JUST IN: FG Confirms 10 New Coronavirus Cases In Lagos And Abuja
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and the Federal Ministry of Health have confirmed the existence of three new cases of COVID-19 in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
The NCDC said on Twitter that the patients had been quarantined.
The ministry said seven other cases were recorded in Lagos State.
The statement read in part, “The Federal Ministry of Health has confirmed 10 new cases of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Nigeria. Three new cases in the Federal Capital Territory and seven new cases in Lagos State.
“This brings the total number of confirmed cases in Nigeria to 22. All 10 new cases are Nigerian nationals. Nine of them have travel history to Canada, France, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom.
“They returned to the country in the last one week. The 10th case is a close contact of a previously confirmed case. The three cases in the FCT are being treated at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, while the seven new cases in Lagos are being treated at the Infectious Disease Hospital, Abuja.
“All 10 new cases have mild to moderate symptoms and are currently receiving treatment.”
WAEC Postpones 2020 Examination Indefinitely
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) on Friday, announced that it has postponed the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates, 2020 indefinitely.
This was confirmed in a statement by WAEC Head of National Office, Mr. Patrick Ehidiamen Areghan, on Friday.
He said the examination was postponed because of the deadly coronavirus.
The exam was scheduled to commence on April 6, 2020.
“This is as a result of the impact of the novel and deadly coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) and the serious implications it has for the conduct of the WASSCE for school candidates, 2020, coupled with the anxieties it has generated among the populace.
“This decision is a demonstration of the organisation’s concern and support for the various protocols being put in place by the Federal and State Governments of Nigeria and the governments of the other member countries to check the spread of the disease.”
Areghan further stated that the timetable for the examination had been suspended and would be reviewed once the health situation improves.
JUST IN: CBN Devalues The Naira As Forex Interventions Fail
The Central Bank has technically devalued the naira to exchange to the dollar at N380.
The apex bank took this decision after all interventions in the market, such as imposing sanctions on errant operators and use of moral suasion to curb illegal forex operations did not sustain the exchange rate of N360.
In a circular to the operators in the sector, the CBN merged the rates at both the Bureau De Change rate and Import & Export window at N380.
Under the new dispensation, the CBN would make the dollar available to the BDCs at N378, which would be sold at N380.
The President, Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria, Aminu Gwadabe, said the merger of the different rates became necessary to build confidence in the sector.
He said this would make it impossible for those dealing in illegal operations and speculators to be profitable.
Gwadabe said it was an unacceptable situation for operators to access the dollar below N360 and be selling at between N370 and N375.
“There is a circular on it; we are to be buying at N378 and sell at N380,” he said.
He said the rise in the exchange rate was not due to genuine demand because people were not really travelling or importing goods.
“The situation cannot remain like this; things will improve. If coronavirus goes, we will get over it,” he said.
It would be recalled that in the previous week, the naira exchanged between N405 and N420 to a dollar in the BDC segment of the market.
This was attributed to the crude oil price which fell drastically in the international market and this raised speculations among the BDC operators and Nigerians in general.
ABCON had said the movement was as a result of recklessness on the side of the operators when they wanted to speculate.
It said there was no reason for that because the CBN had continued to maintain support for liquidity to the BDC subsector.
Before then, the CBN had maintained the exchange rate at about N360 for more than three years.
However, the CBN had said it was working with the fiscal authorities to properly ease the impact of the coronavirus and ensure a sound and stable financial system.
Dozens of army trucks carry coronavirus corpses to be cremated as morgues fill up
Dozens of military vehicles have been pictured carrying coronavirus victims across Italy – with morgues too full to hold corpses.
The trucks were pictured driving through the city of Bergamo in the country’s Lombardy region, one of the worst-hit by the virus.
The city has recorded at least 93 coronavirus-related deaths as cases skyrocket.
Around 70 coffins were placed on 30 trucks and will be transported to creamatoriums in a dozen locations across Italy, foreign media reports.
Jean Pierre Ramponi, the medical director of the Chiari hospital in Brescia – also in Lombardy – said: “We prepared ourselves psychologically by seeing the images of China, but it was unthinkable to imagine such devastation.
“The situation with us, on the outskirts of Brescia, is dramatic, we don’t know where to bring patients, hospitals are doing everything, but beyond a certain number they cannot assist.
“There are lines for hours in front of the hospitals.”
The mayor of Bergamo, Giorgio Gori, said the true number of related deaths could be higher as many people with COVID-19 symptoms had died before being tested.
A spokesman for the local authority explained: “The crematorium of Bergamo, working at full capacity, 24 hours a day, can cremate 25 dead.
“It is clear that it could not stand up to the numbers of the past few days.”
Once the bodies have been cremated, the ashes will be brought back to Bergamo.
Coffins have already filled up two hospital mortuaries and a cemetery morgue.
The number of deaths across the country rose by 475 in one day to nearly 3,000, the biggest increase since the outbreak.
It is the world’s worst-affected country after China, where the virus originated last year.
Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, today reported now new cases for the first time since it began there in late December.
Daily Star.
Coronavirus: Tragic picture shows elderly man next to empty Sainsbury’s shelves.
FG Orders Closure Of Schools Nationwide
The Federal Government has ordered the closure of all the 104 Unity Schools in the country from March 26 as a proactive step aimed at preventing the spread of the dreaded Coronavirus.
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr Sonny Echono who gave the order through the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, said all the Principals of the Unity Colleges should fast track the on-going second term examinations and close shop until further notice.
This closure was announced in a statement by Mr Ben Goong Director, Press and Public Relations in Abuja, on Thursday.
The Minister said the management of all the Unity Colleges should immediately activate the necessary emergency procedures and processes such as the provision of alcohol based sanitizers and hand washing facilities among others.
He said that students should strictly adhere to the principles and best practices of good hygiene.
He also directed the Principals to immediately report any suspicious case to the nearest health authorities, emphasising that nothing should be taken for granted at this delicate time of the global pandemic.
(NAN)
JUST IN: President Buhari’s Daughter In Isolation As First Lady Shuts Down Office
Wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, has said that her daughter, who recently returned from the United Kingdom, is also in self-isolation.
Mrs Buhari, who tweeted the developments through her personal handle, @aishambuhari, said she acted based on the advice of the Minister of Health and the Presidential Task Force on Covid -19.
She wrote, “Good afternoon Nigerians, earlier today (Thursday) my daughter returned from the UK being among the high-burden listed countries of COVID-19.
“Based on the advice of the Hon. Minister Of Health, Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and that of NCDC, she is on self-isolation, not because she displayed any symptoms of the COVID-19.
“Please, I urge all parents to do the same, if possible, as prevention is better than cure.”
The First Lady also shut down her office because some of her workers returned from a trip to the United Kingdom.
Good afternoon Nigerians,
Earlier today my daughter returned from the UK being among the high Burden listed countries of COVID-19. pic.twitter.com/cku3bzcIJS— Aisha M. Buhari (@aishambuhari) March 19, 2020
Ogun, Anambra State Governments Announce Immediate Closure Of Schools
The Anambra State Government on Thursday announced an immediate closure of all schools within its territory to curb the spread of Coronavirus.
In a statement, the state government said, “All inter-house sports competitions are hereby suspended until further notice.
“The management of all schools in the state must provide hand wash stations at the entrance of all schools.
“They must ensure that all students and visitors wash their hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, allowing their hands to air-dry. It is desirable for parents to provide hand sanitisers for their wards.
“Management of all schools must on arrival to school, take the temperature of their day students. Temperatures above 37.9 degrees Celsius must be reported to the nearest hospital.
“Schools management are encouraged to take the temperature of their boarding students at least once every day. Temperatures above 37.9 degrees Celsius must be reported to the nearest hospital.
“All Primary and Secondary Schools in Anambra State must go on indefinite vacation effective 27th March 2020”
“Students of Anambra tertiary institutions must proceed on vacation effective March 20, 2020 until further notice.”
Meanwhile, the Ogun State government has also earlier today announced the indefinite closure of public and private schools.
Fuel Marketers Fault FG, Say They Will Not Sell Petrol At N125
Private fuel marketers have yet to reduce the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol), while retail stations belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation have started selling at N125 per litre.
The PUNCH correspondent, who visited several filling stations including Oando, Mobil and Capital Oil and Gas on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway as well as Total at Ikosi-Ketu, on Thursday morning, observed that the private marketers were selling at N145 per litre of petrol.
“What we are asking the government is that: who is going to pay us between the old price and the new price on our old stock? And without them verifying our old stock and telling us what they will pay us and when they will pay us, we will not load,” a top official of one of the fuel marketers’ associations told our correspondent on condition of anonymity.
He said marketers would continue to sell the product at the old rate pending when the issues would be resolved.
“Marketers are holding their strategy session. We will have a common front. The GMD (of NNPC) has invited us for a stakeholders’ meeting, which should have been done before the announcement of the new price. By the end of today, we will have a clearer picture of how they are going to involve us,” he added.
The Federal Government had noted on Wednesday that the drop in crude oil prices had lowered the expected open market price of imported petrol below the official pump price of N145 per litre.
“Therefore, Mr President has approved that Nigerians should benefit from the reduction in the price of PMS which is a direct effect of the crash in global crude oil prices,” the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, said in a statement.
He said the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency would subsequently issue a monthly guide to the NNPC and marketers on the appropriate pricing regime.
The NNPC, on Wednesday, directed all its retail station to change the retail pump price to N125 per litre from N145.
The Group Managing Director, NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, said the corporation had reviewed its ex-coastal, ex-depot and NNPC retail pump prices in compliance with the directives of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, on the pricing of PMS.
He said, “Effective March 19, 2020, NNPC ex-coastal price for PMS has been reviewed downwards from N117.6/litre to N99.44/litre while ex-depot price is reduced from N133.28/litre to N113.28/litre.
“These reductions will, therefore, translate to N125/litre retail pump price. Despite the obvious cost implication of this immediate adjustment to the corporation, NNPC is delighted to effect this massive reduction of N20/litre for the benefit of all Nigerians.”
Africa Records 17 Coronavirus Deaths In 24 Hours
In the past 24 hours, Africa has recorded 17 deaths from the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak, the World Health Organisation (WHO), Africa region has said.
While Africa was among the last continent to report cases of the virus, cases are beginning to spread throughout the continent as 33 countries have reported at least a case of the disease.
The UN health agency said so far, there has been 633 confirmed COVID-19 cases in 33 African countries leading to 17 deaths.
Meanwhile in the past 24 hours, the Gambia, Mauritius and Zambia have announced first cases.
Increasing cases
Cases in Africa have remained low compared to other continents.
Egypt still tops the chart of countries with the most cases in Africa with 210 cases. This is followed by South Africa with 116 and Algeria with 75 confirmed cases.
In Nigeria, the number of confirmed cases has increased to eight.
However, more cases might be expected from the country as contact tracing has been intensified to get the people who have been in contact with the confirmed cases.
As African countries are bracing up to tackle the rising cases, WHO said it is supporting countries with surveillance, diagnostics and treatment.
World
In the meantime, cases across the world have continued to soar as Europe is now the epicenter for the outbreak.
Cases have slowed down in China where the virus originated from as the country records lower index cases.
However, China still tops the chart of countries with the most infected cases and deaths globally with over 80,500 infected people and over 3,000 deaths.
This is followed closely with Italy which has so far reported over 35,000 cases and 2, 978 deaths.
As at Thursday, 6:51 GMT, a total of 219,385 confirmed cases have been reported in 176 countries with 85,749 deaths globally.
Testing and isolation
Despite the grim, people have been recovering from the virus. Over 85,000 people have been treated, recovered and discharged from the hospital.
In all these, WHO Director-General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, has insisted that the pandemic can still be controlled if governments show more dedication.
He said the first vaccine trial has begun just 60 days after the genetic sequence of the coronavirus was shared, but countries should not relent in isolation and treatment of confirmed cases.
He said “WHO continues to recommend that isolating, testing and treating every suspected Covid-19 case, and tracing every contact, must be the backbone of the response in every country.
He said that is the best hope of preventing widespread community transmission.
Mr Ghebreyesus also recommended that wherever possible, confirmed mild Covid-19 cases should be isolated in health facilities, where trained professionals can provide good medical care, and prevent clinical progression and onward transmission.
“If that’s not possible, countries can use community facilities to isolate and care for mild Covid-19 cases and refer them for specialized care quickly if needed”, he said.