There Are More Covid-19 Cases in The Country Daily - Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu

In recent critical roles played in by the federal government at the beginning of the lethal pandemic in Nigeria, the Federal government had declared lockdown and enforced curfew on citizens in order to curtail the spread of the virus.

Though after much engrossed trials, the lockdown gradually eased off, as the federal government sets up various guidelines for citizens to take responsibility of their lives, while the total lockdown eased off gradually. 

The President made this known publicly through a broadcast on democracy day, approving the ease on lockdown. 

President Muhammad Buhari had earlier mandated on the state government to decide on when to lift the lockdown in their various states.

But recently some state governors had declared a second lockdown in the state, the governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, who has pronounced a total lockdown on Bonny Local Governments Area and Onne Community in Eleme Local Government Areas, which commenced from June 21, 2020. 

He went further to announced to the residents that there would be a statewide second lockdown, if the virus continues to increase.

Earlier, the Director General, of the Nigeria Centre For Disease Control, (NCDC), Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, had warned citizens against the belief that, Covid-19 does not exist in Nigeria, pinpointing that there are more Covid-19 cases in the country than reported.

On the 25th of June 2020, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC has confirmed 649 new cases of Covid-19 infections bringing the total number in the country to 22,020

The breakdown of the number of the new cases of COVID-19 recorded as at 25th June, 2020;

649 new cases of COVID19 in Nigeria; 

649 new cases of #COVID19;

Lagos-250, 

Oyo-100, 

Plateau-40

Delta-40

Abia-28

Kaduna-27

Ogun-22

Edo-20

Akwa Ibom-18

Kwara-17

FCT-17

Enugu-14

Niger-13

Adamawa-13

Bayelsa-7

Osun-6

Bauchi-6

Anambra-4

Gombe-3

Sokoto-2

Imo-1

Kano-1

22,020 cases

7,613 discharged

542 deaths

Considering the persistent increase in covid-19 as testified by the report of the NCDC above, there is a probability that the country may be heading for a second lockdown, as the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on covid-19, Boss Mustapha has hinted in his daily press briefing in Abuja, stating that they would be monitoring developments nationwide in order to take informed decisions by the end of June, on the second phase of the lockdown and perhaps, designating from his statement, the second lockdown may begin from next month being July 2020.

However, there may be businesses that may be closed in the prospective of the second lockdown due to their nature, as most businesses, while in operation would have to involve a large number of people together, therefore the preventive measures provided by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) will be violated.

Below are list of businesses that may be closed on the prospective of the second lockdown, prior to be on probability commencing in July 2020

Here are business that may closed on the prospective second lockdown

Commercial MotorcyclistS

Salons (Beauty and Barber's shop)

Financial Institutions

Bar Joints

Recreation and relaxation center

Cinemas

Stadiums

Your opinion will be much appreciated.

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Mutation of Coronavirus Is Significantly Increasing Its Ability To Infect

A very small genetic mutation in the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) coronavirus circulating throughout Europe and United States significantly increases the virus’ ability to infect cells, lab experiments performed at Scripps Research shows.

“Viruses with this mutation were much more infectious than those without the mutation in the cell culture system been used,” says Scripps Research virologist Hyeryun Choe, PhD, senior author of the study.

The mutation had the effect of markedly increasing the number of functional spikes on the viral surface. 

Those spikes are what allow the virus to bind to and infect cells.

“The number or density of functional spikes on the virus is 4 or 5 times greater due to this mutation,” Choe says.

The spikes give the coronavirus its crown-like appearance and enable it to latch onto target cell receptors called ACE2. The mutation, called D614G, provides greater flexibility to the spike’s “backbone,” explains co-author Michael Farzan, PhD, co-chairman of the Scripps Research Department of Immunology and Microbiology.

More flexible spikes allow newly made viral particles to navigate the journey from producer cell to target cell fully intact, with less tendency to fall apart prematurely, he explains. 

“Our data are very clear, the virus becomes much more stable with the mutation,” Choe says.

There has been much debate about why COVID-19 outbreaks in Italy and New York have so quickly overwhelmed health systems, while early outbreaks in places like San Francisco and Washington state proved more readily managed, at least initially. Was it something about those communities and their response, or had the virus somehow changed?

All viruses acquire minute genetic changes as they reproduce and spread. Those changes rarely impact fitness or ability to compete. The SARS-CoV-2 variant that circulated in the earliest regional outbreaks lacked the D614G mutation now dominating in much of the world.

But was that because of the so-called “founder effect,” seen when a small number of variants fan out into a wide population, by chance? Choe and Farzan believe their biochemical experiments settle the question.

“There have been at least a dozen scientific papers talking about the predominance of this mutation,” Farzan says. “Are we just seeing a ‘founder effect?’ Our data nails it. It is not the founder effect.”

Choe and Farzan’s paper is titled “The D614G mutation in the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein reduces S1 shedding and increases infectivity.” Now undergoing peer review, it is being posted prior to publication to the pre-print site bioRxiv, and released early, amid news reports of its findings.

Choe and Farzan note that their research was performed using harmless viruses engineered to produce key coronavirus proteins. Whether the changes they observed also translate to increased transmissibility in the real world requires additional epidemiological studies, they note.

Encouragingly, the duo found that immune factors from the serum of infected people work equally well against engineered viruses both with and without the D614G mutation. That’s a hopeful sign that vaccine candidates in development will work against variants with or without that mutation, Choe says.

Choe and Farzan have studied coronaviruses for nearly 20 years, since the first outbreak of SARS, a similar virus. They were the first to discover in 2003 that SARS bound to the ACE2 receptor on cells. Others’ experiments have shown the SARS-CoV-2 virus binds the same ACE2 receptor.

But Farzan and Choe note a key structural difference between spike proteins on the first SARS virus and this new pandemic strain. With both, under an electron microscope, the spike has tripod shape, with its three segments bound together at a backbone-like scaffold. But SARS-CoV-2 is different. Its tripod is divided in two discreet segments, S1 and S2. 

Initially, this unusual feature produced unstable spikes, Farzan says. Only about a quarter of the hundreds of spikes on each SARS-CoV-2 virus maintain the structure they need to successfully infect a target cell. With the mutation, the tripod breaks much less frequently, meaning more of its spikes are fully functional, he says.

The addition of the D614G mutation means that the amino acid at that location is switched from aspartic acid to glycine. That renders it more bendable, Farzan says. Evidence of its success can be seen in the sequenced strains that scientists globally are contributing to databases including GenBank, the duo reports. In February, no sequences deposited to the GenBank database showed the D614G mutation. But by March, it appeared in 1 out of 4 samples. In May, it appeared in 70 percent of samples, Farzan says.

“Over time, it has figured out how to hold on better and not fall apart until it needs to,” Farzan says. “The virus has, under selection pressure, made itself more stable.”

It is still unknown whether this small mutation affects the severity of symptoms of infected people, or increases mortality, the scientists say. While ICU data from New York and elsewhere reports a preponderance of the new D614G variant, much more data, ideally under controlled studies, are needed, Choe says.

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The Pandemic Has Negatively Hit Businesses In Middle East

The pandemic has negatively hit businesses in middle-east Iran as it continues to struggle.

No country in the Middle East was hit harder by the lethal coronavirus pandemic than Iran. It has recorded more deaths than anywhere else in the region and the total infections are still rising often, although rates of infection are declining.

Despite warnings, the government has shifted focus from curbing the virus to saving the economy as it relaxes restrictions and opens cities up for business.

Health experts say it puts people's lives at risk, while Iran claims it has few other options as its economy struggles under years of United States sanctions.

Culled From Al Jazeera

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Three Children Dies From a Virus Believed to Be Linked to The Coronavirus.

Three children in New York City have died from a virus believed to be linked to the Lethal coronavirus.

Governor Andrew Cuomo disclosed on Saturday.

The disease has also been reported in Chicago, Illinois.

Cuomo had on Friday disclosed the death of a 5-year old kid linked to the coronavirus.

He also disclosed a syndrome that shares symptoms with toxic shock and Kawasaki disease, the first known fatality tied to the rare illness in New York.

The governor told a daily briefing on Saturday that the illness had now taken the lives of at least three young people across the state.

He did not provide details of their ages or the circumstances of their deaths.

But Medpage.com said one of the dead was seven years old, apart from the 5 year-old disclosed by Cuomo.

But Cuomo said he was seriously worried that the syndrome posed a newly emerging threats for children, who had previously been thought to be largely immune to severe illness from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus.

He said state health officials were reviewing 73 cases where children exposed to COVID-19 also exhibited symptoms of the syndrome.

The symptoms included inflammation of the blood vessels, which in turn could cause heart problems.

Cuomo said the children happened to test positive for COVID-19 or the antibodies against it.

“But those were not the symptoms they showed when they came into the hospital system.”

He called it a “truly disturbing” development.

The governor said people had been under the impression that young people were not at risk from the coronavirus.

“We are not so sure that is the fact anymore,”

It’s very possible that this has been going on for several weeks and it hasn’t been diagnosed as related to COVID.”

Cuomo said New York’s health department had partnered with the New York Genome Center and the Rockefeller University to look at whether there is a genetic basis for the syndrome, cases of which were first reported in Britain, Italy and Spain.

And he said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had asked New York to develop national criteria for identifying and responding to the syndrome.

The syndrome shares symptoms with toxic shock and Kawasaki disease, which is associated with fever, skin rashes, swelling of the glands, and in severe cases, inflammation of arteries of the heart.

Scientists are still trying to determine whether the syndrome is linked with the new coronavirus because not all children with it have tested positive for the virus.

New York is the epicentre of the pandemic in the United States, accounting for more than a third of the 77,313 American deaths from COVID-19, according to a Reuters tally.

Cuomo said 226 New Yorkers died from COVID-19 on Friday, up from 216 a day earlier, but less than half the levels recorded two weeks ago.

He said hospitalizations and intubations continued their downward trend, further evidence the state has gained a measure of control over the virus.

The first known published case of classic Kawasaki disease associated with COVID-19 was reported in Hospital Pediatrics in late April. A 6-month-old seen in Stanford, California, screened positive for COVID-19 after presenting with fever, blotchy rash, and minimal respiratory symptoms. She had initially been sent home from urgent care.

This week, the New York City Health Department announced finding 15 cases between April 29 and May 3. The “full spectrum of disease is not yet known,” it noted. “Only severe cases may have been recognised at this time.”

On Wednesday, the New York State Department of Health expanded that to 64 cases statewide and issued an advisory on what is being called “Pediatric Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome Temporally Associated with COVID-19.”

Two children are now known to have died in New York with the syndrome, a 5-year-old boy and a 7-year-old boy.

Italy, Spain, and the U.K. have noted an uptick in Kawasaki-like disease among children coincident with the COVID-19 outbreaks there.

British health authorities warned about a small rise in children with severe COVID-19 and features consistent with toxic shock syndrome and atypical Kawasaki disease. “Abdominal pain and gastrointestinal symptoms have been a common feature as has cardiac inflammation.”

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New York Boy: Death May Link to Coronavirus

Not more than 73 children in New York have been diagnosed with symptoms similar to Kawasaki disease.

A five-year-old boy is reported to have died of a rare inflammatory condition which is possibly linked to COVID-19, the first such death in New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Friday. 

While children have been shown, so far, to be far less likely to suffer severe harm from the coronavirus, there is growing concern that a rare complication might be causing some to experience swollen blood vessels and heart problems.

The death of a five-year-old boy Thursday at a New York City hospital is sad news for New Yorkers who believed children were largely unaffected by the coronavirus, Cuomo said.

"So this is every parent's nightmare, right? That your child may actually be affected by this virus," the Democratic governor said. "But it's something we have to consider seriously now."

Children elsewhere in the US have also been hospitalised with same condition, which was also seen in Europe.

A spokesperson for the Mount Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital, which treated the child, expressed condolences to the family and stressed that the condition has been, thankfully, rare.

While it is concerning that children are affected, we must emphasize that based on what we know thus far, it appears to be a very rare condition," Mount Sinai spokesperson Jason Kaplan wrote in a statement. "Mount Sinai and the healthcare community will continue to investigate and study this new variant in hopes of finding a solution to this rare condition."

There is no proof yet that the coronavirus causes the syndrome. At least 3,000 US children are diagnosed with Kawasaki disease each year. It is most common in children younger than six and in boys.

Symptoms include prolonged fever, severe abdominal pain and trouble breathing.

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Mysteries Of Coronavirus In Part Of Nigerian State

FISAYO SOYOMBO on his Twitter handle wrote how a Covid19 patient in Kogi State loses the battle and some more hidden stories.

Below is Twitter write ups:

"On Saturday, a patient died at FMC, Lokoja, Kogi, after exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms. His samples weren’t taken.

That was the 4th such death at the FMC last week alone. Not once was the patient’s samples taken, dead or alive.

A familiar cover-up
March 22 was the first time this scenario occurred.

A patient who came into Kogi from Lagos required a CS. The patient exhibited COVID-19 symptoms, prompting the hospital to request for her to be tested. It was turned down.

The patient was isolated for some time surgery was done and she was discharged without testing.

Last week, there were some patients in the O&G ward who manifested respiratory issues, inability to breathe and other COVID-19 symptoms.

Three of them died.
They’d come from private hospitals — one in Lokoja, another in Okene and the third in Ogudu.

The first of the trio, Mrs G.I. (her initials), a 43-year-old woman who arrived at the hospital on Thursday, had a temp of 38.8°C.

The other 2 had temperatures of more than 40°C.
In each case, no sample was taken before or after death.

Now, on the final day of the week, a patient admitted to the Accident and Emergency (A&E) Ward with a temp of 40.3°C was transferred to the male medical ward.

The patient spent 3 hours in the ward and then died.
One more patient exhibited potential COVID-19 symptoms on Sunday but moves for sample collection were futile; by yesterday, the patient was dead.

I’ve been told there are more suspected cases, but these were the ones I personally tracked.
Ideally, the FMC ought to notify the Ministry of Health of the need for sample collection if it suspects a case, but the ministry needs to secure the authorisation of the Incident Manager, that is the Commissioner for Health, who directly relates with the NCDC.

If the Commissioner says no, end of request! Meanwhile, state hospitals are not even in a position to call the health ministry.

I understand the instruction from Gov Yahaya Bello is that there should be no testing. I know the question you want to ask and I’ll answer it:
Why would the state govt want to hide COVID-19 cases? There may be many reasons but I’m sure of three, so far:

1. None of the 3 isolation centres — at SDG/FAREC Clinic, the Kogi State Diagnostics Centre & the Maimuna and Usman Yahaya Foundation Hospital — is ready for use.
A patient can’t be taken into any of them. The only ready space is at Kogi State Specialist Hospital, Lokoja, where Lassa Fever cases were once managed.

And it has only four beds. Not four wards — four beds!
All are just building structures, no equipment for the doctors to work with.

The diagnostics centre is a private facility donated to the state years ago, but the 100-bed structure is an ongoing project that has spanned three governors & doesn’t yet have power supply!
I understand the state has no money to give the people as lockdown palliatives, should there be the need to restrict their movement. But many in Kogi aren’t asking for palliatives; they just want their salaries, which the government is making moves to halve.
It is unclear why there is no money, as the Bello administration hasn’t executed a single project since its reelection in May 2019 apart from payment of salaries.
Despite receiving increased federal allocation of late due to a temporary halt of bailout deductions, the state govt was going to pay workers only 50% of their March salaries but the union fought back.

April salaries haven’t been paid due to this ongoing disagreement.
For whatever reason, the state government believes the NCDC has politicised COVID-19 cases such that if samples are sent, they will automatically return +ve.

It is a reason that defies logic, actually, but it exists all the same.
Kogi has blatantly REFUSED to test. Medical experts agree that “it is a lie to say the state does not have any COVID case”, but scientifically, no one can put a figure to it.

The FMC has been warned that if it breaches protocol by sending anyone’s samples to the NCDC...
it would be shut down on the pretext of exposure to the virus.

For that the reason, the state and hospital officialdom will counter this story with all they have, rather than make amends, but the hope will be that Kogi won’t go the way of Kano before making a U-turn."

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The Truth In The Mass Deaths And Illnesses In Kano

The truth behind the mass deaths in Kano is having a step further to the truth.

Fisayo Soyombo in his tweet earlier today outline the real reason behind the death occuring in the Northern part Kano. Below is the tweet informations

"The mass deaths/illnesses in Kano, I’ve seen X-rays that show 90% certainty that some of them were due to COVID-19. 

I cannot say for everyone of them. But for 23 of the people who either died or sought medical help in that time, it was COVID-19.

These 23 ppl presented themselves at some diagnostic centres for chest X-rays; the results bore close resemblance to what was seen in the X-rays of ppl who previously tested +ve for COVID-19. 

They showed classical features of COVID-19 on chest radiogram. 

In pneumonia and other ailments, you’ll see a consolidation of white patches. 

But that of COVID-19 patients was totally different; the white patches looked very bizarre on both sides of the lungs, mostly on the bilateral middle lobes. And they were big. 

However, to make a 100% COVID-19 proclamation, tests must still be done. 

A very senior medical expert whom I passed on these X-rays to, for analysis, explained it this way: “It’s like the cashier at the bank gives you one packet of N100 notes; that’s N10,000." "The machine was used to count the money in your presence, you can see the seal, you know the money is indeed N10,000. 

"But before you can wholeheartedly confirm it’s N10,000, you still need to count it. You know it is COVID-19 but since it’s medicine"... you can’t swear to God that it’s the virus until you’ve tested. Unfortunately, the virus will not wait for you to test somebody before it kills.”

I understand roughly half of these 23 people -- that is 11 or 12 -- have died...... the ones alive have had their samples collected for testing and are awaiting results.

You don’t have to believe what I’ve written, but if you know any consultant radiologist anywhere in the world, ask them how chest X-rays say a lot about patients’ COVID-19 statuses.

In Warri, for example, the fourth Coronavirus case was detected first with the chest X-ray before testing. One of the doctors at the Central Hospital, Warri, knew the pattern -- based on X-ray images of COVID-19 patients sent to him by his doctor-friend in the UK. 

The moment he saw the female patient’s chest X-ray, he knew it was COVID-19 and immediately decided the patient could not be allowed into the general ward. 

When she was tested, the result was +ve.

I’m putting this out to underscore the importance of not sweeping these deaths under the carpet; the authorities need to do PROPER CONTACT TRACING of the dead so that a possible spread of the virus through them can be checked."

Here's the link to the tweet

Fisayo Soyombo

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Meet Dr Babafemi Taiwo The Chicago Based Nigerian Doctor Who Is Playing A Leading Part In The NIH Study On REMDESIVIR -

Dr. Taiwo is a Professor of Medicine at North-western University Chicago. 

He received his MBBS from Nigeria’s University of Ibadan College of Medicine, he trained at the University of Massachusetts Berkshire Medical Center. 

Dr. Taiwo went on to complete subspecialty training in Infectious Diseases at North-western University Feinberg School of Medicine before joining the faculty. 

He won the John Carey Young Investigator Award in 2009 in recognition of his contributions to research on HIV resistance and management of co-infections. 

He expertise in novel therapies and the implementation of clinical research in resource-limited settings serve a critical function in ACTG leadership. 

As chair of multiple ACTG protocols and committees, he has contributed to important advancements in HIV research and clinical care.

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The truth Behind The Mass Death In Kano

Misery is said to always cease to occur, the high rate of surprise and sudden death that occur in far Northern part, Kano to be precise is alarming.

The investigative measure of FISAYO SOYOMBO who in his careful and good mindset carry out a thorough measure in the sudden death in the Northern part wrote the processes and the causes that might have caused the death.

Below is his posts on his TL:

"A few people have asked me to find out what is happening in Kano. 

Two questions were common to all the enquiries: 

(i) Are reports of mass deaths real?

(ii) Are they linked to COVID-19?

Answers below.

Based on numerous accounts of people on the ground in Kano, the deaths are real. 

I won’t dwell much on this because even Abdullahi Ganduje, the Governor of Kano, who initially denied the deaths, eventually admitted them.

Only that he blamed them on hypertension, diabetes, meningitis and acute malaria. Extremely debatable.

To be clear, it will be difficult for anyone, even the NCDC, to say for certain if these deaths were caused by the Coronavirus...

...since samples of the deceased were not taken & since many of them died at home rather than the hospital and were quickly buried in accordance with Islamic tenets. 

Even the NCDC will now have to rely on verbal autopsy, which, though imperfect, will give important clues.

For context, only once have I myself believed an untested death was caused by the virus. 

But the case — that of the accomplished accountant who died at Unilorin Teaching Hospital — was different because several opportunities to collect the man’s samples...

...before and after his death were passed up, showing clearly that some forces were determined to evade a COVID-19 confirmation.

In the case of Kano, nothing CONFIRMS that these deaths are COVID-19-related, but many things confirmed to me by people on the ground SUGGEST so:

1. While it is true that meningitis is normally experienced in the hot season in Kano & some other parts of the North around this time, its victims normally experience high fever before dying with twisted necks — that is, necks twisted to one side, right or left, and stiff. 

This phenomenon was absent in the recent deaths in Kano. Meningitis out!

2. Although coughing and sneezing were not noticed in many of the deceased, they had fever. 

Based on all the cases I’ve tracked — from Ilorin to Oyo and Lagos, COVID-19 symptoms tend to vary until the final hours before it kills its victims. Probable.

3.Most of those who died recently in Kano are elderly, grandfathers.

Someone who should know told me their age range is between 55 and 80. 

It’s not like the young are invincible, but this virus is known to kill the elderly more often — because at that age they usually have underlying health conditions. Pattern.

4. Many of these deaths have occurred within the Kano metropolis. 

It’s the city -- not the villages where doctors are out of reach and hospitals are impossible to access. Whatever kills ‘city people’ so rapidly has to be really dangerous and highly infectious. Strange.

5. Finally, it’s not just that these are mass deaths, they happened SUDDENLY. 

My sources quoted some relatives as saying that before deaths, the deceased had high temperatures and were gone before any genuine efforts to manage them. 

Generally, the symptoms did not even last for more than two days. The deaths mostly occurred within 24 hours of development of high temperatures. 

Now, this is a trend I have noticed with COVID-19. 

In the Ibadan case, for instance, someone who saw the deceased 24 hours before his passing said the man looked too healthy for anyone to believe he had the virus. 

The Ilorin death also happened in just under an hour. Familiar.

Just like you all, I’m patiently awaiting the results of @NCDCgov's verbal autopsies and the Federal Government’s response. 

I think many of us are in agreement that we need to look beyond Ganduje."

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60 Coronavirus Cases Recorded In Jail

Over 60 cases of coronavirus infections have been recorded in a jail in southern Morocco, mostly among staff, the country’s prisons service said.

The DGAPR agency, in a statement late Monday, said 60 workers and six inmates had tested positive for COVID-19 at the prison in the town of Ouarzazate after checks were carried out on all prisoners.

Nine staff and two inmates had previously tested positive at a jail in the southern city of Marrakesh and in Ksar Kebir, in the north of the kingdom, it said.

The prison service said that cases of contamination in Morocco’s prisons which hold a total of 80,000 inmates were under control because of “preventives measures” such as quarantines for workers with the respiratory disease.

At the start of April, more than 5,650 prisoners were released to reduce the risks of the spread of coronavirus, which has cost 144 lives in Morocco and contaminated more than 3,000 people.

Other Middle East and North African countries have also released prisoners, a measure UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet has called for across the world as part of the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

Morocco, a country of 35 million, has closed its borders and imposed a lockdown until May 20, enforced by security forces, to stem the spread of the disease.

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Kwara State Turns Hajj Camp To Isolation Centre

The Governor of Kwara State, AbdulRahman Abdulrazak move a step further to curb the lethal spread of the Coronavirus in the state by providing a good facility for the Isolation centre.

He said in his Twitter handle that they have converted the Hajj camp into an isolation centre. Read below on what he said:

"No nation is sufficiently prepared for this pandemic but we all have to do what we can to fight it while we continue to improve on what we have everyday." 

"This is exactly what we are doing in Kwara. We have successfully converted our hajj camp into a 600-bed isolation centre that is apart from the 10-bed ultra modern, fully-equipped Intensive Care Unit of the Kwara State Infectious Disease Centre (IDC) that our administration had recently built to manage patients in advanced stage of COVID-19 and...another 60-bed extension of our isolation centre at the Sobi Specialist Hospital, Alagbado, Ilorin." 

"We have also started the erection of such facility in Offa local government."

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Pray At Home During Ramadan - Saudi Cleric Tell Muslims

As Ramadan is fast approaching, Saudi Arabia’s Council of Senior Scholars has urged Muslims around the world to pray at home if they reside in countries that have imposed lockdowns or curfews to curb the lethal coronavirus outbreak.

The Saudi Press Agency reported on Sunday that the authorities has advised Muslims globally to have their religious practices, such as praying but refrain from causing harm to others.

“Muslims should set an example by performing their religious duties while adhering to the preventative and precautionary measures issued by relevant authorities in the countries they live in,” the council admonished in a statement.

The scholars urged Muslims to avoid gatherings which they said were the main cause of the spread of the infections.

“Muslims should avoid gatherings because they are the main cause of the spread of the infection and should remember that preserving the lives of people is a great act that brings them closer to God,” the council noted.

The kingdom’s Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Sheikh expressed the same sentiment on Friday.

He said that Muslim prayers during Ramadan and for the subsequent Eid al-Fitr feast should be performed at home if the outbreak is yet to end.

Saudi Arabia has reported 8,274 cases of COVID-19 and 92 deaths so far, the highest among the six Gulf Arab states with the total number of cases in the region being 24,374 with 156 deaths.

The Saudi government in mid-March stopped people performing daily prayers and the weekly Friday prayer inside mosques as part of efforts to curb the lethal disease.

Last week, the Prophet’s Mosque in the holy city of Medina said it was banning events that dispense evening meals in the mosque to those in need during Ramadan to break their daily fast.

Several other Islamic countries including Egypt and the United Arab Emirates have suspended group prayers in mosques until further notice to curb the spread of the virus.

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Two Males And, One Female Die of COVID-19 in Lagos

Lagos has recorded three coronavirus deaths, as the total confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state hit 286.

This was disclosed by the Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, on Saturday via his verified Twitter handle @ProfAkinAbayomi.

Abayomi said the deceased were two males and one female aged 52, 63 and 67 respectively.

He tweeted: “#COVID19Lagos Update. 32 new #COVID19 cases were confirmed in Lagos on April 17, 2020.

“Total number of confirmed cases in Lagos now stands at 286. Sadly, Lagos has recorded 3 more deaths bringing total number of #COVID19 related deaths in Lagos to 13.

“The deceased are two males and one female aged 52, 63 and 67.

“Two of the dead had underlying health issues. The two males had no travel history or record of contact with any infected person.

“The female was, however, suspected to have had contact with an infected person who recently returned to Nigeria.

“Let’s continue to maintain #SocialDistanacing and Call 08000CORONA for any #COVID19 related issues #ForAGreaterLagos.”

As it stands, Lagos leads the toll of Nigeria’s COVID-19 infections with 286 of the overall 493 cases.

So far, Lagos has discharged 90 patients, while two patients have been evacuated, three patients transferred and 13 deaths recorded.

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Three Journalists With The Truth Behind Coronavirus Birth Missing After Two Months

Chen Qiushi (left), Fang Bin (top right) and Li Zehua (bottom right) have not been seen for two months

Three Chinese whistleblowers who aims to show the world ‘truth behind Coronavirus’ are no where to be found for two months.

Chen Qiushi, Fang Bin and Li Zehua shared dramatic pictures and videos from inside the quarantined city.

All three citizen journalists were determined to expose what they could but their whereabouts have been a mystery.

Their popular accounts on YouTube which has been banned in mainland China but can still be accessed through a virtual private network (VPN) have all gone through the carpet, and the Chinese authorities have not commented on what has happened to them.

Wuhan businessman Fang disappeared after releasing a video claiming to show a pile of bodies in a minibus outside a hospital.

His short video also appears to show medics in hazmat suits attempting to treat patients as others wait moaning in pain.

Wuhan resident Fang Bin shared a video claiming to show bodies in a minibus. He disappeared on February 9 (Picture: Fang Bing/YouTube)

He then approaches one of the medics, asking: ‘So many people just died? When did this happen? Yesterday? There are so many bodies.’

The footage surfaced after being shared by Chinese journalist Jennifer Zeng on Twitter.

Fang claimed officers barged into his home and took him away after he posted the video on February 1.

He was released but his account went silent on February 9 after he posted a short video with the words ‘all people revolt hand the power of the government back to the people’.

Chen Qiushi pledged to ‘document what is really happening’ in Wuhan. He went missing on February 6 (Picture: Chen Qiushi/YouTube)

Activist Chen, 34, is a human rights lawyer turned video journalist who arrived in Wuhan before the city went into lockdown.

Chen said his coverage during the Hong Kong protests in August led to him being harassed by the authorities, who reportedly deleted his social media accounts when he returned to mainland China.

In his first YouTube video from Wuhan, he said: ‘I will use my camera to document what is really happening. I promise I won’t cover up the truth.’

One of his reports claimed to show a woman sitting next to a dead relative in a wheelchair as she tries to call her family on the phone.

But then it all went quiet and Chen has not been heard from since February 6. The last post on his Twitter account, which the BBC reports is managed by a friend, calls for his safe return.

‘When will anyone get to speak with him again? Chen Qiushi has been out of contact for 68 days after covering coronavirus in Wuhan. Please save him!!!’

Independent reporter Li Zehua, 25, has not been seen for two months after reporting from Wuhan (Picture: Li Zehua/YouTube)

Journalist Li Zehua, 25, used to work for the state broadcaster CCTV and was reporting from Wuhan independently.

According to Radio Free Asia (RFA), Li was targeted after visiting the Wuhan Institute of Virology, an extremely sensitive venue for the Chinese authorities.

Conspiracy theories have suggested the killer virus originated from the institute. Li has not been seen since February 26.

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Chief Of Staff To The President Abba Kyari Losses Battle To COVID19

Specialr to president Muhammad Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina has announced the unfortunate passing away of the Chief of Staff to the president, Mr Abba Kyari.

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Taylor Swift cancel All Shows In 2020

Taylor Swift cancels all live appearances and performances for the remainder of the year 2020 in what she said was an effort to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

"I'm so sad I won't be able to see you guys in concert this year, but I know this is the right decision," 

Swift wrote on Twitter. "Please, please stay healthy and safe. I'll see you on stage as soon as I can but right now what's important is committing to this quarantine, for the sake of all of us."

Previously scheduled shows will take place in 2021 and ticket holders will be given new tickets then, according to a statement attached to her tweet. Refunds for the US shows will be available May 1st subject to Ticketmaster's terms, it said.

Swift isn't the only one who has changed up touring schedules in light of the pandemic, which has infected more than 2 million people worldwide.

Justin Bieber postponed his "Changes" tour, and other stars like Niall Horan and Bad Bunny have also postponed tours and events.

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Hennessy Is Meant For Throat Sanitizer

Mike Sonko, the governor of the Kenyan capital city, Nairobi, confirmed in a media briefing on Tuesday that his care packages include a few small bottles of the Hennessy.

The governor justified the inclusion of alcohol as "throat sanitizer."

"I think from the research conducted by the World Health Organization and various organizations, it has been believed that alcohol plays a major role in killing the coronavirus," Sonko said in a video.

But the World Health Organization has explicitly stated that alcohol does not protect against coronavirus, and advises people to minimize its consumption.

In a post released by WHO on Tuesday, the organization said that alcohol can weaken the health of an individual and make them more vulnerable to viruses including coronavirus.

Githinji Gitahi, the CEO of Amref Health Africa, a medical non-profit, in a post on twitter condemned Sonko's claim and appealed to Kenyans to dump the alcohol.

This isn't the first time Sonko has been met with public scrutiny. The governor was arrested late last year on corruption charges, and was forced to surrender some of his duties to the national government.

Meanwhile, Hennessy has refuted through local media the claims by the Nairobi governor that its drink in particular or alcohol in general can ward off coronavirus contagion.

"Hennessy would like to stress that the consumption of our brand or any other alcoholic beverage does not protect against the virus," reads part of its statement to Nairobi News.

CNN was unable to reach Sonko for comment.

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10 Nigerians To Be Evacuated From UK Tested Positive To Coronavirus

10 Nigerian citizens in the UK waiting for evacuation will have to wait for at before they can leave after they tested positive for coronavirus and will need to be in isolation.

With hundreds of Nigerians stranded abroad wishing to return home, the federal government initiated an evacuation scheme which they can be flown back after registering with the local mission in the country where they reside. 

In the UK, the Nigerian high commission asked those interested in participating in the scheme to forward their details and so far, about 40 people have taken up the offer.

However, to qualify for evacuation, applicants must be certified as coronavirus Negative and of the 40 people who registered in the UK, about 10 of them have tested positive. 

These test results created panic among the staff of the Nigerian high commission in London, creating fears that the applicants could infect others with the virus.

As at Saturday 11th April, 2,000 Nigerians in the US, UK, China and the United Arab Emirates, had registered and indicated their interest to return home. Many of the stranded Nigerians were students and businessmen, who travelled abroad and got stranded by the global lockdown.

One source at the London high commission said:  

“We have just received the results of the first batch of 40 Nigerians who registered for evacuation to Nigeria. The results show that about 10 persons tested positive for Covid-19 and they have commenced treatment in isolation centres.

“What is generating consternation is the fear that they might have infected many other people since they were not showing symptoms of the deadly disease.”

Nigeria’s foreign minister Geoffrey Onyeama, said that the federal government was exploring all options for the evacuation of the stranded citizens. In China in particular, the situation is dire as a recent video showed about 100s of Nigerians are being evicted from their homes and hotels in Guangzhou by the authorities last week, while their passports were reportedly seized.

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Northern Governors Warns PMB that On Lockdown, Says Price Will Be Too High

Governor's forum of Nigeria’s 19 Northern States have warned President Muhammadu Buhari against introducing a lockdown across the region in response to the coronavirus pandemic saying that it cannot be sustained economically and will come at too high a cost.

Although Nigeria only has 343cases of coronavirus and has suffered just 10 deaths, the federal government has taken firm action to contain the spread of the pandemic. 

Yesterday 14th April, President Buhari extended the lockdown in Lagos and Ogun States and the Federal Capital Territory Abuja for a further 14 days in a nationwide broadcast.

Despite the fact that the federal government’s measures have been praised as preventative, there is widespread concern about the economic impact of the lockdown. 

In Lagos and Ogun states, there is now widespread unrest as hardship bites because the government has not backed up the lockdown with the distribution of essential needs to the citizens.

Yesterday, the Northern States Governors’ Forum met via teleconference and decided that it cannot lock down its region because doing so will come at a high cost.

Governor Simon Lalong, of Plateau State, the chairman of the forum, added that the governors agreed to approach the federal government for funds because the preventive measures they have put in place have eaten deep into their pockets.

According to Governor Lalong, they also resolved to strengthen preventive measures through enhanced boundary controls and surveillance. 

They also pledged greater collaboration to ensure that there is synergy among them in the fight against Covid-19.

Dr Makut Macham, Governor Lalong’s spokesman, said: “They agreed that at the moment, each state would adopt the measure suitable to its setting because a total lockdown of the region will come at a very high cost since most of its citizens are farmers who need to go to farms since the rains have started. Another issue discussed by the northern governors was the issue of palliatives from the federal government where they regretted that so far, no state in the region had received a dime as special allocation despite the fact that some of them have recorded cases while others are making frantic efforts to prevent any outbreak, as well as prepare against any eventuality.

“This they observed has eaten deep into the pockets of the states as they have spent a lot of money already and may not be able to sustain this for a long time. Since prevention is better than cure, they canvassed that the federal government grant them some special funds just as it has done to other states.

“Also, the northern governors lamented that the region has no testing centre, which is very disturbing. They resolved to again liaise with the federal government to ensure that each state at least gets one testing centre while highly populated ones get two.

“The governors also discussed the economic impact of Covid-19 on the region and decided that they needed to take a holistic look at the economic prospects of the region with a view to repositioning it for less reliance on federal allocation and to prepare for the future by diversifying to areas of comparative advantage such as agriculture, manufacturing, tourism and human capital development. They set up a seven-man committee to be chaired by Atiku Bagudu, the Kebbi governor, to fashion out the way forward.”

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Lagos State University Teaching Hospital Records First COVID19 Death

The Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH on Saturday recorded it's first coronavirus death.

According to sources at the hospital, before the death which occurred at the Ayinke House, the condition of the patient was earlier suspected to be a case of puerperal sepsis with a high index of suspicion for COVID-19.

Sources said that the patient was admitted on Wednesday while the management of LASUTH was notified on Thursday about the suspicion. 

The source told newsmen that a normal protocol for testing was activated and the test was carried out.

Sadly, the patient eventually died early Saturday and the test came out positive.

The source added that the corpse was awaiting evacuation to Yaba.

The source hinted that already, plans are underway for the emergency unit where the patient was managed to be decontaminated and shut down for 48 hours.

“All the doctors and nurses, as well as other health workers who came in contact with the patient, are being audited regarding the practice of universal precautions. The news from Head of Department Obstetrics & Gynaecology is that it was unlikely any of them did not practice universal precautions since there was a high level of suspicion.

“In case we find any staff who came in contact without precautions, such staff will self isolate and be tested in 5 days’ time.

The Honourable Commissioner for Health has been briefed about the development and is in total agreement with all the steps that we are taking.”

When newsmen contacted the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Prof Fabunwo, for confirmation, he said: Please wait for the Commissioner of Health’s Daily briefing,.”

Also, efforts to reach the Commissioner for Health on the development, Prof Akin Abayomi proved abortive as phone calls and test messages sent to his telephone number were not responded.

The Commissioner for Health had earlier announced one death in a private hospital in the state. With this additional death, Lagos now has 5 deaths from COVID-19.

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