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NASC: Farmers to access 81,000MT seeds during lockdown
The Director-General of National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC), Dr Philip Ojo has said that Nigeria has about 81,000 metric tons of seeds during this COVID-19 lockdown period. Dr Ojo who said this during a Webinar press conference with journalists noted that the seeds would ensure that agricultural activities were not disrupted as a result of the lockdown imposed across the country as a result of the outbreak of COVID-19. He said efforts were being made by the Council and relevant agencies to ensure that seeds reach the farmers in the grassroots amid the COVID-19 lockdown. “The National Agricultural Seeds Council is doing all within reach to ensure that seed sector-related activities are sustained and promoted even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic for Nigeria to be able to have a c...
Lesotho records first coronavirus case
Lesotho recorded its first case of COVID-19 on Wednesday, the health ministry said, becoming the last country in southern and East Africa to be afflicted by the virus. The ministry said it had conducted 81 tests for COVID-19 from travellers from South Africa and Saudi Arabia, of which one was positive. The remote, high-altitude kingdom, nestled in a South African mountain range, had previously been spared the coronavirus, although its bigger, more industrialised neighbour has recorded more than 10,000 cases. The disease has struck at a time of political uncertainty in Lesotho, with embattled Prime Minister Thomas Thabane due to step down by the end of next week after his coalition collapsed in parliament. His exit would clear the way for a solution to a political crisis that erupted late l...
Plateau promises to commence palliative measures soon
The Plateau State Government has appealed to its citizens to be patient as it is doing more to commence palliative measures in earnest to alleviate their suffering, adding that it is aware of the people’s anxiety over lack of palliatives to them. The state Deputy Governor and Chairman, State Palliative committee on COVID-19, Prof. Sonni Tyoden, disclosed this Wednesday when it received some palliative items donated to the state by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Idris Maje. Tyoden said: “We are aware of your anxiety over lack of palliatives. In a few days, the exercise will begin in earnest. “Government is aware that you have been on lockdown for over three weeks. We thank you for your compliance. No government is happy to see its citizens suffer, but the times have...
Eventbrite Posts Big Losses in First COVID-Impacted Earnings Report, Reveals Three-Tiered Refund Plan
Eventbrite is carrying about $293 million in exposure from advance payouts to the creators on the system, official with the San Francisco-based ticketing company disclosed Monday (May 11) in its Q1 earnings report, sharing new details on plans to refund ticket holders and detailing the impact of the live music shut down on their bottom line. The top line numbers for the quarter were brutal as nearly every public event on its system had to be postponed or canceled, leading to a $146.5 million net loss for the quarter, down 489.66% from the previous quarter, equaling a $1.71 per share loss. The losses included $113.7 million of chargebacks and reserve increases and a $76.5 million increase in reserves “in anticipation of potential future chargebacks and refunds,” according to the compan...
SiriusXM CFO Says Satellite Radio Faces Uncertain Coronavirus Impact
Even if people aren’t commuting in their cars as much while they shelter in their homes during the coronavirus pandemic, satellite radio powerhouse and Pandora owner SiriusXM has yet to take a big hit to its bottom line judging by its recently released first-quarter earnings. But while listening of Pandora and SiriusXM offerings is up for stay-at-home consumers, David Frear, senior executive vp and CFO of SiriusXM, warned Tuesday that his industry faces an uncertain future. “I haven’t talked to anybody who has a good picture of what the recovery will look like,” he told the J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media and Communications Conference during a session that was webcast. Frear said the COVID-19 crisis has driven new- and used-car sales down sharply, relative to y...
Songwriter Diane Warren Signs With BMG Ahead of ‘Historic’ New Album
BMG has signed Diane Warren. The music company will represent Warren for publishing and recording, and will release a collection of the legendary songwriter’s new works, performed and recorded by a starry lineup of guests, Billboard can confirm. Under the new arrangements, announced this morning, BMG will administer Warren’s entire songwriting publishing catalog (excluding the U.S. and Canada) under her Realsongs umbrella and release the album of new material, at a date yet to be announced. Several other projects are in the planning phase, a rep tells Billboard. “I’m thrilled with my new deal at BMG. I love the BMG team. They have hit the ground running,” Warren says in a statement. “There is so much already happening that I know this year is going to be ...
Taraba discharge six coronavirus patients
The six are among the 17 COVID-19 cases so far recorded in the state. The state commissioner for Information and member of the state’s technical Committee on COVID-19, Danjuma Adamu, disclosed this at a briefing in Jalingo, the state capital. He explained that the six patients who recovered from the CoronaVirus were discharged Tuesday to reunite with their family. He further explained that those still in isolation are receiving the appropriate care needed. He further urged members of the public to observe all precautionary measures as the government is doing all it takes to contain the spread of the virus. Newsmen reports that Taraba still has 11 active COVID-19 cases. Get more stories like this on Twitter
NAFDAC explains position on claims for coronavirus remedies
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has said that the rush to mitigate the mortality and morbidly resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in acceleration of product development, repurposing of formulations, off label use of therapeutics and the search for a vaccine to prevent COVID-19. The agency however noted that it has only received application from one company for a product the company is presenting (for approval) to the Agency for the treatment of the symptoms of Covid-19, and not for the cure of Covid-19 as a disease. In a statement yesterday in Abuja, Director General of NAFDAC, Prof Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye stated that in a bid to discover a cure for Covid-19 disease, the public has witnessed quite a number of claims from differen...
Official: Why 471 persons died in Yobe in three weeks
Dr. Mohammed Lawan, Yobe Commissioner for Health, on Tuesday gave reasons for the 471 deaths recorded across different communities in the State in the past three weeks amidst fears that the deadly COVID-19 virus may has been claiming lives in the State without notice. Lawan, who is the Vice Chairman of the state’s COVID-19 Committee, however, said the deaths which occurred between the last days of April till date was not due to the global pandemic, according to preliminary report of the investigative response team constituted by the government. According to him, 90 per cent of the deaths had no multiple case definition symptoms of Coronavirus disease, while further noting that most of those that died were elderly people. According to him, “57 per cent of the total deaths had an underlying ...
Godwin Emefiele: Central bank ready to support home grown vaccine
Bloomberg Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN,), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has announced that the apex bank is ready to support researchers, science-based institutions and biotechnology firms with N100 billion grant in the quest for a homegrown vaccine to fight COVID-19 in Nigeria. Emefiele, who spoke at the commissioning of ThisDay Dome Testing, Treating, Tracing and Isolation Centre in Abuja, said the pandemic has had an unprecedented effect on the global economy, impacting all nations big and small. According to him, so far, the Coalition Against COVID-19, (CACOVID) has raised over N27billion to fund this initiative. He said the donation received so far are being used to build well-equipped isolation centres across the 36 states of the federation. ”’The ThisDay Dome Testing, Treating, Tra...
Trump vs. the skeptics: Reopening fight highlights polar opposite outcomes
A muddled, middle-ground scenario is also possible — one in which red states open faster and many blue states go slowly, a phenomena that is already showing up to some extent and giving the entire process a distinctly partisan overlay. Americans will need to wait weeks after the first state reopenings, throughout the incubation period for Covid-19, to gauge which approach is more likely to play out and determine the economic and political future of the nation for months and perhaps years to come. “There is a path here where the market just keeps going up and whatever second wave exists is within the capacity of the health care system to handle and the supply curve of available pharmaceutical treatments bends upward and we get closer to a vaccine,” said Michael Cembalest, chairman of market...
House of Reps order release of Benue coronavirus index case
The House of Representatives has resolved to come to the rescue of Benue State’s coronavirus index case, Susan Idoko, who has accused the government of refusing to release her from isolation despite “not” being infected with the disease. The action of the House followed the unanimous adoption of a motion moved by a member, Blessing Onuh, at plenary on Tuesday. It was entitled, ‘Urgent Need to Look into the Release of Mrs Susan Idoko Okpe, Nee Lawani, Who was Quarantined by the Government Following Misinformation and Diagnosis.’ Adopting the motion, the House resolved to “mandate the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, through the Federal Ministry of Health, to critically evaluate her as a matter of urgency and if proved otherwise, should be allowed to go home.” The parliament also tasked t...
