

According to the health minister, the highest number of confirmed cases are in Lagos and Abuja because they serve as the major gateways to the country.

He also informed the gathering that all retired but able-bodied staff of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and the Federal Ministry of Health were being recalled.

Ehanire warned Nigerians to protect the elderly among them, as well as those having underlying health issues as they were the most vulnerable.

In his opening remarks, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, informed the audience that the briefing would be a daily event.

He explained that the purpose was to give an update and minimise the incidence of fake news in the country.

Mustapha stressed that the briefing would be the only approved briefing of the task force, although appearances on TV by relevant members would be allowed.

He announced that President Muhammadu Buhari has constituted a committee headed by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, to care for the economic challenges that the situation may bring for the time being.

The SGF also clarified the controversy triggered by the restriction of movement in Lagos and Ogun States, as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

He allayed the fear of Nigerians, saying workers in the financial institutions were not included in the stay-at-home order declared by the President in his Sunday broadcast to the nation.

Bauchi State Governor’s Brother Kidnapped.

Yaya Adamu, the elder brother of Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Mohammed, has been kidnapped.

The PUNCH gathered that he was kidnapped at 7.30 pm on Wednesday at Ungwan Jaki in Bauchi metropolis by unknown gunmen.

This is coming about 72 hours after the governor went into self-isolation following his contact with a person that tested positive for coronavirus.

The governor was later confirmed positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday by the Nigeria Center for Disease Control.

The Senior Special Assistant to the Bauchi State Governor on Media, Mukhtar Gidado, confirmed the incident to The PUNCH on the telephone about 9.30pm.

BREAKING: Prince Charles Tests Positive For Coronavirus.

The Prince of Wales has tested positive for coronavirus and is working from home with mild symptoms.

A Clarence House spokesman said he was “displaying mild symptoms but otherwise remains in good health and has been working from home throughout the last few days as usual”.

Prince Charles, 71, and the Duchess of Cornwall, 72, are now self-isolating at their home in Scotland.

The Duchess has also been tested for the virus but did not have it, the spokesman said.

“The Prince of Wales has tested positive for Coronavirus,” the spokesman said.

“He has been displaying mild symptoms but otherwise remains in good health and has been working from home throughout the last few days as usual. The Duchess of Cornwall has also been tested but does not have the virus. In accordance with Government and medical advice, the Prince and the Duchess are now self-isolating at home in Scotland. The tests were carried out by the NHS in Aberdeenshire where they met the criteria required for testing.

“It is not possible to ascertain from whom the Prince caught the virus owing to the high number of engagements he carried out in his public role during recent weeks.”

CONFIRMED: AMVCA Attendees Exposed To Coronavirus.

Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi said on Tuesday that participants at the recently held Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Award have been exposed to a confirmed case of coronavirus.

The AMVCA 7 was held on March 14 at Eko Hotels, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Abayomi, who stated this in a string of tweets, advised all attendees to observe strict self-isolation.

Of the 42 recorded COVID-19 cases in Nigeria, 29 are in Lagos, as of the time of filing this report.

Updates later.

Buhari Tests Negative for COVID-19, Kyari Tests Positive.

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has tested negative for the COVID-19 virus (Coronavirus), following a test for the disease that was carried out yesterday on the president by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Scribbles Urban can report.

The NCDC informed the president on the outcome his negative result this morning in Abuja.

According to presidential sources, the test for the president was necessitated after his Chief of Staff, Mr. Abba Kyari tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday.

Kyari had travelled to Germany on Saturday, March 7th to meet with officials of Siemens in Munich on the Nigerian electricity expansion programme.

He returned exactly one week later on Saturday, March 14th, but did not show any symptoms.

He was said to have been at a meeting on containing the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria all through Sunday, where he reportedly started to cough.

Subsequently, he voluntarily submitted himself for testing and was informed of his status yesterday.

Kyari has however gone into absolute isolation following the test result.

Newsmen gathered that he is hale and hearty and showing no symptoms apart from the occasional cough.

Details later…

Buhari Tests Negative for COVID-19, Kyari Tests Positive.

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has tested negative for the COVID-19 virus (Coronavirus), following a test for the disease that was carried out yesterday on the president by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Scribbles Urban can report.

The NCDC informed the president on the outcome his negative result this morning in Abuja.

According to presidential sources, the test for the president was necessitated after his Chief of Staff, Mr. Abba Kyari tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday.

Kyari had travelled to Germany on Saturday, March 7th to meet with officials of Siemens in Munich on the Nigerian electricity expansion programme.

He returned exactly one week later on Saturday, March 14th, but did not show any symptoms.

He was said to have been at a meeting on containing the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria all through Sunday, where he reportedly started to cough.

Subsequently, he voluntarily submitted himself for testing and was informed of his status yesterday.

Kyari has however gone into absolute isolation following the test result.

Newsmen gathered that he is hale and hearty and showing no symptoms apart from the occasional cough.

Details later…

ASUU Commences Indefinite Strike.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities has begun an indefinite strike starting Monday.

ASUU President, Biodun Ogunyemi, announced this at a press briefing in its National Secretariat in Abuja.

ASUU had on Monday, March 9, 2020, declared a two-week warning strike because of the Federal Government’s inability to pay salaries of lecturers who are not enrolled in the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System and the non-implementation of the 2009 agreement, among other issues.

Details later…

Nigeria Records First Coronavirus Death.

The Nigeria Centre For Disease Control (NCDC) have reported the first death of a Coronavirus victim recorded in the country.

https://twitter.com/ncdcgov/status/1242024226640416768?s=21

The victim, Ex-PPMC Managing Director, Suleiman Achimugu, suffered underlying health conditions. He was undergoing chemotherapy in the UK and unfortunately returned with the virus.

Achimugu, who returned to Nigeria two weeks ago, started showing symptoms of the virus last Tuesday, according to newsmen.

He eventually died around 2:00am on Monday after coughing severely for most parts of Sunday.

A family source told newsmen that officials of the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control were informed of his situation and even took his blood sample for testing but they never got back to his family until he died overnight.

His blood sample tested positive for the virus.

RIP.

More to come.

BREAKING: Atiku’s Son Tests Positive For Coronavirus.

Former Vice President of Nigeria and 2019 Presidential candidate of the PDP Atiku Abubakar announced on Sunday, 22nd of March that his son has tested positive to the fast spreading Coronavirus.

This would be the thirty-first official case recorded in Nigeria. However citizens at this point have become apprehensive, believing the numbers are way higher and are being deliberately underreported.

More to come soon.

Former Manchester United Midfielder Fellaini Tests Positive For Coronavirus.

Former Manchester United football star Marouane Fellaini has tested positive for the coronavirus, his club Shandong Luneng said Sunday, the former Manchester United player becoming the first known case in the Chinese Super League (CSL).

The 32-year-old Belgian international midfielder has a normal temperature and is feeling fine, Shandong said, but “is under observation and having treatment at a designated medical facility”.

“The club will do its best to help in the treatment and recovery of the player.”

Fellaini is just the latest high-profile name in football to catch the disease, joining the likes of Juventus forward Paulo Dybala, Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi and Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta.

But he is the first confirmed case in the CSL, dealing a blow to the league’s hopes of starting the season as early as next month.

The campaign was supposed to begin last month but has been indefinitely postponed by the outbreak.

Fellaini, also formerly of Everton, joined Shandong Luneng from English giants United in February last year for a reported 7.2 million euros.

On Saturday, the Chinese Football Association said that the country’s best-known player, forward Wu Lei, had also tested positive for the coronavirus.

Wu, who plays for Spanish strugglers Espanyol, is in self-isolation at home in Barcelona and has only mild symptoms.

The coronavirus emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December and has since spread across the world and become a pandemic, killing 13,000 people and infecting more than 300,000.