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
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.
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.”
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.
The Zonal Coordinator, National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) Southwest Area Office in Osun State, Mr Emmanuel Attah, has refuted reports that a corps member in NYSC Ekiti Orientation Camp tested positive to COVID-19.
Attah, in a statement he personally signed described the report as ‘fake and being peddled by mischievous people.”
He stated that it was saddening that such misleading and damaging reports would be peddled at a time the COVID-19 pandemic was being battled worldwide.
“The attention of the NYSC has been drawn to a fake and unsubstantiated news making the rounds that a corps member presently in NYSC Permanent Orientation Camp, Ise-Orun, Ekiti State has tested positive to Coronavirus and has been moved to the State Isolation Centre situated at Oba Adenuyigbe Hospital, Anilosun, Ado-Ekiti.
“The said report was in bad light and it is orchestrated just to mislead Nigerians especially, parents and guardians of members of the service corps that are in NYSC Camps nationwide.
“With every sense of responsibility, I wish to reiterate the commitment of the scheme to continue to wage unrelenting war against whatever pandemic that may rear its ugly head near any NYSC formation nationwide with far reaching actions in order to guard against the contraction of any deadly virus by corps members.
“I equally wish to add that the corps member that was purportedly alleged to have tested positive was taken to a Laboratory in Ede, Osun State for comprehensive medical test to determine the veracity or otherwise of the damaging allegation and I am happy to inform the general public that the corps member tested negative to the dreaded epidemic.
“Once again, I want to repeat that no corps member has tested positive to Coronavirus or any other disease in all the NYSC formations nationwide.
“Accordingly, newsmen should endeavour to seek information and clarification from NYSC management or the accredited spokesperson before going to public with such damaging news items.
“NYSC remains committed to the remarkable welfare and well-being of all corps members nationwide,” NAN quoted him as saying.
The Lagos State Government has ordered that all public and private schools in the state be shut from Monday, March 23, 2020.
The decision was taken as part of the preventive measures against the spread of the coronavirus.
According to a statement posted on the official twitter page of Lagos State Commissioner of Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotosho, he said, “the move becomes necessary to prevent our children and their teachers from getting more vulnerable to the pandemic”
Eight coronavirus cases have been detected in Nigeria, majority of them in people who arrived Nigeria via Lagos. Lagos is also Nigeria’s main treatment centre for the disease.
“The Incident Command Centre, headed by the Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who is the Incident Commander, will continue to trace all contacts of the identified cases and encourage anyone who has information about suspected cases to report to the nearest hospital or call the emergency telephone numbers 08023169485, 08033565529, 08052817243 and 08023401214.
“It is important for parents to ensure that their children practise ‘social distancing’ while at home, wash their hands regularly or use hand sanitizers and observe high standards of personal hygiene. Children should be encouraged to remain at home”
“The closure is not intended to create panic but to arrest the spread of the disease, which has become a global threat,” Mr Omotosho added.
The Federal Government has ordered the NNPC to adjust the price of fuel to reflect global market realities.
This was disclosed at a briefing from the Federal Executive Council (FEC), which placed the new pump price of petrol now at 125 naira.
The President ordered that the adjustment take effect immediately.
Giving the directive on behalf of the president, Mr Timipre Sylva told newsmen that compliance by petroleum marketers is to be enforced by the NNPC and the PPPRA
Mr Sylva, the minister of state for petroleum resources noted that the price slash will affect all products, adding that their prices are also to be set by the PPPRA and the NNPC
He further revealed that the ministry is also adopting a price modulation mechanism so the price of petroleum products can be regulated as the market dictates.
Following the outbreak of the coronavirus, the prices of crude oil globally have witnessed sharp deeps.
Brent crude oil has been sold for $35.44 per barrel while bonny light has been sold at $33.63 per barrel.
The Lagos state government, in agreement with religious leaders, have suspended religious gathering with more than 50 worshipers.
This was part of the communique read by the commissioner for Home Affairs, Prince Anofiu Elegushi, after a meeting with religious leaders in the state.
The Christian Association of Nigeria also directed all churches in Lagos as a matter of urgency to put up precautionary measures in ensuring they guard against the Coronavirus.
The Association says these are perilous times that call for urgent measures for their over ten million faithful.
The chairman said faith is good, Christians could do much more as the country battles to contain the Coronavirus
Union of European Football Associations, UEFA has postponed Euro 2020 until next summer, the Norwegian FA claim.
Euro 2020 was due to begin on June 12 for one month, but the decision has been made to postpone the finals due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has wreaked havoc on the sporting calendar.
The tournament, which involves 24 nations and takes place across 12 host cities, will instead be played in the summer of 2021, starting on June 11 and ending on July 11.
The Lagos State Ministry of Health has confirmed a third case of coronavirus in Nigeria.
Akin Abayomi, the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, broke the news to journalists at the government secretariat Tuesday morning.
“This is a new case independent of the index case of a 30 year-old Nigerian, female, who returned from the UK on 13th March on a British Airways flight,” the commissioner revealed.
Mr Abayomi said the patient, who initially showed symptoms of the infection, observed self-Isolation, and thereafter tested positive.
Although Nigeria has so far recorded three cases of the virus, only two are active. The second case, linked to the index case, later tested negative.
The first case was that of an Italian who arrived the country on a business trip.
