Kano State Commissioner for Health , Dr Aminu Tsanyawa, has confirmed that three members of the state Taskforce on COVID- 19 have been infected with the coronavirus disease .
This was contained in a statement issued by the Public Relations Officer of the ministry, Hajiya Hadiza Namadi .
“ With deep sense of sadness and on behalf of the state government , the Commissioner of Health , Dr Aminu Ibrahim Tsanyawa hereby announces that the co – chairman and some members of Kano State Taskforce on COVID- 19 were tested and three of the results came out positive for the coronavirus disease , ” the statement said .
The statement maintained that the number of confirmed COVID- 19 cases in the state as of 11 :15 am on Friday is 21 with one death.
“ The government , therefore , advises the general public to keep social distancing , avoid overcrowding and stay at home to keep safe as it continues to take measures to contain the spread of the disease in the state , ” it added .
Voters in Mali will be called out on Sunday to complete long- delayed legislative elections , defying a jihadist insurgency and the lengthening shadow of coronavirus.
The elections aim at reviving faith in political institutions at one of the darkest times since Mali gained independence from France nearly half a century ago .
One of the poorest nations in the world is battling jihadists who have claimed thousands of lives and driven hundreds of thousands from their homes .
“ In a democracy , nothing is as important as full constitutional legality and the normal array of institutions, ” President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita said this week ahead of the vote .
Reflecting the double peril which confronts the Sahel state , the president wore an anti – coronavirus facemask .
The virus has so far claimed 13 lives out of 171 cases — a toll that , for now , is low compared with other countries .
Sunday ’ s runoff vote will complete the renewal of the 147 – seat National Assembly .
It is the country ’ s first parliamentary poll since 2013 when Keita ’ s Rally for Mali party won a substantial majority .
The elections were meant to take place again in late 2018 after Keita was returned to office but the poll was postponed several times , mainly because of security concerns.
The African Union Economic , Social and Cultural Council , Nigeria office , has urged China , France , Japan and India to write off Nigeria ’ s debt or allow a two – year moratorium on repayments .
It commended the International Monetary Fund for granting relief to 25 nations under its Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust to tackle the novel coronavirus .
The AU agency ’ s Nigeria Representative , Oba Olasunkanmi , in a statement in Abuja , explained that as major lenders , they should also grant a reprieve to the Federal Government to contain the COVID- 19 pandemic .
It said , “ Certainly, this will further assist the benefiting countries to significantly cushion the impact of the dreaded disease on their economies . Nigeria , at this time , needs support to enable it recover from the financial impact . ”
The AU further noted that it would be difficult for the nation to service the debts in the face of the economic realities imposed by COVID- 19 “as the United Nations had projected that the world would need $ 1 trillion for continual existence . ”
It noted , “ Nigeria needs China ’ s support at this trying time , with the long and fruitful bilateral relationship between both countries which has led to Nigerian government owing China the debt of about $ 3 . 2 billion .
“ We are being faithful in payment of service charges . In 2019 , Nigeria paid $ 138 . 8 million (N 53 . 7 billion ) to EXIM Bank of China in settlement , the highest amount paid to any bilateral institution for the year. ”
The Independent National Electoral Commission has doused apprehension over the fire incident which gutted its offices in Abuja with an assurance that reports of party primaries and conventions remained intact .
The commission said that apart from some office furniture and equipment , nothing sensitive was destroyed .
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee , Festus Okoye, gave the assurances in a statement .
According to him , the campaign finance database was also not affected, adding that the incident will therefore not affect the administrative or technical operations of the commission in any way .
The statement entitled: “ Fire incident at INEC Headquarters ”, reads : “ At 11 . 30 am today April 17 2020 , a fire outbreak occurred at a section of the building housing the Election and Party Monitoring Department and the Media Centre . The building is an annexe , detached from the main building of the INEC Headquarters .
“ Fire fighters attached to the commission swiftly responded to contain the inferno and they were later joined by their colleagues from the Federal Fire Service Headquarters in the Federal Capital Territory. The fire was extinguished within a short period of time and did not cause any substantial damage to the building .
“ Apart from some office furniture and equipment , nothing sensitive was destroyed . Reports of party primaries and conventions are intact . The campaign finance database is also not affected. The incident will therefore not affect the administrative or technical operations of the commission in any way . Meanwhile , investigation into the cause( s ) of the fire incident has commenced . ”
The West African Examination Council has warned that its timetable for the 2020 West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination that will be released after the coronavirus pandemic break may not leave room for long preparations for candidates.
The council said it had therefore made available several online resources for candidates and pupils sitting for its terminal examination, adding that it was working on making online tutorials available for them.
The Head, WAEC Public Affairs , Mr Damian Ojijeogu , in an interview with news correspondent, said there might not be time for candidates to begin preparations when the council brings out its new timetable after the pandemic .
He said , “ The turn- out of the use of our online resources by candidates has been encouraging . We have been getting great feedback . Even those who could not log in initially have been assisted to do so . All the subjects are covered .
“ When the lockdown period is over , we will release the new timetable . It is not good that the candidates are idle at home. So , the online resources will help them to revise and it will assist them to avoid the mistakes of those who have written our examination in the past.
“ There may not be enough for candidates to prepare for the examination after the pandemic . Those who need online tutors are being provided with such . We hope the pandemic will end and life will return to normal . ”
Recall that WAEC, on March 20 , announced the postponement of its school certificate examination until further notice due to the COVID- 19 pandemic .
The council had noted that the new dates for the examination, which was earlier scheduled for April 6 , would be communicated to schools and other education stakeholders in due course .
“ 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 .
“ The earlier released timetable for the conduct of the examination is hereby suspended until further notice . We wish to assure all candidates, schools presenting candidates for the examination, all stakeholders and indeed , the general public that this decision will be reviewed once the health situation improves , ” the council said .
The recent announcement of plan to give Nigerians two months of free electricity as part of palliatives for COVID- 19 is nothing more than propaganda that cannot work, the Transmission Company of Nigeria has said .
The TCN faulted the announcement by power distribution companies that the Federal Government and the National Assembly would pay for the proposed two – month free electricity for customers .
Discos made the announcement through their umbrella body , the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors .
Reacting to the development in Abuja , the Managing Director of the TCN, Usman Mohammed, said , “ There is this information that went round that power is going to be free.
“ I don ’ t know where that information came from .
“ But I can tell you that there is nothing like power is going to be free because the Federal Government cannot make power free. The Federal Government does not own the power . ”
Mohammed explained that the Federal Government only owns the TCN while the generation and distribution companies were largely owned by private investors.
He said , “ In the electricity industry , apart from transmission , which is just the transporter, all the other chains do not belong to the Federal Government. So I cannot understand how somebody will concoct that information . ”
Mohammed argued that those peddling the information were merely sharing propaganda that would not work.
He said , “ But these are some of the people involved in propaganda who brand information that is very unnecessary , to be honest .
“ I think at this stage what we need to do is to sustainably supply electricity and that is what we are doing. ”
The TCN boss further stated that in the last two weeks that most parts of Nigeria had been on lockdown , operators in the power sector had worked and performed well .
However , the House of Representatives and electricity distribution companies raised a joint committee on the proposed two -month free power supply .
Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila , who presided over a meeting in Abuja with the companies and other officials , said the joint panel would work out modalities for the proposed two – month bill waiver for the most vulnerable people in the country.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation says northern Nigeria remains a high – risk region for the spread of COVID- 19 due to its weak primary healthcare system .
Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation, Mark Suzman, said this during a conference call with select African journalists .
Responding to a question on how the pandemic could affect northern Nigeria , Suzman said northern Nigeria remains a high – risk region just like any other part of the world with weak healthcare systems.
He said , “ We have worked extensively in the North because it is the poorest part of Nigeria . It does have sort of the weakest overall health infrastructure and facilities and that is also why the region has the highest child and maternal mortality rate.
“ Those characteristics are shared by several African countries including in the region that is comparable to the challenges in the other parts of the Sahel and other parts of the continent .
“ I don ’ t think there is anything sort of specific you call out other than the risks are obviously greater when you do have a very weak , underlying primary healthcare structure and system in place . ”
Meanwhile , the foundation has increased its funding to Africa by $ 150 m .
“ The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today announced an expansion of its funding for the global response to COVID- 19 . The increase includes an additional $ 150 m of grant funding plus a commitment to leverage the resources of the foundation ’ s Strategic Investment Fund , which could be deployed to catalyse the rapid procurement of essential medical supplies and help life sciences companies secure financing to produce COVID- 19 products .
“ In announcing the funding, the foundation called on world leaders to unite in a global response to COVID- 19 to ensure equitable access to diagnostics , treatments , and vaccines , ” it said in a statement .
The United Nations on Thursday delivered a fresh batch of medical equipment and other vital supplies to Nigerian government to further aid its fight against the Coronavirus pandemic .
In a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday , UN ’ s Resident Coordinator in Nigeria , Edward Kallon , said that the supplies were funded by APM terminals .
According to him , the supply is made up of 10 , 000 test kits , 15 oxygen concentrators, various personal protective equipment ( PPE ) , vaccines , IEHK/ PEP kits and other vital health supplies .
“ For the UN , the supplies will support the Nigerian Government’ s COVID- 19 Response Plan and UNICEF ’ s work with children and families in Nigeria .
“ The supplies will also support the Government of Nigeria , through the National Center for Disease Control , to prevent and respond to the COVID- 19 pandemic in affected states across the country.
“ The supplies are co- financed by the European Union (EU ) and IHS Nigeria , the Nigerian subsidiary of IHS Towers , ” it said .
The UN hinted that additional COVID- 19 response supplies were expected in a UN joint flight to be delivered to Nigeria in the coming days .
It noted that the Personal Protection Equipment would protect medical personnel and ancillary staff who were the first responders in the frontline , providing care and treatment to people affected by the virus .
“ We know that to limit the spread of the virus , it is important to test as many people as possible , especially those with recent travel history and those who came into contact with travelers.
“ These test kits will support Nigeria ’ s drive to control the transmission of COVID- 19 infections and support the government ’ s ongoing strong efforts to protect the country from an escalating pandemic, ” Kallon said .
He recalled that since the outbreak of coronavirus in Nigeria in late February, the UN has been supporting Nigeria to respond to the pandemic through risk communications and community engagement , infection prevention and control , epidemiology /surveillance and management of coronavirus cases.
He added that the UN was also working with government and other partners to develop and disseminate messages , infographics and audio -visual material informing the public about the risks of COVID- 19 across the country, and how to protect one .
“ Working closely together with government and other partners , including the private sector, is the surest way of preventing and containing the COVID- 19 pandemic.
“ We are grateful for the support of the EU and IHS in getting these vital supplies to strengthen the UN’ s efforts in helping the Government of Nigeria to address the COVID – 19 challenge , ” Kallon said .
Countries that want to lift coronavirus restrictions must meet a row of conditions to prevent another surge of infections , Director – General of the World Health Organisation , Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus , said on Thursday .
In his weekly address to Geneva-based diplomats , Tedros said that easing social and economic curbs “ must be done extremely carefully. ”
“ If done too quickly , we risk a resurgence that could be even worse than our present situation, ” he warned .
First , governments must ensure that the spread of the novel coronavirus is under control .
According to new WHO guidelines, this means that health authorities must know the origin of every single case and cluster of infections .
Also , National health systems (like the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control ) must be able to find , test , isolate and treat every new case , and all recent social contacts of every infected person must be tracked down.
In addition , Tedros stressed that countries that want to ease their curbs must minimise infection risks in hot spot settings such as hospitals and nursing homes .
As a fourth condition , Tedros said that preventive measures must be in place in workplaces , schools and other essential locations .
This includes physical distancing , hygiene etiquette and , possibly , temperature measurements , according to the new WHO guidelines.
Another condition is that countries must also manage the risk of importing new cases from abroad , by detecting infected travellers , and by quarantining those who arrive from hot spot countries .
Lastly , Tedros said it is important that “ communities are fully educated, engaged and empowered to adjust to the ‘ new norm’” of behaving in ways that prevent new infections .
The President of Nigeria , Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd . ) , had on Monday extended the lockdown in the Federal Capital Territory, Lagos and Ogun states by an additional 14 days to contain the spread of coronavirus in the country .
Buhari had, on March 29 , ordered the lockdown for an initial period of 14 days , while several states had also introduced similar restrictions.
The President , who made the announcement in a televised speech on Monday evening , maintained that the Federal Government had a two -step approach to tackling the virus .
According to him , the approach is, first , to protect the lives of Nigerians and residents living in the country and , second , to preserve the livelihoods of workers and business owners .
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