As at 22:21 GMT, Nigeria has tested a total of 18,536 samples for Covid-19 according to the data available on NCDC website.
Lagos State remains the worst affected state with 1,259 confirmed cases, followed by Kano with 388 confirmed cases.
On Monday the ease of lockdown in Lagos, FCT and Ogun announced by President Muhammadu Buhari came into effect. However, the two weeks total lockdown he imposed on Kano was cut short in the state as some businesses were allowed to open.
Kano has been gripped with mysterious deaths in the past weeks. As a result, presidential task force was sent to the state for investigation into the cause of deaths. Nasiru Sani Gwarzo, the head of the presidential task force told journalists that eighty of the deaths reported in Kano have been linked to Coronavirus. Because samples that were taken from the bodies not yet buried returned positive.
Many people in the country have expressed concern that Nigeria is beginning to ease its lockdown despite the increasing number of cases in the country.
Lagos state government has announced it would grant a waiver for manufacturers and construction companies in the state, that wish to operate beyond the hours stipulated for free movement. This was announced via the official Twitter handle of the Lagos State Government. The time of operation for construction and manufacturing companies, can be extended to 6pm while that of other companies remains 3pm. Although there are conditions for the waiver to be issued.
Some African countries are also loosening their lockdown on Monday, including South Africa, and Rwanda. There are worries that cases will increase in the continent in the next 3 – 6 months due to the difficulty in observing social distancing rules.
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In Tanzania, both the Director of National Health Laboratory and its quality manager have been suspended pending investigation. This comes as the country’s President said that the number of Coronavirus cases in the country might be exaggerated. That fruits and animal samples including birds and goats sent to the lab tested positive for Covid-19.
“Vehicle oil for instance, labelled Jabir Hamza aged 30-years-old [male], tested negative. We sent a jackfruit sample which we named Sara Samweli, a 45-year-old female – the results were inconclusive. When we sent a papaya [paw-paw] sample and named it Elizabeth Anne, aged 26 years, that papaya was positive,” said President John Magufuli.
He also said that he is sending a plane to Madagascar to take a batch of the Covid-Organics, which has been delivered to other countries including Equatorial Guinea and Guinea-Bissau.
Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina, has said that the country will begin clinical trials next week for the artemisia-based herbal remedy, which he says can cure coronavirus.
Africa has a total of 44,873 confirmed cases of Covid-19 with 15,179 recoveries and 1,807 deaths according to African Center for Disease Control.
World leaders from over 30 countries including France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Canada, Japan, Jordan, Norway, Israel, South Africa and the EU, as well as other donors including UN on Monday pledged over $8 billion for vaccine development and research into the diagnosis and treatment of Coronavirus. The US, Russia and India were not present at the meeting.
China was represented by its Ambassador to the European Union after a weekend of persuasion.
The European commission and Norway donated $1 billion each. Japan pledged over $800 million. Germany, France, and Saudi Arabia donated $500 million each. UK pledged $483.
Of the money raised, $4.4bn will go on vaccine development, some $2bn on the search for a treatment and $1.6bn for producing tests, the EU said.
The UN says a return to normal life will only be possible with a vaccine. Most experts think it could take until mid-2021, about 12-18 months after the new virus first emerged, for a vaccine to become available.
Although, WHO announced in the previous week that, there 102 potential vaccines with 8 given approval for clinical trial.
Italy reported 174 deaths from Covid-19, a 2-months low in the number deaths as the country begin to ease lockdown. France and Spain reported 135 and 164 deaths related to Covid-19 respectively. Spain’s figure were the lowest since mid- March.
Russia reported for a second consecutive day, over 10,000 new cases of Coronavirus. Russia has recorded 145,268 cases of Covid-19 with 18,095 recoveries and 1,356 deaths
Globally there are, 3,511,615 confirmed cases of Coronvirus, 1,145,407 recoveries and 250,134 deaths as at 22:51 GMT according to John Hopkins Coronavirus Resource center.
245 new cases of #COVID19;
76-Lagos
37-Katsina
32-Jigawa
23-Kano
19-FCT
18-Borno
10-Edo
9-Bauchi
6-Adamawa
5-Oyo
5-Ogun
1-Ekiti
1-Osun
1-Benue
1-Niger
1-Zamfara2802 confirmed cases of #COVID19 in Nigeria
Discharged: 417
Deaths: 93 pic.twitter.com/IkHR3dpcVV— NCDC (@NCDCgov) May 4, 2020
Written by
Ifunanya Ikueze
