Abule-Ado explosion: Lagos pays N2.5m to victims’ families (Punch)
The Lagos State Government has commenced the payment of compensation to the next of kin of those who lost their lives in the explosion that rocked the Shoba community in the Abule-Ado area of the state on Sunday, March 15, 2020.
PUNCH Metro had reported that the explosion killed 23 persons, including the Administrator and some workers of the Bethlehem Girls College, and also destroyed over 60 buildings.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation had claimed that the explosion was caused by a truck, which hit a stack of gas cylinders, but some residents of the community faulted the claim, alleging that the explosion was caused by a bomb.
The fire, which followed the explosion, ravaged the community and burnt many buildings.
Over 586 residents were rendered homeless as a result of the tragedy. Read more
Emergency food market has achieved its goals – Lagos govt (Tribune)
Lagos State government, on Wednesday, said its Makeshift Neighbourhood Food Market had achieved the objective of enabling residents to access farm produce without much trouble as the state continues to observe the lockdown directive in the fight against the spread to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Commissioner for Agriculture, Prince Gbolahan Lawal, said this during an inspection tour of the Ramadan edition of the Makeshift Neighbourhood Markets at Local Government Primary School, Idimu and Ejigbo Nursery and Primary School, Orilowo, Ejigbo in Lagos, in the company of Hon Kehinde Joseph, Chairman, House Committee on Agriculture, Lagos State House of Assembly. Read more
Lagos adopts e-learning to boost pupils’ competitiveness (Guardian)
In the face of the coronavirus pandemic and continued closure of schools, Lagos State government has adopted the use of multiple media, including radio, television and the internet to reach the students.
Besides, government said it has worked on a technology device loaded with the Nigerian curriculum that the students can use while at home. With this device, they will be able to continue learning, test themselves and send tests to their teachers who will also be equipped with the device. Read more
Lagos health worker dies of COVID-19 in Ekiti (Punch)
Ekiti State on Wednesday recorded the first COVID-19 death with the demise of the third case, a 29-year-old health worker, who was delivered of a baby last week.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr Mojisola Yaya-Kolade, said the woman died around 6.58am on Wednesday.
The woman, a health worker in Lagos State, who was the third case, sneaked into the state and received medical attention in three facilities following her prolonged labour before she was tested and confirmed to be positive for COVID-19
Yaya-Kolade, who made the disclosure at a press briefing on COVID-19 situation in the state, expressed regret that the late COVID-19 patient infected a 45-year-old medical doctor, who is the fourth case in the state, and receiving treatment at present. Read more
Cactus partners Lagos on food palliatives (Nation)
Cactus Restaurants has pledged to donate 10,000 food packs to the Lagos State Government to support frontline health workers and ease the trauma of the lockdown on the poor and vulnerable in the state.
Disclosing the restaurant’s goodwill to reporters, the Manager, Marc Doumit, said the restaurant was collaborating with the Lagos State Resilience Office (LASRO) to give out 250 food packs every day and had committed to do so since the 12th of April 2020.
The restaurant was also considering to provide food packs in the evenings to cater for the interest of Muslims to ensure that they get good nutritious food to break their fast. Read more
NCDC confirms 91 cases in 8 states, FCT (Nation)
The 91 COVID-19 cases confirmed by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) were recorded in eight states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Lagos, the epicentre of the virus accounted for 74 of the new cases; Katsina (five); Ogun (four); two in Delta and Edo states. Kwara, Oyo, Adamawa and the FCT have one case each. Read more
Governor Ganduje seeks N15b support from FG to fight COVID-19 in Kano (DailyTrust)
Kano State Government has revealed on Wednesday that it has applied for N15b from the Federal Government to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
This was disclosed bythe state governor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, during a television programme ‘Politics Today’ aired on Channels Television and monitored by Daily Trust.
The governor stated that the state had not received a dime from the federal government as support to fight the COVID-19 disease since when the state recorded its first index case of the virus.
Kano’s COVID-19 cases are rising by the day and in just over a week, the cases are close to a hundred. Read more
Kano relaxes lockdown for 18hrs (Nation)
Kano State government has relaxed the lockdown order from 6am today to 12 midnight tomorrow. The measure is to allow residents to prepare adequately for the Ramadan fast.
Speaking while addressing the maiden briefing on the lockdown and the beginning of the Ramadan fast at the Government House on Wednesday. Deputy Governor Nasir Yusuf Gawuna who spoke on behalf of the Governor said the relaxation would allow the people to stock their houses with foodstuff.
He said the state examined the rising number of the COVID-19 case extend the closure of schools until further notice. Read more
Rosabon offers treasury note at 16.5% to help customers save (DailyTrust)
Rosabon Financial Services has offered for subscription, its second quarter Treasury Note of up to 16.5 per cent to help customers save during this COVID-19 period.
The Rosabon Treasury Note (RTN), which is a bulk fund placement offering that allows individuals to gain high returns on disposable funds, is available for both new and existing customers who are saving towards a financial goal.
The RTN allows individuals to determine how they would like to be paid interest on their fund placement, either upfront or at maturity. Individual subscribers can place a minimum of N50,000 while corporate subscribers can place a minimum of 250,000. Read more
Coronavirus: Trump signs order on immigration green card suspension (BBC)
US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to temporarily suspend the approval of some green cards.
The order, which contains a number of exemptions, is to last for 60 days and then could be extended, he said.
Mr Trump said the policy was designed to protect American workers’ jobs in an economy pummelled by the coronavirus.
Critics have accused him of using the pandemic as cover to ram through long-sought hardline immigration policies ahead of November’s election. Read more
Coronavirus ‘will be with us for a long time’: WHO (Guardian)
COVID-19 will stalk the planet for a long time to come, the World Health Organization said Wednesday, warning that most countries were still in the early stages of tackling the pandemic.
WHO boss Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said some countries that thought they had the new coronavirus under control were witnessing a resurgence in cases, while there were troubling upward trends in Africa and the Americas. Read more
Majority of Florida voters want to continue social distancing, poll shows (NYPost)
A large majority of Florida voters say the Sunshine State should not loosen social distancing rules by the end of April, with an even larger number saying that the state’s economy should only reopen after public health officials consider it safe, a new poll said Wednesday.
Florida voters said by 72 percent to 22 percent that the state should not relax social distancing rules by the end of April, the Quinnipiac University survey found.
And about three quarters of registered voters, 76 percent, said that the state’s economy should only reopen when public health officials believe it safe, compared to 17 percent who say it should reopen even if public health officials warn against it. Read more
New York begins manufacturing low-cost ventilators (VOA)
The first run of a new, low-cost ventilator is coming off the assembly line in New York City.
With COVID-19 raising concerns about a shortage of breathing machines for critically ill patients, the city turned to home-grown industries to try to fill in the gap.
Full-featured ventilators cost tens of thousands of dollars, but these stripped-down devices can be manufactured for a few thousand. They could be especially valuable in developing-world countries without the resources for expensive equipment.
As death rates in New York rose exponentially in March, state officials feared they would need many more ventilators. They saw what happened in Italy, where shortages forced doctors to make difficult decisions about who received access to this potentially life-saving equipment. Read more
Spectre of second wave haunts Italy as government mulls path out of lockdown (France24)
The European country worst hit by the coronavirus pandemic is approaching a fateful decision on how to start lifting a nearly two-month-long lockdown on May 4, with experts warning that Italians must learn to “coexist” with the virus for months to come.
Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is a man under siege, his advisers, allies and rivals pulling him left, right and centre as he prepares to make the most important call of his political career.
By the end of this week, the leader of Italy’s unruly coalition government will announce a plan to gradually lift the stringent lockdown measures that have been in place for seven traumatic weeks since March 10. Read more
Canada shooting: Police defend lack of emergency alert (BBC)
Police say they were preparing an emergency alert when police shot and killed the suspect in the worst mass shooting in Canada’s modern history.
Authorities have been criticised for relying on social media to alert Nova Scotia residents the manhunt for the gunman.
At least 22 people were killed over 13 hours that spanned Saturday night to Sunday morning.
Police are yet to determine a motive for the crime.
The victims include a 17-year-old, a pregnant healthcare worker and a veteran Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officer. Read more
Another 763 dead as UK’s coronavirus death toll passes 18,000 (Metro)
Another 763 people have died in UK hospitals after contracting coronavirus, taking the death toll to 18,100, the Department of Health (DoH) has confirmed.
Today’s jump in deaths is another huge daily increase, following a rise of 828 yesterday. The toll was updated after England recorded another 665 deaths. Scotland reported 77 deaths, while 15 were recorded in Wales. Northern Ireland has not yet released its new death toll. The combined daily increase from the three nations (not including Northern Ireland) comes to 757, which is 6 lower than the number – 763 – later released by the DoH this afternoon. Read more
Cardi B has harsh words for Georgians who favor re-opening businesses (PageSix)
It’s safe to say Cardi B thinks it’s too early to reopen businesses.
After the governor of her new home state of Georgia announced that salons, gyms and bowling alleys would be back in business on Friday, the rapper warned Georgians they would likely die alone in “a cold hospital” and called for “health over capitalism.”
“[Hospitals] are not nurturing covid [patients] with the proper foods tea to boost their immunes [sic],” she wrote on Instagram Wednesday. “Your parents, grandparents or you will most likely pass by yourself in a cold hospital with no physical contact with your loved ones. HEALTH OVER CAPITALISM!” Read more
Enyeama: Why I snubbed Arsenal, Tottenham (Nation)
Former Lille goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama said he snubbed offers from Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur because they wanted him as a second choice goalkeeper.
The 37-year-old attracted interest from North London clubs after his fine outing with the Super Eagles at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
He said he was keen on having regular playing time and his snub made the Gunners move for David Ospina who joined Napoli permanently last year after impressing on loan.
“Arsenal wanted me for second choice, but I was not interested. I also had an offer from Tottenham that wanted me for second choice also and I wasn’t interested,” Enyeama told ESPN. Read more
Eagles missing dressing room leaders – Etebo (Punch)
Getafe midfielder Oghenekaro Etebo has admitted that the exit of Mikel Obi and Odion Ighalo from the Super Eagles has left the team short of leaders in the dressing room.
Both players retired from the Eagles after featuring at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.
In an Instagram Live chat with The PUNCH, the 24-year-old midfielder said, “They are leaders who we are going to miss in the dressing room.
“Mikel was a leader; I recall how he helped us during the Olympics, when we had issues during our preparations for the Games. Not because I played with him but for the impact he had on me as a player,” Etebo said. Read more
Rory McIlroy wants Ryder Cup postponed instead of played without fans (BBC)
Rory McIlroy has joined a growing group of players who say this year’s Ryder Cup should be postponed to 2021 rather than playing it with no fans present because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The biennial event is still scheduled to take place from 25-27 September at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin, USA.
Team Europe captain Padraig Harrington said the “common consensus” is the event will not be held without fans. Read more
James Dolan is coronavirus-free and already helping others (NYPost)
Jim Dolan, the 64-year-old CEO of the Garden, has clinically recovered from COVID-19, The Post has learned.
An MSG spokesperson confirmed that Dolan, who tested positive the final week of March following exposure to an individual outside the company who carried the coronavirus, recently tested negative and is in good health.
Dolan, who had mild symptoms that included a loss of smell, self-isolated after learning of his positive test but continued to work on a regular schedule from his home. Read more
Premier League clubs set date for season restart (DailyTrust)
Premier League clubs are aiming to restart games from June 8, according to reports.
That date is the best case scenario as clubs were also told they may be able to start training again from May 18.
But it also came amid warnings that the Government have made it clear that football will not be viewed as a special case and widespread testing of players and staff must be introduced before action can return.
It could mean that players have to report up for training under strict quarantine. Read more
Roberto Martinez: Catastrophic if coronavirus means season is not completed (BBC)
Belgium head coach Roberto Martinez believes there could be “catastrophic” consequences for clubs across Europe if domestic seasons are not completed.
The majority of European football is suspended indefinitely because of the coronavirus epidemic.
Former Everton manager Martinez says 2019-20 must be concluded, however long it takes, if clubs are to avoid severe financial problems.
“I think the only solution is to finish the campaign,” Martinez said. Read more
Partey’s father confirms Arsenal may sign Atletico Madrid star (Guardian)
The rumours linking Arsenal with Atletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey have been rife for the past few weeks.
Partey is viewed by many as one of the best in the world in his position, recently starring in Atleti’s 3-2 win versus Liverpool at Anfield.
Arsenal have expressed an interest in the Ghanaian before, but is there a realistic chance that Mikel Arteta’s side – who will likely not qualify for the Champions League – can sign him this time around? Read more