After Africa’s first suspected case of the Wuhan coronavirus emerged last month in the Ivory Coast, doctors sent a sample from the coughing college student to the closest equipped lab — 4,500 miles north, in Paris.

Officials said the wait for the results, which came back negative, highlighted the need to rapidly expand testing capacity on the continent, where health authorities are scrambling to prepare for a potential outbreak.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said the official name for the new coronavirus will be Covid-2019. “We now have a name for the disease and it’s Covid-19.

“Co” stands for coronavirus, “Vi” is for virus and “D” is for disease, Tedros explained. Health officials purposely avoided naming COVID-19 after a geographical location, animal or group of people. “Having a name matters, to prevent the use of other names that can be inaccurate or stigmatizing,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in Geneva.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria has inducted 144 graduates of nursing science of foreign universities. The inductees had completed a six month adaptation programme in Nigerian universities and passed professional examination for general nursing conducted in November 2019.

Speaking during the induction ceremony at the council’s headquatres in Abuja,  Registrar of the council, Alhaji Faruk Umar Abubakar said 317 foreign trained nurses participated in the professional examination  but only 144 were successful and inducted.

A global research and innovation forum led by the World Health Organisation (WHO) was launched on Tuesday to mobilise international action in response to the novel coronavirus outbreak. 

The forum co-hosted by the WHO and the Global Research Collaboration for Infectious Disease Preparedness is funded by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. A 2-day forum kicked off at 9 a.m. Geneva time (0800 GMT) on Tuesday and is expected to end on Wednesday.

The Chairman of the Nigeria Medical Association Cancer Committee, Dr Sunday Omoya, has said that Nigeria needs N92bn to provide diagnosis and treatment to cancer patients in the country. Omoya spoke during a briefing recently held in Abuja by the NMA as part of the events marking World Cancer Day. 

Omoya said, “The amount represented the budget for the implementation of the four year programme of the National Cancer Control Plan.” The President of the association, Dr Francis Faduyile, said the Federal Government in 2001 agreed to vote 15 per cent of the annual budget for health, but it failed to go beyond five per cent.

An aggrieved father has attacked medical workers at the Sapele Central Hospital, Delta State, over the death of his child at the medical facility. PUNCH Metro learnt that the man went berserk minutes after medical workers broke the news of the death of his one-year-six-month-old child to him. 

The man, whose identity could not be ascertained as of the time of filing this report, was alleged to have accused the doctors and nurses on duty of complicity in the child’s death and vowed that “one of them must die with his son.”

Another 88 people aboard a cruise ship off Japan have tested positive for the coronavirus, authorities said Tuesday, as those free of the disease hoped they were spending their last night on board before disembarking.

The new cases take the total from the Diamond Princess to 542 -- easily the biggest cluster outside the epicentre in China -- as the cruise ship has proved an especially virulent breeding ground for the virus despite quarantine. The new cases will be sent to specialised hospitals, the ministry said in a statement, without giving further details such as their nationalities. 

DRUGS shortage is likely in the country should the Coronavirus epidemic continue in China, theNational Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) warned on Monday. The agency boss, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, said India which Nigeria depends on for a greater percentage of its drug imports, has already been hit by the ravaging effects of the virus. 

India buys most of their materials and active ingredients from China while  Nigeria imports 70 per cent of its medicines as well as  active and non-active ingredients mostly from the South Asian country.

Ministers of Health of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have agreed to support member states for a regional preparedness and response to the ongoing Covid-19 (Coronavirus).

Sen. Olorunnimbe Mamora, Minister for State, Federal Ministry of Health, made this known at a news conference on Monday in Abuja, while briefing newsmen on the outcome of an emergency meeting held in Bamako, Republic of Mali. Mamora said that members resolved to provide technical guidance and tools specifically to member states. He added that member states had also stepped up proactive measures to ensure the best chance of containing a possible outbreak.

The West African Postgraduate College of Medical Laboratory Science (WAPCMLS) has said that it has concluded plans for the Induction/Investiture of Foundation Fellows and the 2020 Annual Congress of the College coming up on Friday.

Chairman, Steering Board WAPCMLS, Dr. Godswill  Okara, who was speaking while addressing a press  conference  to herald the upcoming event on Monday in Abuja said that the congress will feature the induction and investiture of two hundred foundation fellows of the College drawn from Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d’ivoire, Liberia, The Gambia, Togo and Cameroon.