Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State on Friday said there was no record of Indian COVID-19 variant in the state, as was speculated on social media. The governor stated this in Benin at a news conference to provide an update on COVID-19 response in the state. Mr Obaseki was represented by the Permanent Secretary from the state Ministry of Health, Osamwonyi Irowa. He said the federal government had on April 26, taken precautionary steps by restricting international travel from India, Brazil and Turkey to curtail COVID-19. “We as government have reached out to the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) with regards to any Indian variant in Edo and the verified information reveals that the said sample was collected in January. “There is currently no update or report suggestive of any such o...
A new strain of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that grounded the global economy for all of 2020, has been identified in Nigeria. The mutant variant was first identified in the United Kingdom (UK) and has caused several countries to ban flights from the UK. It has also led the UK government to announce a slew of fresh restrictions and lockdowns. Newsmen report that this new strain has been identified in Nigeria by scientists at the Africa Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID), at the Redeemers University in Ede, Osun State. In a publication in Virological, a website for the global Genomics community, the scientists say they found the same variant “lineage B.1.1.7” in Osun State, Southwest Nigeria since August 3, 2020, when the first sample was collected...
Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) says it has deployed no fewer than 13,3111 personnel alongside 60 sniffer dogs to ensure security during the Sept. 19 Edo governorship election. Mr Abdullahi Gana, Commandant General NSCDC, disclosed this in a statement made available to newsmen by the Corps Public Relations Officer (PRO) Mr Emmanuel Okeh on Wednesday in Abuja. Gana revealed that the deployed personnel were drawn from the Corps Headquarters and its commands in Kogi, Anambra, Bayelsa, Delta and Ondo state. He said that the deployed staff would complement personnel of its command in Edo and the zonal command in Benin. He said that the deployment was to ensure that every act of electoral malpractice, violence and other social vices that could affect the smooth conduct of the el...
The Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC), has confirmed 476 new cases of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in the country. The NCDC confirmed this through its official Twitter handle on Thursday. The agency said that seven deaths were recorded in the country. NCDC said that till date, 50,964 cases have been confirmed, 37,569, discharged and 992 deaths recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. According to it, the 476 new cases are reported from 18 states. It said that Lagos has the highest figures of 235 cases, followed by FCT with 44 cases. Others were Kaduna (41), Borno (33), Plateau (28), Abia (13), Edo (13), Rivers (12), Imo (11), Oyo (10), Kano (9), Kwara (7), Enugu (5), Katsina (5), Gombe (4), Ogun (4), Nasarawa (1), and Zamfara (1). The NCDC stated that...
The Federal Capital Territory has confirmed that 14 new cases of coronavirus disease have been recorded in Abuja. The FCTA made the confirmation in a tweet via its Twitter account on Tuesday. According to the Administration, one new coronavirus death was also recorded in the territory, with 18 patients discharged after showing full recovery from the viral infection. The tweet reads “14 NEW CASES, 18 DISCHARGED, 1 DEATH IN THE FCT. “Summary of COVID19 in the FCT as of June 1, 2020. “Total number of confirmed cases: 674. “Total number of active cases: 454. “A total number of 200 patients have been discharged with 20 deaths recorded. “Residents are urged to take preventive measures seriously and stay safe.” Meanwhile, the Nigeria Center for Disease Control on Monday announced 416 new cases of...
Zamfara Government on Tuesday said the figure of 10 new COVID-19 cases in the state announced on Monday by the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) was wrong, as the state had only recorded two new cases. Alhaji Yahaya Kanoma, the state Commissioner of Health told newsmen in Gusau that the state government had alerted the NCDC of the error and demanded that it be rectified. “We were shocked and bewildered by this latest figure from the NCDC which said 10 new cases were confirmed when we know it was only two. “Our records have shown that when results from the center returned, we had a total of 76 cases made up of 45 discharged persons, 26 in isolation and five dead, so we didn’t know where NCDC got the additional eight. “We approached the center which could not give a convincing explan...
The combined team of Abia State Government COVID-19 Joint Task Force manning the border between Abia and Imo States (Onuimo), have arrested two suspects extorting money from motorists entering Abia State with food items. The two suspects, Nwabueze Ibebuike and Ikechukwu Ekeke both hailed from Ekenaobizi in Umuahia South LGA. Before their arrest, the suspects in company of two others still at large mounted illegal checkpoint at Ekenaobizi extorting money from motorists leaving Abia State and assuring them that the Task Force will grant them exit from the state while those entering the state who were cleared by the taskforce team were not spared by the suspects thus creating the impression that there are working for the COVID-19 task force. Both suspects are currently at the Umuahia Central ...
Plateau State government has refuted a claim by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, that the State has five additional cases of COVID-19 disease as at Friday, the 15th saying it was only new case that was recorded as the remaining four were repeated cases which were mistaken for fresh ones. The State Commissioner for Health, Dr Nimkong Lar who briefed journalists alongside the Secretary to the Government of the State, Professor Danladi Atu, and State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Dan Manjang said so far Plateau has only 11 active cases of the disease and all patients are responding to treatment. He noted that the attention of the NCDC has been drawn to the error with the belief that the needed correction would be effected. He urged citizens to continue to obey s...