WHO
FIFA, WHO, EU launch campaign to help domestic violence victims amid coronavirus lockdown
FIFA, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Commission have announced the #SafeHome campaign designed to support women and children at risk of domestic violence during the coronavirus pandemic. With many families all over the world quarantined during the pandemic, there have been spikes in recent reports of domestic violence as at-risk women and children are forced into dangerous situations at home. The three organisations have launched a five-part video campaign designed to raise awareness, with several past and present footballing stars taking part. Among the players featured are Alvaro Arbeloa, Rosana Augusto, Vítor Baia, Khalilou Fadiga, Matthias Ginter, David James, Annike Krahn, Marco Materazzi, Milagros Menendez, Noemi Pascotto, Graham Potter, Mikael Silvestre, Kelly ...
US coronavirus death toll hits 100,000, cases now 1.7million
The coronavirus death toll in the United States hit 100,000 on Tuesday. According to renowned data website Worldmeters, the toll hit the mark around 6:00pm Nigerian time. On May 17, the figure reached 90,000; half of the number died in just one month. As at April 19, John Hopkins University and Worldometers, put their individual tallies at 40,000. America is currently the worst-hit country in the world. The U.S. has recorded 1,710,000 cases of coronavirus since the outbreak. Globally, over 5,630,000 cases have been recorded with nearly 350,000 deaths. 2,400,000 patients have recovered. President Donald Trump and his administration’s officials insist that China knows more than it is telling about the virus. The American leader recently suggested that Beijing wanted him lose the presidential...
Hydroxychloroquine Trials for COVID-19 Suspended by WHO
Sourced from Getty Images. The World Health Organization (WHO) announced that it is pausing clinical trials on the use of the controversial malaria drug, hydroxychloroquine, to treat patients with COVID-19. This was one of four experimental treatments being investigated by the organization and has been under intense scrutiny for some time after it was championed by tech mogul Elon Musk and US President Donald Trump. “The executive group has implemented a temporary pause of the hydroxychloroquine arm within the Solidarity trial while the safety data is reviewed by the data safety monitoring board,” says Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, during a press briefing. This “Solidarity trial” is the WHO’s global investigation into experimental treatments for COVID-19 – including hyd...
China reports no new coronavirus cases in 24 hours
China on Saturday reported zero new coronavirus infections for the first time since it started reporting data in January, a day after Communist Party leaders celebrated “major achievements” in the virus fight. The virus first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year, but cases have dwindled dramatically from the peak in mid-February as the country appears to have brought the virus largely under control. The official death toll in the country of 1.4 billion people stands at 4,634, well below the number of fatalities in much smaller countries. However, doubt has been cast on the reliability of China’s numbers and the United States has led the charge in questioning how much information Beijing has shared with the international community. The milestone comes a day after the ...
Lagos conducts 16,000 coronavirus tests
The Lagos State Government says it has conducted about 16, 000 COVID-19 tests at a cost of N40, 000 to N50, 000 per test. Prof. Akin Abayomi, the state Commissioner for Health, made this known at the Lagos COVID-19 update on Thursday. Abayomi said that there were plans to ramp up testing capacity to about one thousand tests on a daily basis. He said that Lagos had conducted the highest number of COVID-19 tests in Nigeria, with four testing laboratories, and planned to increase the testing sites in the coming weeks. According to him, as the state ramps up its testing capacity, there will be need to subside the cost of the test, either through insurance or donor funds. “For now, the Lagos State Government is providing COVID-19 tests free of charge,” he said. The commissioner said that the st...
WHO: Africa’s confirmed coronavirus cases top 95,000
Flickr The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Thursday reported that COVID-19 cases in Africa as at May 21, had risen to over 95, 000. WHO Regional Office for Africa in Brazzaville, Congo, gave the update on its official twitter account @WHOAFRO. “There are over 95,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases on the African continent – with more than 34,000 recoveries and 2,995 deaths,” it said. The figures showed that South Africa, Algeria and Nigeria had the highest reported cases in Africa. According to the report, South Africa had 18,003 cases and 339 deaths followed by Algeria with 7,542 cases and 568 deaths, while Nigeria had 6,677 confirmed cases and 200 deaths. It stated that Ghana had 6,096 reported cases and 31 deaths, while Cameroon recorded 3, 733 confirmed cases and 146 deaths. The report sai...
WHO pledges to use ‘every tool’ to fight coronavirus
The World Health Organisation (WHO) would use every tool at its disposal to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, Tedros Ghebreyesus, the Director-General, has said. Ghebreyesus spoke at the closing of two-day virtual World Health Assembly in Geneva. In his speech posted on WHO website, Ghebreyesus said some of the recommendations from the assembly would be shared and be implemented. “WHO’s focus now is fighting the pandemic with every tool at its disposal. “Our focus is on saving lives. At the end of the day, what matters is life. That should be at the centre of everything we do and everything we say. “I’ve been heartened by the way countries have shared experiences, best practices through our regular Member State briefings and at this Assembly,’’ he said. The director general said the agency woul...
US coronavirus death toll exceeds 90,000 as Donald Trump urges reopening
The coronavirus death toll in the United States surpassed 90,000 on Monday as the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases exceeded 1.5 million across the country, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally. The grim milestones came as President Donald Trump tweeted to “REOPEN OUR COUNTRY!” and the White House attempted to shift blame, including onto its own scientists, for the high number of deaths. On Sunday, members of Trump administration disagreed on whether the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) let the country down with testing efforts. “Early on in this crisis, the CDC, which really had the most trusted brand around the world in this space, really let the country down with the testing,” Peter Navarro, Trump’s trade adviser, told NBC’s Meet the Press programme....
Nigeria overtakes Ghana as confirmed coronavirus cases hit 84,000 in Africa
The World Health Organization, WHO, regional office for Africa in Brazzaville, Congo, says the number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in Africa has risen to over 84,000 in the past 24 hours. The UN health agency gave the update on its official Twitter account on Monday morning. According to the tweet, COVID-19 has killed 2,700 people on the continent, while 32,000 people have recovered from the virus. “Over 84,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases on the African continent – with more than 32,000 recoveries & 2,700 deaths,” it said. Nigeria is now the highest country in West Africa, with 5,959 cases and 182 deaths, followed by Ghana with 5,735 cases and 29 deaths. The Africa CDC COVID-19 dashboard showed that South Africa, Egypt, Algeria, and Morocco have continued to top the list of countries w...
No ‘miracle cure’ for coronavirus until clinical trials prove Madagascar’s herbal medicine
Scientists are putting an herbal remedy from Madagascar, purported to cure COVID-19, to the test. Researchers at Germany’s Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, in Potsdam, are collaborating with a U.S. company, ArtemiLife, to test an extract from the plant Artemisia annua to determine its effectiveness in speeding recovery from the virus. “We are working with two independent laboratories to ensure the highest possible quality and exclude any bias in the results,” Peter Seeberger, lead researcher, told VOA in an email response. Seeberger is hopeful the first results will be back soon. “We have collected a significant body of data but are again repeating the work to make sure any results are reproducible multiple times,” he said. “Within the next couple of weeks, we will be in a ...
Akwa Ibom governor commends ExxonMobil’s donations
Gov. Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom has commended ExxonMobil for donating equipment and items worth millions of naira to curb the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic in the state. Emmanuel, who was represented by Dr Emmanuel Ekuwem, Secretary to the State Government, gave the commendation in Uyo on Saturday. He expressed the government’s profound appreciation to ExxonMobil for the kind gesture and for demonstrating its pride of place as Akwa Ibom’s number one corporate partner. “The items received would be a significant support boost to the state government’s effort to contain the scourge of the COVID-19 pandemic in the state,” the governor said. ExxonMobil’s donation included WHO-standard RNA COVID-19 test kits for 1,920 tests, 1000 units of samples collection kits, two brand new ambulances and ...
Nigeria warns recovered coronavirus patients not to reveal drugs used on them to stem self-medication
The federal government has told COVID-19 survivors to stop giving details of the drugs used for their treatment, so they don’t encourage self-medication. The Chairman, Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, made the plea at a press briefing in Abuja. This follows recent revelations by some high-profile survivors, who spoke about the drugs administered on them during their treatment. Mustapha, who is also the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, expressed concern that some of the testimonies disclosing the prescription for treatment could encourage patients to indulge in self-medication instead of seeking help from health authorities. “The PTF congratulates and appreciates the testimonies of Nigerians who have recovered from COVID-19, which has given us more insights ...
