No fewer than 89 ‘ghost’ doctors have been discovered in the payroll of Bauchi State. The Commissioner for Works, Abdulkadir Ibrahim, said this during a press conference shortly after the State Executive Council on Wednesday.  

He said the ‘ghost’ doctors were discovered during the ongoing verification  of all civil servants in the payroll of the state government. Ibrahim said, “They are collecting salaries from Bauchi State and also collecting salaries elsewhere, they just sit down and get alert without working in Bauchi.

Despite the panic over the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic, the total number of deaths by Lassa fever has silently climbed to 63 in Ondo as of Week 32, dated August 8, 2020. The last death case recorded in the state was in week 31, which brought the tally to 63.

There was no death case in week 32 in the state. Ondo State has witnessed 30 deaths so far from COVID-19, far less when compared to the fatalities from the Lassa fever disease. Even though there are 1,482 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state, with 30 deaths, Lassa fever in the state had been put at 363 confirmed cases with 63 deaths.

The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) says 29 states have received funding from the Regional Disease Surveillance Systems Enhancement (REDISSE) project to strengthen their public health response to COVID-19.

The forum announced this in a communiqué signed by the forum Chairman and Governor of Ekiti, Dr Kayode Fayemi on Thursday in Abuja, after the forum’s 15th teleconference meeting held on Wednesday.

Nutrition experts and other stakeholders in the campaign to improve breastfeeding in Nigeria have expressed worry that the COVID-19 pandemic is gradually changing the dynamics of nutrition as well as giving the opportunity to producers of breast Milk substitutes to interfere with optimal breastfeeding practice.

The experts also expressed concern that the COVID-19 pandemic has constituted a public health emergency around the world. 

Chairman, University of Ilorin Teaching hospital,(UITH) chapter of Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU), Comrade Olatunde Olawunmi Tuesday said that no fewer than 18 nurses have tested positive for COVID-19 pandemic at the hospital.

Oluwawumi who told reporters in Ilorin, the state capital at the sideline of a meeting with members added that seven supporting staff (portals) have also tested positive for the novel virus. He also said that UITH is yet to have COVID-19 isolation centre, adding that management had converted one of the ward at the hospital to a centre.

The United Nations has declared 2019 as the most violent for aid workers. It said 483 of them were attacked, 125 killed, 234 wounded and 124 kidnapped in 277 separate incidents. The Humanitarian Outcomes’ Aid Worker Security Database published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) submitted: “This is an 18 per cent increase in the number of victims compared to 2018.”

The global agency, yesterday, as part of activities to mark the World Humanitarian Day 2020 with the theme, “A tribute to aid workers on the front lines”, condemned the assaults.

The World Health Organisation has said it is working to ensure that COVID-19 vaccine is available and accessible to all countries once a proven vaccine is available. The WHO’s Director-General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, said this during a live virtual session of the 70th WHO Regional Committee for Africa.

He said the organisation had been working round the clock since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, noting that African countries now have a preparedness and response plan in place. “Our continent is facing a health crisis unlike any we have faced before.

Nigerian troops have rescued a health worker that was abducted by the Islamic State-affiliated terrorists in early 2020. Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) said the nurse was rescued after an air raid on one of the camps of the Islamic States West Africa Province (ISWAP), a splinter group of Boko Haram.

MNJTF is a combined multinational formation of mostly military from Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria. The freed nurse was said to have been in ISWAP captivity since January.

The Presidential Task Force on Coronavirus (COVID-19) says the Case Fatality Rate (CFR) is on the decline in the last five months but there is need for caution.

Mr Boss Mustapha, the PTF Chairman and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), said this during the daily briefing of the task force on Monday in Abuja. “We wish him and all other frontline workers that risked their lives but contracted the virus in the process, safe and speedy recovery.

Mrs Elsie Ilori, Head, Surveillance and Epidemiology Department, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), on Monday advised health workers to maintain a high index of suspicion on any patient as international flights are set to resume.

Ilori gave the advice at the briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 on Abuja. She said that a high index of suspicion for COVID-19 and other infectious diseases would facilitate response.