Thursday, December 19

Covid-19

Enugu Approves January 18 for School Resumption
5Jan By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments
Covid-19, Education, News, Nigeria

Enugu Approves January 18 for School Resumption

Following a meeting of stakeholders in the education sector on Monday, the Enugu State Ministry of Education has announced January 18, 2021, as resumption date for all schools in the state. This was contained in a statement by the State Commissioner for Education, Prof. Uche Eze. He said the decision was reached at a meeting between the Ministry and major stakeholders in the sector, on Monday. Prof. Eze said that all schools in the state were advised to ensure full compliance with the NCDC guidelines for the containment of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), stressing that “the Ministry of Education will engage in constant monitoring of compliance when schools resume”. The Education Commissioner added that “it was also decided that to help engage the students/pupils, all tertiary i...
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COVID-19 Vaccine: Why Nigeria Won’t Conduct Clinical Trial – NAFDAC
3Jan By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments
Covid-19, News, Nigeria

COVID-19 Vaccine: Why Nigeria Won’t Conduct Clinical Trial – NAFDAC

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has said the agency will not conduct a local clinical trial on the proposed vaccines before administering them on Nigerians. According to the agency, there might not be need to conduct extensive clinical trial on the vaccines since the World Health Organisation, WHO, had ratified the vaccines. The agency, however, noted that the vaccines would be subjected to safety and efficacy test before administering them on Nigerians. NAFDAC’s Media Consultant, Sayo Akintola in an interview with Punch said due to the urgency of COVID-19, there may be no reason to conduct a trial before thru could be administered. He said, “Once the vaccine arrives, a sample will be taken to the lab for a test. Once its safety and eff...
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Osimhen Fined By Napoli For Breaching COVID-19 Rules
2Jan By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments
Covid-19, Nigeria, Sports, Youths

Osimhen Fined By Napoli For Breaching COVID-19 Rules

Super Eagles and Napoli forward Victor Osimhen has been fined two weeks’ wages by Napoli for flouting the club’s COVID-19 regulations. Napoli announced on Friday that Osimhen had contracted coronavirus. A video of the Nigerian posted on Instagram by @equipoarrow where he was seen partying without a face mask and not observing social distancing has reportedly angered his club coach, Gennaro Gattuso. In the video, Osimhen was also seen spraying the musician N500 notes. “Victor Osimhen will be fined for not respecting the club’s regulations,” a tweet from SCC Napoli reads. “The birthday videos showing people without face masks and not social distancing has angered the club and Gattuso.” Osimhen, who joined Napoli in the summer for a record fee from Lille, has scored twice in...
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Bayelsa Govt. Says Schools To Resume Jan 11
2Jan By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments
Covid-19, News, Nigeria, Press Statement

Bayelsa Govt. Says Schools To Resume Jan 11

Bayelsa State Government has directed all primary and secondary schools in the state to resume for the 2020/2021 academic session on Monday, January 11. This was announced in a statement by the Commissioner for Education, Gentle Emelah. He said that all boarding students were expected to arrive in their schools on Sunday, January 10. Emelah equally directed the management of schools to ensure total adherence to the COVID-19 safety guidelines. According to him, the state government was concerned about the life of every pupil and would not condone flouting of the COVID-19 protocols.
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Nigeria Suffered From Lazy Leadership in 2020 – Atiku
1Jan By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments
Covid-19, News, Nigeria, Security

Nigeria Suffered From Lazy Leadership in 2020 – Atiku

Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President of Nigeria has said that aside from the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Nigeria suffered lazy and inspiring leadership, especially from the Federal Government. The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, said this in his New Year message to Nigerians. Atiku advocated for the same kind of cooperation displayed by Nigerians in the fight against the virus to find solutions to the other problems the country is facing. He listed the other problems, saying “we are exposed to a common threat of terrorism, kidnapping and sundry criminalities; the threat of economic meltdown, unemployment and poverty.” He said, “It is with a glad heart that I welcome everyone to the New Year, 2021. “The out-gone year was quite ...
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January will Be Tough, NCDC Warns Nigerians
29Dec By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments
Covid-19, News, Nigeria, Safety

January will Be Tough, NCDC Warns Nigerians

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has warned that January 2021 will be tough with an increase in new cases of covid-19. The warning is coming on the heels of the non adherence to social distancing protocol by people during the yuletide and holiday period. The centre further stated that last week was the worst week ever since the beginning of the response to the pandemic because the country recorded more cases. The Director-General of the NCDC, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, disclosed this during the Presidential Task Force on covid-19 briefing on Tuesday in Abuja. He said, “We have just faced the worst week since we started responding to this outbreak. We had more cases in Nigeria last week than in any other previous week since the beginning of the outbreak. “Just looking at...
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South Africa Enforces Level 3 COVID-19 Lockdown as Virus Load Hikes
29Dec By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments
Covid-19, News, South Africa

South Africa Enforces Level 3 COVID-19 Lockdown as Virus Load Hikes

President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa has announced that the was amending its COVID-19 restrictions from Level 1 to Level 3 with immediate effect following a spike in new infections. Ramaphosa disclosed that the country had banned sales of alcohol and made use of face masks compulsory in public from Tuesday after the country became the first in Africa to record one million cases of the virus. This follows the warning by the World Health Organisation (WHO) that a pandemics worse that COVID-19 may lie ahead. The president made the announcement during a national address on Monday. He said, “We have let down our guard, and unfortunately we are now paying the price.” Ramaphosa said data showed “excessive alcohol consumption” leads to an increase in trauma cases reported at ho...
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COVID-19: NFF Mandates NPFL clubs to Test Players Before Matches
29Dec By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments
Covid-19, News, Nigeria, Safety, Sports

COVID-19: NFF Mandates NPFL clubs to Test Players Before Matches

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has directed the Nigeria Professional Football clubs to carry out COVID-19 tests on all their players ad backroom staff before every match. This was disclosed in a letter dated December 26, 2020, sent to the chairmen of the League Management Company, Nigeria National League, Nationwide League One and Nigeria Women’s Football League. The directive also involved clubs in the NNL, NLO and NWFL. The NFF also directed league bodies to conduct the tests on match officials before matches to ensure matches are played under a safe environment as the country battles the second phase of the virus. The letter read, “Sequel to the decision of the various Leagues to start the season (NWFL already on), this is to remind you of the need to ensure that play...
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We’ll Clampdown on People With Fake COVID-19 Certificates – Lagos Health Commissioner
28Dec By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments
Corruption, Covid-19, Lagos News, News, Nigeria, Safety

We’ll Clampdown on People With Fake COVID-19 Certificates – Lagos Health Commissioner

Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi has stated that the Ministry has observed that people have begun to have access to fake Covid-19 certificates, promising to clampdown on such people. He gave this warning at an ongoing press briefing at the Ministry of Health in Lagos on Monday. “We suspect people are gaining access to fake certificates and we will clampdown on them as this is a very dangerous trend.” Abayomi also added that Lagos residents who have tested positive have been observed to give fake contacts and phone numbers at the isolation facilities, making contact tracing difficult.  
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Applying Social Distancing to Curb COVID-19 has Failed in Nigeria, Another Strategy Needed – NMA President
28Dec By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments
Covid-19, News, Nigeria

Applying Social Distancing to Curb COVID-19 has Failed in Nigeria, Another Strategy Needed – NMA President

The President of the Nigerian Medical Association, Professor Innocent Ujah, has bemoaned the ineffectiveness of social distancing at combating the spread of COVID-19 in the country, noting that it has failed and new strategies need to be developed. Ujah disclosed this on Monday when he appeared on a television programme in Abuja. The NMA President said there was an urgent need for the PTF, whose mandate to coordinate the country’s response to the pandemic was recently extended by President Muhammadu Buhari to scale up its research to enable it to understand why citizens are not complying with some of its protocols. He said, “The issue of compliance with the NCDC (Nigeria Centre for Disease Control) protocols – the use of face masks, hand sanitisers, and social distancing – is a ve...
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