A big tiger at the Bronx Zoo in New York City has tested positive for COVID-19 after apparent exposure to an infected worker.
The four-year-old female Malayan tiger named Nadia was tested out of an abundance of caution after developing a dry cough and a decrease in appetite, the zoo's parent company, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), said in a statement Sunday.
The positive results were confirmed by the USDA's National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Iowa.
Six other cats at the zoo, including Nadia's sister Azul, two Amur tigers and three African lions, were also suffering possible coronavirus symptoms, WCS said. They are expected to recover.
The Ogun State Police Command has refuted the claim that the death of the Divisional Police Officer, Ibara Police Station, Abeokuta, Olusegun Dada, is in connection with the arrest of a colourful masquerader.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Abimbola Oyeyemi, made this clarification on Sunday in a statement following speculations on the cause of death of the DPO.
Oyeyemi said Dada’s death had nothing to do with the arrest of the masquerader, who violated the directive of the state government on the gathering of many people.
The police had arrested a masquerader in Ijeja, Abeokuta for defying the ban on the gathering of many people to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the state. Few days later, the DPO of the station died.
But Oyeyemi explained that the late DPO had been on the sick bed for over a month before the arrest of the masquerader.
He said, “Contrary to what the mischief makers wanted the public to believe, the late DPO was not on duty when the said masequerader was arrested, because he was in hospital."
Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde has tested Negative to COVID-19. Giving update on his status on social media, he wrote;
I am deeply moved by your prayers and support throughout this period. I am so thankful. This evening, I received my second negative test result for COVID-19. I especially thank Prof Temitope Alonge, who acted in my stead as Head of the Oyo State COVID-19 Task Force.
I am also grateful to all members of the Task Force for their cooperation during this time. I will be resuming my responsibility as Head of the Task Force from tomorrow (Monday).
The Chadian troops have again dealt a major blow on Boko Haram insurgents.
This followed the killing of 100 of heartless terrorists in Magumeri, a local government in the northern part of Borno.
Borno is the major hotbed of Boko Haram crisis in Nigeria.
According to West Africa Reporters on Sunday, Nigerian soldiers in the sect’s captivity were freed.
It quoted sources from the Lake Chad region as saying the Chadian soldiers are hitting the Boko Haram insurgents hard.
It said the insurgents were fleeing and that President Idriss Déby has been moving around the battlefield to coordinate and monitor the crushing of Boko Haram.
As part of the fallout of actress Funke Akindele and her husband's decision to make merry with a birthday bash when Lagos is on lockdown, the NCDC has remove her video from their website.
Social media users have been given NCDC a thumbs up for this act, with some saying that it's the best step to take in as much as Funke is not practicing what she was preaching...
A devoted couple who had been married for more than 50 years died within six minutes of each other after contracting the dreaded coronavirus.
Now their heartbroken son says he hopes their death is not in vain - urging people to take the novel virus seriously.
Stuart and Adrian Baker, aged 74 and 72 respectively, had been healthy before their illness, which began around three weeks ago.
They died in the same room after their ventilators were turned off.
The retired couple, from Florida, first fell unwell three weeks ago, before the scale of the crisis had hit home in the US. They died on Sunday, just minutes apart.
Their son Buddy Baker said;
In loving memory of my mom and dad- please make the tough and right choice and help stop the spreading of this virus.
The sports agent, 41, told CNN : "Until it touches you or touches somebody you know... you kind of feel removed from it."
A policeman deployed to the Akwa Ibom State command has been demoted for assaulting a medical doctor while enforcing the stay-at-home order of the Akwa Ibom government.
The police sergeant, Edidiong Alexander assaulted Dr Daniel Edet who is a surgeon with the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, while on his way to work on Friday evening.
The State government had exempted health workers from its lockdown order, which was effected to curb the spread of Coronavirus in the state.
It was gathered that the police began investigating the incident after the Nigerian Medical Association threatened to embark on a strike over the assault incident which left Mr Edet’s hand fractured.
The police office who was found guilty after the investigation was concluded, was demoted from the rank of a sergeant to corporal. The state’s commissioner of police, Imohimi Edgal also met with Mr Edet and the chairman of NMA in the state, and apologised to the surgeon and the medical doctors in Akwa Ibom over the conduct of the police officer.
Akwa Ibom state has only recorded five confirmed cases of the coronavirus, since the outbreak of the disease in the country.
Most popular Big Brother Naija housemate, Tacha has called out Ubi Franklin for the Instagram Live interview he did with Mercy where he stated that one person he didn't want to see in the Big Brother Naija house was Tacha.
Ubi said during the interview that Tacha had once sent him DM begging him to help her with his connections so she could get into Big Brother house.
He said he told her he didn't have such connections and after that, she began doing videos to insult him online.
Ubi had another Instagram Live interview with Tacha's former manager Teebillz and during the interview, Ubi said that he got Teebillz endorsement deals for Tacha.
Shortly after, Tacha hit back in an Instagram Live video of her own.
In the video, she had a crown on but took off the crown to insult Ubi, before wearing the crown back.
She said in the video that she has turned down numerous deals and Ubi can't claim he got her deals.
She then went on to call out Ubi, saying: "Ubi Franklin, you have kids to take care of, you have people you owe money. Are you done focusing on that?"
She added: "The nerve, the effrontery for you to actually say, 'if there's one person I didn't want to see in the Big Brother house, it's Tacha'. Who are you? Are you my God? Are you God? Who exactly are you to make a statement like that."
She continued: "You have people to take care of. You have kids to take care of, you have people to face. You owe people money. Go and pay them. Go and pay the people that you owe. Get my name out of your mouth.
"I know, I understand, this whole thing, like when you're irrelevant, you want to just try to suck out of someone's relevance... And I get you and I know you're happy because this ten minutes of fame now, you'd use it, you'd try to exhaust it because that's what you do. You're an opportunist. But please, in all of the lies that you tell, do not, I repeat, do not open your mouth to say that you got Tacha deals because you got Tacha absolutely nothing.
"I have never met you before, I sent you a DM once, and like I said, it was a business proposal, you take it or you leave it, and you left it and that's it."
She also accused Ubi of trying to pit her and former Big Brother Naija housemate, Mercy, against each other.
Tacha said: "I really wish that women support each other. If women support each other, a moron such as Ubi Franklin will not wake up from his rented apartment and talk to me.
"You as a moron, you want to try to put I and Mercy up against each other, 'cause that's exactly what you did during your Live yesterday, trying to like, 'oh what do you think about this, what do you think about this'?"
Tacha also showed gratitude to Teebillz for standing up for her during his interview with Ubi.
In the live interview, Teebillz bluntly told Ubi that he "f***ed up" and that he was "a bit disappointed" in him. Also, when Ubi didn't want to call Tacha's name and called her a "talent", Teebillz insisted on calling her name.
Ubi said to Teebillz: "You remember when I called you after you signed that talent?"
Teebillz responded, stating that he has worked with many talents and asked Ubi to name the "talent".
He added: "Her name is not 'that talent' call her by her name."
After the Instagram Live, Tacha took to her Instagram Stories to continue throwing shade at Ubi.
Premier League football grounds could be turned into auxiliary hospitals to aid the fight against coronavirus.
A number of top-flight clubs have virtually handed over their stadiums to the NHS, with football suspended and the pandemic continuing to surge.
Over the coming days the underground car park at Tottenham’s new home is set to become a drive-thru coronavirus testing centre.
Nurses are already taking training courses at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium, while neighbours Manchester United remain in talks with the local health trust over how Old Trafford and its surrounding area can be used. City have been in talks with healthcare providers for over a fortnight.
At one point, the Etihad was being considered as a venue for a field hospital. Another site in the city, the Manchester Central exhibition centre, has now been chosen for that role instead, but the Etihad and its campus will be used extensively.
Key NHS workers may end up using the club’s gym to exercise, while a shuttle service is expected to be introduced to bus them to Manchester Central, which has been dubbed the ‘Nightingale of the North’ after London’s ExCeL Arena was turned into the NHS Nightingale temporary hospital.
Plans are also being discussed to provide childcare for doctors and nurses, while City’s home could also be used to store essential items, which would allow medical staff to stock up without having to go to the supermarket.
It is understood that, should the crisis spiral, grounds may be considered to host temporary morgues, although there is confidence that such a scenario will not develop.
United are exploring how Old Trafford could be used in the fight against the pandemic. The Theatre of Dreams has a vast number of car parks behind the Stretford End, which could prove invaluable as venues for temporary medical facilities.
Chelsea were among the first to act, handing over use of the Millennium Hotel at Stamford Bridge to NHS staff. It is understood that almost all the 72 rooms at the facility have been taken.
The club is open to handing over the Copthorne Hotel at the stadium, should the Millennium hit capacity. Talks are ongoing with the NHS over the use of other facilities at the west London ground.
Arsenal remain in discussion with north London hospitals over how the Emirates can be used.
While there remains optimism that football will return at some point this summer, if the Covid-19 crisis becomes so serious that stadiums are needed, football is highly unlikely to be on the agenda.
Kim Kardashian has admitted she has seen her family during the Los Angeles coronavirus lockdown.
California governor Gavin Newsom announced a shelter-in-place order effective from March 20, that asked state residents to stay home unless absolutely necessary.
But Kim revealed that she had left the home she shares with husband Kanye West and their children, to visit her mother Kris Jenner's house where she met up with her sister Kylie to have her makeup done.
Kim was making an appearance on Jimmy Fallon's at home edition of The Tonight Show, and admitted she asked her makeup mogul sister to help her in the absence of her glam squad.
Speaking on the show, she said: 'I'm in my mom's glam room. Kylie did my makeup and my hair. I don't have anyone to do it and I'm not that good so she like did all my makeup.'
Kim added that it was the first time she had seen her family, explaining: 'And that's the first time I've seen her cause the whole family is distancing. We haven't even seen each other.'
She explained that Kris' glam room has a separate entrance which she used. 'So I snuck out and I am at my mom's house in her glam room cause there's a door from the outside so this is all she will let us in.'
The star who shares four children North, six, Saint, four, Chicago, two, and 10-month-old Psalm with Kanye, then added: 'And I had to get away from my kids. I'm hiding from them.'
The number of coronavirus cases in Los Angeles County rose Wednesday as officials reported more than 500 new cases, bringing the total number of people infected by the virus in the region to 3,518.
An experimental HIV drug that has been used to successfully treat COVID-19 patients is in its second phase of testing with the Food and Drug Administration and could potentially be approved for use in four weeks, its manufacturer says.
Leronlimab, made by the biotech company CytoDyn, was used to treat a handful of severely ill patients in New York City hospitals; a couple were able to be removed from their ventilators.
“I think the FDA will be willing to work with us,” CytoDyn CEO Nader Pourhassan told The Post. “I am hoping it will be expedited … I don’t see how the FDA couldn’t approve it.”
“With a study in China indicating the mortality rate among COVID-19 patients requiring mechanical ventilators at more than 85 percent, the world desperately needs a therapy that can help this patient population,” Pourhassan added.
Initial studies suggest leronlimab can reduce the overactive immune response, known as a cytokine storm, that can be triggered by the coronavirus infection. Cytokine storms can result in pneumonia and even death.
“[I] cried for about five minutes. It was very, very emotional,” Pourhassan told Seattle’s KIRO 7 News after first learning of the results. “We’re hoping we can save millions of lives.”
Chadian Troops led By President Idris Debby has busted Boko Haram's secret warehouse, seizing their deadly weapons.
This according to reports came after the insurgents ambushed a battalion of the Chadian army, killing over 90 of its soldiers last week.
The Chadian military in a retaliatory operation massacred dozens of Boko Haram terrorists.
Few days after his meeting with the Commanders of Multi-National Joint Taskforce (MNJTF) at Baga, the Chadian President, Idriss Deby, directed his country’s Armed Forces to embark on merciless operations in the lake Chad axis. And they have been doing so, leaving manu Boko Haram members in tears and running for their life.
Meanwhile, the sectional leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau has released an audio messaging consoling the terrorists and threatening the Chadian President, PR Nigeria reports.
Rich boxing legend, Floyd Mayweather’s daughter, Iyanna, was arrested on Saturday for allegedly stabbing a woman identified as Lapattra Lashai Jacobs
TMZ reported that Iyanna Mayweather was charged with assault with a deadly weapon following a confrontation with the woman.
The incident took place in the home of rapper NBA Youngboy. Iyanna arrived and told the woman, Ms Jacobs, she was Youngboy’s fiancee and Jacobs should leave the house.
But the woman, Ms Jacobs said Iyanna is the one to leave.
The argument moved into the kitchen, where Iyanna was holding 2 knives.
Ms Jacobs stepped toward Iyanna and she charged at the woman with one of the knives. The woman told cops she didn’t feel the first knife wound but then she said Iyanna charged at her with the second knife, stabbing her again.
On her part, Iyanna told cops Jacobs had incited her by initially pulling her hair outside the house and then running into the kitchen, where the confrontation went down.
Iyanna was taken to Harris County jail at the time of her arrest and was later released on bail.
US President Donald Trump has warned Americans that there would be tough times ahead as the surge of coronavirus continues in the country.
The US has more than 300,000 cases and more than 8,100 deaths, according to revised figures.
Trump on Saturday said ‘There’s going to be a lot of death, unfortunately.’
He said federal assistance would now be focused on areas that need it most.
“In some cases we are telling governors we cannot go there as we don’t think they need it, or someone else needs it,” he said.
“There will be a lot of death, unfortunately. There will be death. We are looking for an obvious focus on the hardest hit regions.
Trump added: “we’re going to be adding a tremendous amount of military, thousands of soldiers, medical workers, professionals,” to help deal with the pandemic.
They are still together and making future plans. Big brother naija star, Khafi has explained why she had to cancel her wedding with her heratrob, Gedoni.
Khafi explained that when she got engaged to Gedoni last year, they set a date of 04/04/2020 as their wedding date but her mum was having none of that because she thought the date was too close but she initially insisted on having the wedding on 4th of April.
However, she discussed her mum's opinion with her man, Gedoni who explained to her that the wedding is for their families and the marriage was for the two of them, as such it only makes sense to listen to their families contributions.
That was why her wedding was no longer planned to happen on Saturday April 4, which would not have happened anyway due to the coronavirus epidemic.
Workers at the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Edo State, after two doctors tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday.
It was gathered that the two affected doctors worked at the facility’s Pathology and Obstetrics and Gynecology departments.
A senior medical officer at the hospital, who spoke with one of our correspondents on condition of anonymity, said the two doctors were currently in isolation in their different homes.
The source said the doctors became infected after attending to two patients without protective gear and unknown to them that the patients were carriers of the virus.
ISTH is a World Health Organisation-recognised centre for Lassa fever research and treatment in Africa.
According to the source, the doctors began to exhibit the commonly known symptoms of COVlD-19 after attending to the patients. The tests ran on them however came out positive.
This came as the number of cases in the country rose to 214 on Saturday with five new cases recorded in Bauchi and the Federal Capital Territory.
Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun has expressed shock over a N950 donation made by a nine-year-old girl, Oluwashikemi Ogunleye, to the designated state government’s account to fight against coronavirus in the state.
Abiodun said he was thrilled by the small but significant donation from the girl, describing her as a “symbol of the future we are building together.”
Abiodun stated this during a press briefing held at his Iperu Remo residence in Ikenne Local Government Area of the state.
The governor explained that Ogunleye used the USSD code designed for the state to donate the money.
He said, “I am particularly thrilled by the small but very significant donation from the youngest donor so far, Oluwashikemi Ogunleye.
“She used our USSD Code to donate N950.
“Oluwashikemi, I am proud to be the governor of a philanthropist like you. You are indeed the symbol of giving of ourselves to ourselves and the future we are building together. I call on others to come forward and support the fight against COVID.”
