Japan will halt all new non-resident foreign arrivals coming from overseas from Monday until late January, Tokyo said Saturday, as the country reported its first cases of a new strain of the coronavirus. Japan currently restricts entry for foreigners from most countries over fears of the virus, requiring all visitors to undergo mandatory quarantine upon arrival. Tokyo now plans to strengthen those requirements: Japanese travellers and foreign residents from countries where the new coronavirus strain has been reported must take tests within 72 hours ahead of their departure for the country and again upon arrival at Japanese airports. It will also strengthen quarantine requirements on all travellers returning to Japan. Citing the Japanese government, the Jiji Press and Kyodo agencies said th...
The FCT Ministerial Task Team on Enforcement of COVID-19 Protocols, on Friday, cleared some recreational parks of fun seekers who trooped there to celebrate Christmas. Newsmen report that some of the parks where fun-seekers were sent out by taskforce included the famous Millennium Park, Jabi Lake, Unity Fountain and Magic Land. Although the gates at the Jabi Lake were closed, some anxious fun-seekers made their way into the park through porous entry points. Upon arrival at the Lake, many of the violators took to their heels for fear of being arrested but the task force had to call them to sensitise them on the need to adhere to safety regulations. Head, Media and Enlightenment of the task force, Mr Ikharo Attah, who addressed the fun seekers, said that the second wave of the COVID-19 pande...
More than a million people have received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine in the United States, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Robert Redfield said Wednesday. “The United States achieved an early but important milestone today — jurisdictions have now reported that more than one million people have received their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine since administration began 10 days ago,” said Redfield. In a call with reporters, Moncef Slaoui, chief advisor of the government’s Operation Warp Speed, said that the objective of immunizing 20 million people this month was “unlikely to be met.” But he said the US was still aiming for 100 million people immunized by the end of the first quarter of 2021, and another 100 million by the second quarter. Three million doses...
The Kaduna state Government has directed civil servants below grade level 14 to work from home starting from Monday 21st December 2020 following increased infection rates of COVID-19 in the state. The state Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai tweeted on Sunday that the measure was part of the Covid-19 containment strategy announced last week by his administration. He appealed to all residents to see COVID-19 prevention as a personal responsibility. “It is mandatory to wear facemask outside the house, organizations and individuals that allow people into their premises have the responsibility to enforce the no mask, no entry mandate, facemask should be worn to cover the nose and mouth,” he said. Daily Trust reports that the state recorded 179 positive cases as at Saturday, from 639 samples tested...
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu says the state cannot afford another total lockdown amid the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The presidential task force (PTF) on COVID-19 on Friday said there were indications that the country had entered a second wave of the pandemic. “In Nigeria, the indication is that we have entered a second wave of infections, and we stand the risk of not just losing the gains from the hard work of the last nine months, but also losing the precious lives of our citizens”, Hadi Sirika, minister of aviation, who represented Boss Mustapha, chairman of the PTF, said. Sanwo-Olu, who went into isolation last Saturday after testing positive for COVID-19, advised residents to adhere to health protocol and non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to help limit the ...