The Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN) says it has validated four Rapid Test Kits to determine their suitability for testing SAR-COV-2  infection popularly known as  COVID-19  in the country.

The Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of MLSCN, Dr Tosan Erhabor disclosed this in a video posted on the official twitter account of the council @MedLabNigeria. Erhabor said the council placed an advert in four National Daily Newspapers on March, 30,

The Federal Government has said that it has approved the resumption of the World Health Organization (WHO) COVID-19 drug trials earlier suspended two weeks ago.

The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, said this on Tuesday in Abuja, at the 39th joint national briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19. “A few weeks ago, I announced that Nigeria will participate in COVID-19 drug trial, which the WHO was leading but partly suspended.

As the world anxiously await a cure for COVID-19 (Coronavirus), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on Wednesday raised the alarm over the rising number of adulterated medical products in the markets.

They specifically mentioned Chloroquine as one of such products that have been faked and bandied by unscrupulous manufacturers as Coronavirus drug. 

The newly-elected president of the Nigerian Medical Association, (NMA), Professor Innocent Ujah, has advised the Federal Government not to allow governors take over the battle to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

Ujah who gave the warning while speaking with newsmen in Jos shortly after he was received by members of the association in Plateau State enjoined President Muhammadu Buhari not transfer such responsibility to the state governments, adding that apart from Lagos and two other states, the situation had been a disappointment in
other states. “This is an emergency, Coordination is very important and the coordination should be central while approach to the pandemic should be uniform. 

Nigeria’s tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases on Wednesday rose to 11,166 as 348 new infections were announced by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). The NCDC disclosed this on its verified Twitter handle on Wednesday night.

“On the 3rd of June 2020, 348 new confirmed cases and 1 death were recorded in Nigeria. No new state has reported a case in the last 24 hours. “Till date, 11166 cases have been confirmed, 3329 cases have been discharged and 315 deaths have been recorded in 35 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

The Federal Government says it is ready to pay two months hazard allowance to health workers in the frontline of the battle against COVID-19. 

Speaking at a meeting between representatives of the Federal Government and the Health Professional Associations, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, pledged that the doctors would be paid hazard allowance for the months of April and May before Friday, June 12, 2020.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says the agency has shipped more than five million items of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to 110 countries to support COVID-19 response.

The Director-General of WHO, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, said this at a news conference at WHO headquarters in Geneva. The director general said the agency was in the process of shipping more than 129 million items of PPE to 126 countries. 

Up to 12 people have been found infected with Ebola in a new outbreak of the deadly disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Monday. 

A week ago, authorities reported six infections in the northwestern city of Mbandaka, saying they appeared to be separate from another outbreak of the virus that has raged in the east since 2018. There have now been nine confirmed cases and three probable cases of the disease in and around Mbandaka, the WHO said. Six of those people have died, it added. The city sits on the Congo River, close to the border with the Republic of Congo.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says it has activated three additional laboratories, bringing the total number that can carry out PCR testing for Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Nigeria to 33.

Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, the Director-General of NCDC, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja that the health agency had stayed on track in its goal to rapidly scale up laboratory testing for COVID-19 in Nigeria. Ihekweazu mentioned the three new laboratories as: Biorepository and Clinical Virology Laboratory UCH, Ibadan, Oyo; Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory, Infectious Disease Unit, General Hospital, Ituk Mkpang, Akwa-Ibom and Jigawa State Molecular

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the continuous abuse and unauthorised use of antibiotics to treat COVID-19 may cause antibiotic resistance by some bacterial infections over time, resulting in avoidable deaths.

The WHO Country Representative, Dr. Fiona Braka, gave the warning on Monday in Abuja at the 41st joint national briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19. According to her, more people may die during and after the COVID-19 pandemic because the available antibiotics may not be sufficient and able to treat their infections.