Dr Matshidiso Moeti, World Health Organisation (WHO), Regional Director for Africa, says African Region is on the verge of being certified free of wild poliovirus. Moeti disclosed this on Tuesday at the ongoing virtual World Health Assembly 2020 in Geneva.

This is the first time the assembly, which is WHO’s main governing body, will convene virtually since the pandemic began. According to her, the development is a major public health milestone in Africa. The regional director, however, called for continued support to make healthcare a reality for every African.

The Chairman of the Kogi State branch of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Dr Kabir Zubair has said that testing for the Coronavirus disease remains a challenge in the state.

The state NMA chairman stated this on Thursday, in a reaction to the report by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), that only one testing sample has so far been sent in for checking by Kogi. The test result returned negative.

The House of Representatives has picked holes in the explanations by the Federal Government on the status of the 15 Chinese doctors and health workers who came into Nigeria on April 8, 2020, with the claim of coming to assist the government in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the plenary on Tuesday, the House resolved that the Minister of Health, Prof. Osagie Ehanire, should give the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, a “full status report” on the expatriates. 1tcA member, Mr Dachung Bagos, had moved a motion to demand a probe into the activities of the Chinese medical personnel, especially due to the conflicting information from officials of the Federal Government.

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has said it would continue the trial of Hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 treatment despite the announcement of a temporary pause by the World Health Organisation.

WHO had on Monday cited safety concerns for the temporary pause of the trial of Hydrochloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. Speaking on the continuation of the trial in Nigeria, Director-General of NAFDAC, Mojisola Adeyeye, who spoke during an interview on Television Continental on Tuesday, said the drug had proven to be effective for mild case COVID-19 patients.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has approved N10 billion aggregate loan request by pharmaceuticals and other health care organizations from its earlier announced N100 billion facility to enable the entities produce items to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

The apex bank Director, Corporate Communications, Mr. Isaac Okorafor, confirmed that “on the loan component about N10bn worth of applications have already been approved and many more are being processed.”

Nigeria on Wednesday reported 389 new confirmed new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total of confirmed infections in the country to 8,733. NAN reports that the figure is the highest daily cases so far reported since the beginning of the outbreak in the country.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Thursday reported that COVID-19 cases in Africa as at May 26 had risen to over 123, 000. The WHO Regional Office for Africa in Brazzaville, Congo, gave the update on its official twitter handle @WHOAFRO.

“There are over 123,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases on the African continent – with more than 50,000 recoveries and 3,600 deaths,’’ it said. The figures show that South Africa, Algeria and Nigeria have the highest reported cases in the continent.

As part of efforts to revitalize Primary Health Care system in Lagos state, the State government has carried out a comprehensive assessment on no fewer than 329 primary health centres in the State.

The State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi made this known on Wednesday at a press briefing held to commemorate the first year in office of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu. Speaking on the objective of the assessment, Abayomi said it focused on the level of functionality and geographical positioning system of the Primary Health Centres to identify gaps for service improvement efforts.

Eighty seven patients were on Wednesday discharged from various isolation centres in Lagos after testing negative for coronavirus twice, bringing the number of those discharged to 825. The state Ministry of Health disclosed this on its twitter handle, adding that those discharged comprised 47 males and 40 females.

The ministry said of those discharged, 26 were from Mainland Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba; 24 from Onikan, 12 from Eti-Osa (LandMark), 11 from Agidingbi, nine from Gbagada and five from Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) isolation centres.

More deaths are being recorded in patients with other ailments because medical institutions in the country are refusing to handle cases because of fear of contracting coronavirus, the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on the pandemic has observed.

Chairman of the task force and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha, who said this at its briefing in Abuja on Thursday, expressed regrets that government tertiary medical institutions are also guilty of it.