Rivers State has recorded its first case of Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 51, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has said. Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, Director General of NCDC, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria(NAN), on Thursday in Abuja, while giving an update on the COVID-19 infections. 

Ihekweazu said NCDC on Wednesday reported five new cases of coronavirus, with two cases each in Abuja and Lagos, and one in Rivers. The NCDC said out of the five new cases, three are returning travellers into Nigeria and two are close contacts of a confirmed

The Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, on Monday, ordered manufacturing of chloroquine for emergency stock for possible clinical trial treatment of coronavirus. The NAFDAC boss in a statement, said the anti-malaria drug was reported to function as anti-viral at both the entry and post-entry stages of 2019-nCoV infection.

She added that chloroquine had also been reported as potential broad spectrum anti-viral drug. She noted that Lagos would begin clinical trial of the drug to evaluate its effectiveness, while calling on the public to desist from its use without the guidance of a medical doctor or clinician for cases of clinical trial treatment of COVID-19.

Despite several reports and commentaries drawing the attention of our duty bearers to the decay in the health sector before the current virus pandemic, no attention was paid, after all.

And now the consequences of executive negligence are here with all of us. Some of the pre-COVID-19 editorials and headlines include: ‘‘Equip Nigerian hospitals like UK’s, ‘‘That Buhari may finish ‘healthy’,” ‘‘Nigeria’s healthcare system under threat,’’ NMA’s five-year plan for health sector’’ ‘‘FG and another health sector plan,’’ ‘‘Healthcare, boy Ali and our conscience!,’’ ‘‘NMA and unbridled doctors’’ exodus,’’

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday signed the Covid-19 Regulations, 2020, which declared Covid-19 a dangerous infectious disease. President Buhari The President’s spokesman, Mr Femi Adesina, confirmed the development in a statement in Abuja.

He said President Buhari’s action was in exercise of the powers conferred on him by Sections 2, 3 and 4 of the Quarantine Act (CAP Q2 LFN 2004), and all other powers enabling him in that behalf. ”The Regulations, effective March 30, 2020,

THE Federal Government said it had concluded arrangements to convert tuberculosis’ diagnostic machines in the country coronavirus’ detection machines.

This came as retired health workers recalled by the federal government to assist in combating the disease reported for duties. Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, who disclosed this speaking at a press briefing held by the Presidential Task Force on Coronavirus,to update the nation of the state of coronavirus outbreak in the country, said the 300 Gene Xpert machines used for tuberculosis woud be converted to testing COVID-19 detection.

Dr Solomon Chollom, a Jo’s based Virologist, has called on the Federal Government to increase testing capacity for the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak in the country. Chollom made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja.

He spoke against the backdrop of revelation by the Director-General of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, that Nigeria with a population of about 200 million people was in search of over 5,000 contacts across the country. The expert said that Nigerians cannot rely on the seven testing centres in the country. “So far, it will be convenient to say that less than two per cent of Nigerians have been tested for the virus.

The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has revealed how the various medical consignments donated by the Chinese billionaire, Jack Ma, were distributed across the various states in the country.

The consignments, according to the NCDC, included 100,000 ordinary face masks, 9,999 overall gowns, 913 face shields, and 20,000 reagents for testing and were distributed to the states based on the number of cases, with the states that have the highest number getting the largest consignment.

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has cautioned the federal government on its planned move to recall retired medical personnel to join existing frontline workforce in the management and treatment of coronavirus (COVID-19) patients in the country.

The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, had earlier said that the government will recall retired medical personnel as its ‘reserved pool’, to help in the fight against coronavirus disease. The President of the NMA, Dr. Francis Faduyile, while speaking with the Nation, described the move as illogical as retired persons, because of their ages, are more vulnerable and highly susceptible to the infection.

Limited global stocks of two anti-malarial drugs could wreck plans to use the medicines, currently in clinical trials, to treat COVID-19, doctors cautioned on Thursday.  

Around the world, countries are expanding access to chloroquine(CQ)and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), which are used to treat malaria and are known to have anti-viral properties. The medicines have shown early promise against the COVID-19 illness in studies in France and China. CQ, which is the less toxic of the two, is also used as an anti-inflammatory to treat conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, purposes it is primarily known for outside the tropics. Writing in the Annals of Rheumatic Diseases, doctors in Italy – the country hardest hit by COVID-19 – said that limited supply could

The World Health Organisation (WHO), Regional Office for Africa in Brazzaville, Congo, said on Thursday there are now 6,075 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Africa with 214 deaths.

The United Nations health agency gave the update in its regional official twitter account @WHOAFRO in the Congolese capital.  It said: “They are 6,075 cases on the African continent, with 214 deaths and 478 recoveries reported.