Osagie Ehanire, minister of health, says Nigeria has started using remdesivir, an anti-retroviral drug, in managing COVID-19 patients.
Addressing members of the house of representatives on Tuesday, Ehanire said the drug has been administered to patients in Lagos state.
He, however, did not say the outcome of the treatment.
“We have been using that (remdesivir); we have tried that in Lagos too,” he said.
“So, we have tried the antiretroviral drug to see what effect it has.”
A massive fire broke out at a residential tower in Al Nahda in Sharjah on Tuesday night. Of the 12 people who were injured, five were rushed to hospital with smoke inhilation and seven were treated at the scene.
The quick response by Sharjah Civil Defence teams averted a major disaster. The cause of the fire is yet to be determined.
Initial reports say the fire broke out on the 10th floor of the Abbco Tower at 9.04pm, moving up quickly due to cladding.
Tenants were evacuated from the 49-storey building which consists of 38 residential floors, two floors for services and nine levels of car parking. Each floor has 12 flats.
The fire was brought under control two hours after civil defence received the first fire alert. Personnel from Mina and Al Nahda fire stations attended the scene, while the Sharjah Police Air Wing was also called into action. National Ambulance dispatched five vehicles to the scene, an official said.
One side of the building was almost entirely destroyed.
Colonel Sami Khamis Al Naqbi, Director-General of Sharjah Civil Defence, told Gulf News the cooling operation was under way.
Col. Al Naqbi added that all residents were evacuated before the fire spread, which helped avoid serious injury and prevent the blaze from spreading to neighbouring buildings.
The police used a drone to check if there were any people trapped inside, said Colonel Dr. Ali Abu Al Zoud, Deputy Director General of Central Operations of Sharjah Police.
48 year old Nollywood actress Bimbo Oshin took to social media to advise her followers to adhere to every precautionary measures.
This is coming after Lagosians went about their normal activities yesterday, giving little or no concern to their safety.
She wrote;
”When the FLOOD subsided after 40 days, Noah did not RUSH OUT. He sent a bird out and it was after the 3rd time the bird did not return that he knew it was TIME to STEP OUT.
This week, please do not join the multitude that will rush out because they are tired of staying at home.
Let us be wise like Noah to OBSERVE and keep on observing our hand hygiene, social distancing and stay inside your own ARK, OUR HOMES.if it not necessary for you to go out.
May we and our loved ones be preserved and protected from this pandemic in Jesus Christ mighty name amen.
The Nigerian Government has said that the Chinese doctors, who came to Nigeria over a month ago, were already working at different isolation centres across the country.
Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, disclosed this at the daily press briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 on Monday.
Mohammed said the Chinese medical team was helping the country in capacity building.
He said, “The Chinese are doing well, they all tested negative for Coronavirus. As to what they are doing right now, they are busy working at our isolation centres, putting together and setting up their equipment they brought.
“They are helping our doctors in capacity building in the centres. Like we said at the beginning, none of the Chinese doctors will be treating any patient in Nigeria.”
Some Nigerians had kicked against government’s decision to invite the medical experts, saying the country had enough doctors to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.
An assistant commissioner of police, Atiku Nagodi, is dead.
Nagodi died on Monday after a brief illness, a police source confirmed.
His death is the latest among increasing deaths in Kano.
Nasir Gwarzo, who led a Federal Government medical intervention team to Kano, said his team suspected that the mysterious deaths in the city were caused by Coronavirus.
The proud dad shared the lovely photo of his son writing;
''ALL THIS DUDE WANNA DO IS GRAB MY SHADES, DON IT, SIT BACK AND OBSERVE EVERYONE QUIETLY.
SOMETIMES, ITS LIKE WATCHING A COMPACT, REAL LIFE VERSION OF MY MANNERISMS IN AN OUT OF BODY EXPERIENCE.
ITS AS UNCANNY AS IT IS SURREAL.
MR. JJ IS MY MONDAY MOTIVATION''.
The management of Union Bank on Monday confirmed the death of one of its staff at a branch in Lagos.
Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Emeka Emuwa, made this known in an internal memo seen by SaharaReporters.
He said, “Dear colleagues, notwithstanding the easing of the lockdown, the threat of COVID-19 remains high and real.
“Today, we received a painful reminder of this threat. We are deeply saddened to announce that one of our colleagues passed away in the early hours of today (Monday, May 4th) while being treated at the Infectious Disease Center in Yaba, Lagos.”
Emuwa however, noted that the deceased had been working remotely since the bank activated that option in March and has not worked or being in any of the bank’s branches since then.
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, says all oil workers seeking to come into the state must get the government’s permit and present their coronavirus “status” before they can be allowed entry.
This was contained in a statement issued on Monday by his media aide, Simeon Nwakaudu, which was posted on Facebook.
According to Nwakaudu, the governor alleged that the latest of the coronavirus cases recorded in the state was flown into Port Harcourt by Bristow Helicopters from an offshore oilfield facility in Akwa Ibom State on the 29th of April 2020.
The statement read in part, “Given the threat posed to the state by oil and gas company workers, it has reviewed all entry waivers and permits earlier granted to oil and gas companies.
“From now on, requests for waivers and entry permits from oil and gas companies will be considered on a case by case basis;
“All inward-bound vehicles and flights into Rivers State from oil and gas companies with workers for crew change or other essential operations must first submit details of their manifests to the State’s Taskforce on COVID-19 for proper vetting of their virus status before they can be allowed to enter the state.
“As a government, we cannot abdicate this compelling responsibility and abandon our people to chances in the midst of this much dreaded and ravaging pandemic.”
Youssef Hossam has been banned for life by the Tennis Integrity Unit after being found guilty of multiple match-fixing and other corruption offences.
The TIU found that the Egyptian, 21, had committed 21 breaches of anti-corruption rules between 2015 and 2019.
It also ruled he conspired with others to carry out betting-related corruption at the lower levels of the sport.
Hossam reached a career-high singles ranking of 291 in December 2017 and is currently ranked 820.
He was provisionally suspended from tennis in May last year and was found to have committed eight cases of match-fixing, six cases of facilitating gambling and two cases of soliciting other players not to use their best efforts.
He was also found guilty of three failures to report corrupt approaches and two failures to co-operate with a TIU investigation.
"As a result of his conviction, Mr Hossam is now permanently excluded from competing in or attending any sanctioned tennis event organised or recognised by the governing bodies of the sport," said a TIU statement.
His elder brother, Karim Hossam, was banned from tennis for life for multiple match-fixing offences in 2018.
Nigerian singer Aituaje Iruobe, known professionally as Waje has called for calm in the investigation of murder against Clarence Peters.
Lagos State Police Command announced that the popular music video director was being investigated for murder over the death of professional dancer, Love Divine, known as Kodak.
Lagos Police PRO, Bala Elkana said: “It is a murder charge. We are probably looking at murder.”
Elkana’s announcement sparked diverse reactions because multiple reports stated that the dancer died of electrocution while charging her phone at Peters’ house.
But Elkana said: “We are not concluding at this stage. If she died of electrocution according to reports, it is left for us to find out.”
Reacting to the news, Waje said: “I have known Clarence for more than 10 years and this is just a sad situation. You have built and constantly still building job opportunities for young people in entertainment.
Actress Dayo Amusa is saddened by how Nigerians are reacting to the social distancing regulation.
The lock down in Lagos was relaxed yesterday and citizens trooped into the streets of the ever busy city in spite of the pandemic.
Images and videos of crowded banks and bus stations, made Dayo shed tears. Sharing a photo of herself crying, the actress wrote;
''Oh! My chest! My mood when i see how my people are disregarding social distancing and the use of face mask during this pandemic. This is not the govt. ish now o. I weep for Nigerians 🇳🇬 COVID19 IS REAL!''
Some nurses of the Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta, Ogun state have been seen wearing polythene bags to prevent themselves from being infected by a suspected case of COVID-19 discovered in the facility.
Recall that two persons, including a pregnant woman who died on Saturday, tested positive for the infection in the hospital.
The second case, a 97-year-old man, had been transferred to the Ogun state COVID-19 isolation centre in Ikene. Moreover, some of the health workers who came in contact with those infected have been told to isolate.
It was gathered that one of the medical doctors who came in contact with the aged man, Mr Ashimi, has also been transferred to Ikene for isolation.
Accordingly, the Emergency Treatment Room (ETR) and the Gynecology Emergency unit, where the confirmed cases were earlier admitted, have been closed down for fumigation.
On Monday, two women admitted at Female Medical ward were suspected to have contracted the disease after showing symptoms. This caused an uproar at the facility with the health workers of the affected unit demanding for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), a protective gear recommended for the treatment of infectious diseases.
POLITICS NIGERIA understands that the nurses had to improvise with the waste bags after the management denied them the PPE on Monday afternoon.
Later on, some public health practitioners protested the irregularities when they saw their colleagues on the materials. However, the spokesperson of the hospital, Orisaju Segun, denied knowledge of the incident when contacted on Monday.
Also, the head of the nursing department claimed the information about the non-provision of PPE is false. "That is not true. They were not denied PPE," She claimed.
Meanwhile, when she could not explain what led to the nurses putting on a polythene bag, she promised our reporter that the issue will be investigated.
Reacting to this, the President of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Adeniji AbdulRafiu expressed surprise in a telephone interview with POLITICS NIGERIA.
"I am surprised that a nurse will agree to wear a polythene bag. This really baffles me," he said.
The Federal Government on Monday confirmed that some hospitals were rejecting sick patients in Kano State.
The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 announced this in an update on the state’s battle against coronavirus.
Boss Mustapha, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and PTF Chairman spoke at the daily briefing in Abuja.
He disclosed that the team received reports that medical facilities and doctors were turning back sick patients over the fear that their illnesses were COVID-19-related.
Mustapha begged hospitals not to neglect the treatment of other ailments because such actions had resulted in avoidable deaths.
He noted that teams dispatched from Abuja had continued to work with the state structure and were doing well.
“We have achieved a lot in the area of manpower support, equipment deployment and usage, increased testing capacity and treatment centres.
“Efforts are also ongoing to upscale the training of medical personnel in Kano and neighbouring states on the management of infectious diseases and to provide them with Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) for protection.
“Private hospitals have also been advised to seek accreditation before taking up the management of infectious diseases,” Mustapha said.
Over hundred people are said to have died within the last ten days in Hadejia Local Government Area of Jigawa state.
The Special Assistant to the Local Council Chairman on Media, Sani Kakabori who spoke to Channels Television says an average of ten people mostly above the ages of fifty die everyday for the last ten days, in the local government.
However, the state Government has established a five man committee to investigate the issue and recommend appropriate actions.
The State Chairman COVID 19 Task force who is also the Commissioner of health, Dr Abba Zakari disclosed this in a statement.
According to him, the Committee is chaired by Dr Mahmud Abdulwahab with Shehu Mohammad, Yusuf Hakimi, Shehu Sule, and representative of World Health Organization (WHO) as members.
Abba Zakari pointed out that the committee is expected to submit their reports within three days.
Nollywood actress Mercy Johnson Okojie has given birth to her 4th child, a girl, named Divine-Mercy Ehinomen Okojie.
Her hubby, Prince Odie Okojie shared pictures from the hospital on his instagram page and wrote:
'Every Good and Perfect gift is from God. The wait is finally Over, Please share in Our Joy as we announce the arrival of Our Daughter.
Divine-Mercy Ehinomen Okojie.'
Nigerian video director, Clarence Abiodun Peters, has finally spoken about the death of professional dancer, Love Divine known as Picture Kodak at his residence.
Giving account of the sad incident, Peter said he was not physically in the same room as Picture Kodak but in the same building.
He said it was a few moments after that they called his attention to what happened.
He also mentioned that no one has been arrested in connection to the dancer’s death. He said he was only called by the Police for interrogation.
His words: “On the 29th of April 2020, Love Divine Ike (Picture Kodak) was in the dance studio, on the premises of Capital Dreams Pictures, with 5 other team members and myself – 7 people in total.
“At about 7:30 pm on the same day, while in another office – a building beside the dance studio, on the same premises, some people who were said to be with Love Divine at the time, rushed in and called my attention to the fact that Love Divine had collapsed.
“We immediately rushed her to the nearest hospital, which refused to let us into their premises, let alone admit her. They assumed she was a Covid-19 patient.
“We tried, but we were not able to gain entry into a second hospital. We eventually got her to a third hospital where she was pronounced dead 30 minutes after arrival.
“I was not physically in the same room as her when the incident occurred, and when I inquired, I was told by those present at the scene that Love Divine, while taking a break from the dance session, was sitting on one of the metal sliding door rails, charging and using her phone plugged to an extension box.
“The witnesses didn’t realize anything was wrong until they saw she had laid down, and they noticed smoke coming from her chest area.
“She was said to be electrocuted, her phone was found on her chest, with severe burn marks, and the phone’s imprint on her chest.
“The witnesses were taken to the Ojodu Police Headquarters straight from the hospital where statements were taken and the phone (which had traces of burnt flesh on it) was deposited.
“The following day, the Police conducted an examination of the body and were taken to the scene of the incident for further examination.
“The Police are currently carrying out a full-scale investigation into the events that occurred, and an autopsy will be carried out, with the full permission and consent of her family.
“Please note that no one has been charged or arrested, by the Police. The witnesses and I willingly made ourselves available to the Police and we have all pledged our full co-operation, through every part of this process. I will be helping out in every possible capacity.”
