An experimental drug has proved effective against the new coronavirus in a major study, shortening the time it takes for patients to recover by four days on average, U.S. government and company officials announced Wednesday.
Gilead Sciences’ drug, Remdesivir is the first treatment to pass such a strict test against the virus, which has killed more than 218,000 people since it emerged late last year in China. Having a treatment could have a profound effect on the global pandemic.
The study, run by the National Institutes of Health, tested Remdesivir versus usual care in 1,063 hospitalized coronavirus patients around the world. At the White House, NIH's Dr. Anthony Fauci said the drug reduced the time it takes patients to recover by 31% — 11 days on average versus 15 days for those just given usual care.
He also said there was a trend toward fewer deaths among those on Remdesivir.
President Donald Trump has therefore called on the US Food and Drug Administration to move "as quickly as they can" to approve Remdesivir as a treatment for the dreaded coronavirus.
In the last 24 hours, 196 new cases of COVID19 have beeb reported in Nigeria; with 87 in Lagos, 24-Kano, 18-Gombe, 17-Kaduna, 16-FCT, 10-Katsina, 8-Sokoto, 7-Edo, 6-Borno, 1-Yobe, 1-Ebonyi, 1-Adamawa.
As at 11:55pm 29th April- 1728 confirmed cases of #COVID19 reported in Nigeria.
The federal government has requested for the account statements of some former public office holders to 10 banks.
Bloomberg reports that the public officers include former President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Patience; former ministers of petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke and Rilwanu Lukman.
Nigeria is requesting “all documents concerning any transactions to, from, or for the benefit” of Jonathan and his wife between 2009 and the present day.
The banks listed include Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and New York branches of Deutsche Bank AG and United Bank for Africa Plc.
Court documents quote Abubakar Malami, the attorney-general of the federation, as saying information contained in the document will help an ongoing investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to know individuals in the Process & Industrial Developments Ltd gas deal.
Although Malami the attorney general didn’t mention Jonathan as a subject of the EFCC probe, the former head of state appears alongside the ex-ministers in Nigeria’s proposed subpoenas.
“There is good reason to believe that ministers at the highest level were involved in a corrupt scheme to steal money from Nigeria,” Attorney General Abubakar Malami said in court filings submitted on March 24.
He said P&ID had no ability or intention of ever performing the contract, which required the company to build a gas processing plant and the government to supply gas.
Lorna Schofield, a US district judge, gave Nigeria permission to send copies of its application to the banks, eight of which had been served by April 15. However, the court has not decided whether to give Nigeria access to the documents.
In the court filings, Nigeria said the EFCC has not found direct evidence that the public officers received payments from P&ID or its affiliates.
It said the 10 banks are “likely to have processed US dollar transactions connected to P&ID’s operations as either correspondent banks or the New York branches of foreign lenders”.
Nigeria hopes to overturn a $9.7 billion judgement awarded against it for a breach of agreement in a gas project.
A spokesman for P&ID said Malami’s application is “nothing but an absurdly overbroad fishing expedition” arguing that the AGF manufactured a claim of fraud and bribery to avoid paying the judgement debt that amounts to about 30% of the country’s foreign reserves.
In the last 24 hours, 195 new cases of COVID19 reported in Nigeria; 80-Lagos, 38-Kano, 15-Ogun, 15-Bauchi, 11-Borno, 10-Gombe, 9-Sokoto, 5-Edo, 5-Jigawa, 2-Zamfara, 1-Rivers, 1-Enugu, 1-Delta, 1-FCT, 1-Nasarawa .
As at 11:50pm 28th April - 1532 confirmed cases of #COVID19 reported in Nigeria.
A former Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan, has again said that he has no account or property abroad.
Mr Jonathan said this in a statement on Tuesday.
The statement, signed by Ikechukwu Eze, spokesman to Mr Jonathan, was issued in response to moves by the Nigerian government to subpoena bank records purportedly belonging to Mr Jonathan and his wife, Patience.
“Our attention has been drawn to international media reports to the effect that the Federal Government of Nigeria has subpoenaed bank records for former President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Dame Patience Jonathan in the United States of America,” Mr Eze said.
“We aver that the Federal Government of Nigeria did not contact Dr. Jonathan or his wife before issuing these subpoenas. If they had, we would have advised them of the fact that you cannot subpoena what does not exist.
“We also remind the public that on March 5, 2014, during the swearing in of new ministers, then President Jonathan said “I am loyal to Nigeria’s economy. I don’t have accounts or property abroad.”
The statement said that between the period Mr Jonathan made claims of not operating foreign account and now, nothing has changed with regards to the former president.
Nollywood actress, Tonto Dikeh has revealed that her boyfriend is Muslim after a follower questioned her when she wished Muslims happy Ramadan.
The actress shared a photo of herself in an Islamic attire as she wished Muslims happy Ramadan on behalf of her foundation, Tonto Dikeh Foundation.
She wrote;
“Ramadan Mubarak to all Our Muslim Brothers and Sister, May Allah accept our Prayers, Bless Us and Heal the World. We are with you in spirit and in Truth. Allah Bless you.”
A follower then asked if she was a Muslim or Christian, She replied;
“I am a Christian, I live in a Muslim community and have a Muslim boyfriend…we good?”
Nollywood actor, Gbolagade Akinpelu popularly known as “Ogun Majek” has cried out to the public for financial assistance over his sickness.
Ogun Majek’s appeal and call for financial assistance over his current poor state of health was contained in a message issued by one of his sons, Akinpelu Akeem Abidemi.
Abidemi said that the children of Gbolagade Akinpelu(Ogun Majek) used the medium to appeal to all indigenes of Ibadanland, Oyo State and Nigeria to rise financially for the treatment of their father who had been battling with unknown sickness for some years.
He stressed that financial assistance becomes important and necessary, so as to ensure the treatment of the ailing Yoruba movie actor who had been living in severe pains for a long time.
Abidemi lamented that they have spent and sold all resources at their disposal but all to no avail, stressing that they are crying for help, in order not to loose the ailing film actor to cold hand of death.
He said that their father needed help for quick recovery, considering his current deterioration of health and disfiguration of physical outlook.
Abidemi enjoined people across religious beliefs to pray for his father and equally pray for intending donors that their pockets will never dry.
This is coming after Yoruba actress, Foluke Daramola Salako via her Instagram page solicited support for him and she got some donations through her foundation.
She further revealed that the ailing actor was receiving treatment in an undisclosed hospital as she shares details of donors.
A 45-year-old man, Osita Ezuruike, on Tuesday, committed suicide in his house at Umudafa, Awo Mbieri in the Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State.
Sources at the community said the deceased expressed frustration with life over the lockdown and the dusk-to-dawn curfew declared by the state government.
But the police had yet to ascertain why the deceased committed suicide as of the time of filing this report.
The Punch learnt that the deceased’s neighbours alerted the police after discovering that he had hung himself.
The police spokesperson in the state, Orlando Ikeokwu, told PUNCH that the Ezuruike’s corpse had been taken to a morgue.
Ikeokwu also said an investigation into the incident had commenced.
The police spokesperson said, “On April 27, acting on a report, operatives of the Divisional Police headquarters in Mbieri moved to Umudafa, Awo Mbieri, Mbaitoli LGA, in a house belonging to one Osita Ezuruike, 45, and met the lifeless body of the said Osita hanging.
“The reason for taking his own life could not be ascertained.
“However, the corpse has been removed to the morgue, while an investigation into the incident has commenced.”
A New York woman who survived the Spanish influenza pandemic, cancer and sepsis, has beaten coronavirus at the age of 101.
Angelina Friedman’s family say they weren’t surprised when she overcame Covid-19 as she is a ‘survivor’ who has ‘superhuman DNA’.
The pensioner’s mother died giving birth to her on a passenger ship that was taking immigrants from Italy to New York City during the second wave of the Spanish flu in 1918.
One of 11 children, she was taken care of by two of her sisters and they eventually reunited with their father in Brooklyn, where she was raised.
She went on to marry and start a family with a man named Harold Friedman, but tragedy struck when they were both diagnosed with cancer.
Angelina’s husband sadly died, but she survived the illness and is now also the last of her siblings.
Her daughter Joanne Merola told Pix11: ‘My mother is a survivor. She survived miscarriages, internal bleeding and cancer.’
She added: ‘Everybody in the family lived until at least 95, except one uncle. My mother is a survivor. She is not human. She has superhuman DNA.’
The New Yorker, who now lives at the North Westchester Restorative Therapy and nursing Center in Lake Mohegan, was taken to hospital on March 21 for a minor medical procedure.
However, the procedure was cancelled when she tested positive for coronavirus, which has now taken 27,000 lives in the city.
Angelina returned to her nursing home to isolate and had an on-and-off fever for several weeks, but finally tested negative on April 20.
Merola hasn’t been able to visit her mum since February and says she is nearly deaf so they can’t talk on the phone.
But, regardless of the distance between them, she says she ‘marvels’ at her mother’s endurance.
She said: ‘If my mother could see this, I’d say, “Keep going, Ma. You’re going to outlive us all”.’
Angelina’s story comes after Keith Watson, 101, became one of the UK’s oldest people to survive Covid-19.
Barbara Briley, 86, who ‘survived Hitler, open-heart surgery, two replacement knees and two replacement hips’ also proved she is a fighter once again by beating coronavirus in March.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry recently moved to Los Angeles after stepping away from senior royal duties and leaving England, where there's no denying that Meghan went through it.
According to the Daily Mail, Meghan told friends that she believed if her sister-in-law Kate Middleton been similarly targeted by British tabloids, the royals would have stepped in.
"[Meghan said] no one would have put up with it, and the broken and outdated system would have been revised. Those outlets responsible for their vicious attacks would have been shut out," a friend told the Daily Mail, adding that the Duchess believes "changes would have been made."
This all gets a little messy because, ironically, the Daily Mail is one of the outlets that Meghan and Harry have announced they're having "no corroboration and zero engagement" with.
An alleged friend of Meghan Markle's claims the Duchess of Sussex said British tabloids would have been shut down if Kate Middleton were being bullied.
The source claims Harry "constantly" approached his family about Meghan's treatment and they didn't listen.
But, according to their source Harry "constantly" approached Prince Charles and the Queen about Meghan being bullied by the press, and they "wouldn't do anything to change the protocol."
Apparently, "[Meghan] said it was infuriating that Harry's very real and valid concerns fell on deaf ears."
"Meghan said they made it seem like this is the way it is, deal with it. Harry had been dealing with it far too long," the source added. "She said he wasn't going to let this destroy her life and their marriage."
The source also claims that "Meghan said Harry made it crystal clear that they could not function in good faith under the current system... and that if it wasn't revised and updated to their liking, they would have no other choice than to break from the royal family. She said no one took his pleas seriously, so they had to take the issue into their own hands. This was about protecting the family and doing right by Princess Diana.
She said the British tabloids have haunted Harry since childhood and should have been kicked out of the media pool long ago. The system is broken and Harry wanted to fix it. She said he needed to take a stand and now they are doing it together."
The false belief that toxic methanol cures the coronavirus has seen over 700 people killed in Iran, an official said Monday.
That represents a higher death toll than previously released by the Iranian Health Ministry.
An adviser to the ministry, Hossein Hassanian, said that the difference in death tallies is because some alcohol poisoning victims died outside of hospitals.
“Some 200 people died outside of hospitals,” Hassanian told The Associated Press.
Alcohol poisoning has skyrocketed by 10 times over, in Iran in the past year, according to a government report released earlier in April, amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The national coroner’s authority said that alcohol poisoning killed 728 Iranians between February 20 and April 7. Last year there were only 66 deaths from alcohol poisoning, according to the report.
Separately, the Iranian health ministry spokesman, Kianoush Jahanpour said that 525 people have died from swallowing toxic methanol alcohol since February 20, state TV reported on Monday.
Jahanpour said that a total of 5,011 people had been poisoned from methanol alcohol.
He added that some 90 people have lost their eyesight or are suffering eye damage from the alcohol poisoning.
Hassanian also said the final tally of people who lost their eyesight could be much higher.
Iran is facing the worst coronavirus outbreak in the Middle East, with 5,806 deaths and more than 91,000 confirmed case.
Methanol cannot be smelled or tasted in drinks. It causes delayed organ and brain damage. Symptoms include chest pain, nausea, hyperventilation, blindness and even coma.
In Iran, the government mandates that manufacturers of toxic methanol add an artificial color to their products so the public can tell it apart from ethanol, the kind of alcohol that can be used in cleaning wounds. Ethanol is found in alcoholic beverages, though its production is illegal in Iran.
Some bootleggers in Iran use methanol, adding a splash of bleach to mask the added color before selling it as drinkable. Methanol also can contaminate traditionally fermented alcohol.
The consumption of alcohol is generally prohibited in Iran. However, minority Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians can drink alcoholic beverages in private.
Following the coronavirus outbreak, Iran’s government announced it would issue permission for new alcohol factories quickly.
Iran has currently some 40 alcohol factories that have been allocated for pharmaceutical and sanitizing items.
Already before the outbreak, the Iranian economy was struggling under severe US sanctions blocking the sale of its crude oil abroad.
One of the two suspected members of a six-man robbery gang has said he joined the gang because he always saw them sharing money after each operation.
They had been parading as members of One Million Boys gang in Lagos, but were arrested by policemen attached to Ejigbo Division of the Lagos State Police Command.
The suspects had earlier written to residents, informing them of their visit and also threatened to cut off victims’ wrists if they did not get what they wanted.
However, luck ran against the duo of Sunday Oladepo, 21, and Adeola Adekoya, 18, as they were apprehended along Daleko/Ejigbo Road, Monday night, by policemen who got wind of the gang’s invasion.
Other members of the gang escaped.
At the time of arrest, the suspects were said to have rubbed black substance on their bodies to enable easy access into victims’ apartments through burglary proofs, and powder on their faces for disguise.
During preliminary investigation, it was discovered that members of the gang, resided at Kazeem and Apeno communities in Ejigbo.
During interrogation, one of the suspects, Adeola, said when they heard the police siren blaring that night, members of his robbery gang took to their heels.
He said he was unfortunate to have run into the midst of residents, who were keeping watch of their environment and was subsequently handed over to the Police team.
Asked why he joined the gang, the 18-year-old suspect said: “I always see them counting and sharing money, whenever they returned from operation.
“I thought I could make money too and had to join them. Segun introduced me to the gang and he taught me how to use cutlass on victims. The powder we rubbed on our faces was for disguise so that no one will recognise us. But I was arrested at my first operation.”
The suspects, however, denied being members of the One Million Boys gang, saying they were just members of a street gang.
They gave identities of other members as Sherif, Papa, Peter and Segun. They were transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, SCIID, on Tuesday.
The Presidency has disclosed that someone obtained and leaked the draft of President Muhammadu Buhari’s speech hours before the national broadcast on Monday.
This was disclosed by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, when he appeared on TVC News.
The leaked version of the president’s speech was full of errors and was already circulating on social media before the actual broadcast to the nation at 8pm.
Adesina was asked to clear the confusion on the lockdown where some newspapers reported different dates, and he said, “There is just one authentic copy of the broadcast, which is the one released from the media office.
“But then, I recognise that a couple of hours before the broadcast itself, a copy of the purported speech had been circulating particularly on WhatsApp. If you compare the two, yes there are some similarities but then, there are also wide differences.
“You have just mentioned the effective day particularly of the gradual easing of the lockdown. What happened was that somebody got hold of the initial draft of the broadcast and played hanky panky with it by releasing it through the social media.
“If you know the processes that a broadcast goes through before it gets recorded – the script will originate from the relevant government agency, department, parastatal of ministry, whoever heads that agency, ministry or parastatal sign up on it and then they sent it to the presidential office.
“When it gets to the presidential office, it gets through a number of hands again, because the president’s thoughts must be infused and injected into that draft.
“There are some things that may be in it that the president may completely not agree with.
“Finally, it comes to the media office, and I sign on it, which I also did yesterday before the broadcast was recorded – I signed on the final copy before the broadcast was recorded.
“So some hours before the recording was played back, I saw something circulating on social media, I knew that that was not the copy that I signed off on. Then we began to investigate. It has been found out that the original script from inception was what somebody laid hands-on and released to the social media.
“Well, mainstream media knows how we release our statements – whatever documents that we are releasing. They should know how to authenticate it. It comes from the media office.
“So, if any mainstream media is now taking its information from the social media, that mainstream media is to be blamed because we duly released the authentic copy of that broadcast by 8:06 PM. So the mainstream media should not have depended on a leaked copy which turns out to have many discrepancies compared with the original and final copy.”
The Republic of Germany said it had granted Nigeria debt relief amounting to N8.9bn (€22.4m) on account of the coronavirus pandemic.
Also, the German government said it had successfully campaigned for the G20, the Paris Club and creditor countries in favour of a debt moratorium for nations heavily affected by the economic impact of COVID-19.
The European economic powerhouse stated this in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday, while announcing the provision of additional €5.5m (N2.2bn) to the Nigeria Humanitarian Fund managed by the United Nations to continue life-saving aid in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.
It said the fund was for the drilling of wells, construction of sanitation facilities, rehabilitation of buildings or construction of shelters for internally displaced persons and other victims of insecurity in the North-East.
“This brings Germany ́s contribution to the NHF to a total of more than €29m since it became operational in May 2017, making Germany a major donor to the NHF over the past three years,” the German mission said in the statement.
It noted, “In 2020, the German treasury relieves Nigeria of debt repayments amounting to € 22.4m (N8.9bn). This comes in addition to Germany’s support to the COVID-19 response on a global level and the support provided by the European Union to partner countries in Africa worth €3.25bn (N1.3tn).
“On April 27, Germany pledged € 300m (N120bn) to the global humanitarian response plan launched by the United Nations to fight COVID-19.”
Germany also said it had pledged a total of €12m (N4.8bn) in support of the West Africa Health Organisation, the regional health institution of ECOWAS.
The new allocation, Berlin said, was earmarked for the purchase of vital medical supplies and laboratory equipment, training measures and more generally, cooperation in pandemic prevention at the national and regional levels.
“Clearly, the current crisis goes beyond national and even continental borders and can only be fought effectively in a cooperative way. We need more international cooperation, not less,” German Foreign Minister, Heiko Maas, stated.
The statement further said the procurement of protective materials and hygiene articles such as hand disinfectant, protective clothing, surface disinfectant, KN95 face masks, contactless clinical thermometers and gloves valued at €20,000 (N8m) for the Nigeria Police Force had started through Germany ́s implementing agency, GIZ.
It noted that the materials would be handed over shortly in Abuja.
Germany explained that it had supported the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control with the introduction of a Surveillance Outbreak Response Management and Analysis System which, as of August 2019, was implemented in 200 local government areas.
An NHS worker was stabbed to death just days after his father passed away from a coronavirus-related illness.
David Gomoh, 24, was killed seconds from his home in Freemasons Road, Newham, east London, just before 10.30pm on Sunday. He was on the phone to a friend when he was ambushed by a gang of masked assailants in a ‘ferocious’ attack for which police say there is no obvious motive.
His family were already in mourning after his father’s death and were due to hold a funeral on Wednesday.
Marketing graduate Mr Gomoh worked for the NHS and his mother is a nurse. Detective Inspector Tony Kirk said: ‘David’s family are going through unimaginable torment. Within days his mother has seen the death of her husband and son, his sister has lost her brother and father, both are now heartbroken.
‘David was a young man who had worked hard to put himself through university and, like his mother, worked hard for the community in the NHS. ‘At this time we believe the only thing David did to be murdered was walk down a street. He was apparently approached by a group of men wearing masks and stabbed multiple times in a ferocious assault.
‘I have no doubt this was a planned attack that singled out David because he happened to be in that area. ‘David and his mother, who have done so much to help the community, now need the public to come forward and tell us what they know. If you have any information, please think of this young man and the suffering of his family and call us.
‘If you don’t want to give your name, call Crimestoppers, but do make that call. David’s family deserve both answers and justice.’
Police believe the killers left the scene in a stolen Silver Dodge Caliber that was found abandoned minutes after the stabbing, half a mile away in Lincoln Road, Plaistow. It had fake number plates and was seen being driven through a no entry sign from Cumberland Road.
Fifteen inmates were on Tuesday granted state pardon from the Nigeria Correctional Centre, Oyo State.
Public Relations Officer of the state Correctional Centre, ASP Anjorin Olarewaju, disclosed this in a statement issued in Ibadan.
He noted that it was in line with the Federal Government decision to decongest the centre due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Olarewaju said that Gov. Seyi Makinde, granted state pardon to the 15 convicted inmates.
“In line with the decision of the Federal Government to decongest Correctional Centres across the country to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, has granted State pardon to 15 convicted inmates.
“Nine of the inmates were released in Agodi Custodial Centre, while the remaining six were set free in Oyo Custodial Centre.
“The Controller of Corrections Service, Oyo Command, Tosin Akinrujomu, went to the two centres’ today to release the inmates after receiving the list from the governor,” Olarewaju said.
The controller congratulated the pardoned inmates and implored them to be good citizens of Nigeria.
He reminded them of the need to maintain social distancing and keep themselves safe from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik are ‘expecting their first child together’, months after reuniting. The pair have kept their relationship mostly private since getting back together at the end of last year.
And family sources have reportedly let slip to TMZ that they are set to start a family together.
The publication states the 25-year-old is ’20 weeks along’, but it is unclear whether they ‘know the sex of the baby’ yet.
Supermodel Gigi and the One Direction singer, 27, have yet to speak out about the baby rumours on social media.
So in what looks like a response to his ex-girlfriend's call out (recall Juliet Ibrahim recently wrote him an open letter to leave her alone?), well Iceberg Slim has now responded saying what most of his ex-girlfriends want is to touch his private parts and not HIM.. Well that's it up there...
An organizer of a North Carolina group calling on the state to ease its coronavirus restrictions was unable to attend two rallies because she tested positive for the disease, a report said.
Audrey Whitlock, who administers the Facebook page of ReOpen NC, was under quarantine for two weeks ending Sunday after testing positive for coronavirus, according to news station WFAE.
“I remained in isolation/self-quarantine at my home per the direction of my county health department. I have not attended any events for ReOpen NC,” Whitlock told the outlet.
While the organizer was in isolation, the group held two rallies in Raleigh -- the state capital demanding North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper speed up plans to lift the stay-at-home order, which is now in effect until May 8.
At last week’s demonstration, more than 100 mainly unmasked protesters crammed together in defiance of social distancing guidelines, the report said.
The group is scheduled to hold its third rally on Tuesday outside Raleigh’s Legislative Building.
Whitlock first revealed her coronavirus diagnosis in a private post to the group’s Facebook page on Sunday.
“As an asymptomatic COVID19 positive patient (quarantine ends 4/26),” Whitlock wrote in the message obtained by the Raleigh News and Observer. “Another concern I have is the treatment of COVID patients as it relates to other communicable diseases. I have been forced to quarantine in my home for 2 weeks,” she said.
Military commander Khalifa Haftar has declared himself the ruler of Libya with a “popular mandate” from the people.
In a televised speech, the leader of the Libyan National Army (LNA) announced that the General Command of the Armed Forces had “accepted the will of the people” to take over management of the country.
The move apparently marginalises an eastern-based civilian parliament that had until now been backing the military commander.
In his speech, Haftar added that a 2015 deal that produced the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), a unity administration based in Tripoli that was formed after years of civil conflict, was null and void.
“We announce our acceptance of the people’s will and mandate and the end of the Skhirat Agreement,” he said.
“The political agreement destroyed the country. We will work to create the conditions for building permanent civic institutions.”
