COVID-19: Medical doctor, policeman arrested for abusing exemptions (DailyTrust)
The Lagos State police command says it has arrested a medical doctor, whose name it wouldn’t disclose, and a policeman for allegedly abusing exemptions to the movement restriction order the federal government issued for Lagos State. President Mohammadu Buhari had, in a nationwide broadcast on Sunday evening, issued the 14-day movement restriction order for Lagos and Ogun states, as well as the Federal Capital Territory as government battles to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease. Professionals like health officials, military personnel, policemen, journalists and private security operatives on essential duties were, however, exempted from the order. But the police said some professionals have been abusing the exemption window. Read more
Worshippers attack COVID-19 enforcement officers in Lagos (Punch)
Some worshippers, on Tuesday, allegedly attacked officers of the Lagos State COVID-19 Task Force, who were enforcing the lockdown ordered by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).
It was gathered that the officers of the task force were attacked by some Muslim faithful observing the Solatul Ishal prayer at the Agege Central (Hausa) Mosque.
A statement by the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday said the worshippers, numbering about 300, rushed out of the mosque and started hurling missiles at the task force’s patrol vehicle and physically attacked the officers. Read more
Why UCH CMD, others contracted Coronavirus, by health expert (Guardian)
The first Nigerian professor of Environmental Health Sciences and founder of Child Health Environment and Safety Trust (CHEST), Godson Ana, has explained why the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the University College Hospital (UCH), Prof. Jesse Otegbayo, and Provost and Deputy Provost of University of Ibadan tested positive to Coronavirus.
Ana, who disclosed this at a press conference at Agbowo area of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, said that what happened at the premier university and premier teaching hospital was beyond merely observing personal hygiene. Read more
Woman attempts suicide, jumps into Osun river (DailyTrust)
A woman, who identified herself as Kafayat Alake, yesterday attempted to commit suicide by jumping into Osun river from the Gbodofon bridge. Some residents of the Gbodofon area said they sighted Alake from their homes loitering on the bridge and that after some time, she jumped into the river. Some of the residents raised an alarm, which drew the attention of a man identified as David Johnson, who dived into the river and brought her out. The residents called officials of the Osun State Fire Service, who arrived at the scene and took her to a hospital. Read more
FG reviews lockdown as COVID-19 cases rise by 35 (Punch)
The Federal Government has relaxed total lockdown it imposed on the Federal Capital Territory, Lagos and Ogun states to curb the spread of COVID-19.
The government, in the new guidelines it issued on Wednesday, stated that markets selling food would open from 10am to 2pm every other day.
Also, supermarkets and pharmacies are to open from 10am to 4pm every day, but must maintain a high level of hygiene. Read more
FG opens food markets for four hours daily in Lagos, Ogun, Abuja (Guardian)
Insists on closure of all businesses for two weeks in affected states
The Federal Government yesterday directed that food markets in Lagos, Ogun and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) would be allowed to open daily for four hours, from 10:00a.m. to 2:00p.m. This was contained in the guidelines realeased for the implementation of the lockdown policy approved by President Muhammadu Buhari to curtail the spread of coronavirus in the country.
According to the document released by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 In Abuja on Wednesday, as part of the measures to enforce social distancing and limit the spread of the coronavirus, the Federal Government has decided that schools, organisations and businesses in FCT, Lagos and Ogun states will close effective from 30 March for an initial period of two weeks. Read more
Businessman jailed for issuing N5m dud cheque (Punch)
A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, on Tuesday, sentenced a businessman, Sampson Onyekachi, to two years’ imprisonment for issuing a dud cheque for N5.1m.
Justice M. O. Opara convicted Onyekachi on one count of issuance of dud cheque after finding the defendant guilty of the offence.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had arrested, investigated and arraigned the defendant after the matter was reported at its Port Harcourt zonal office. Read more
FG revises fuel pump price to 123.50/litre (DailyTrust)
The Federal Government on Tuesday, through the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), announced a new reduction in fuel pump price from N125 per litre to 123.50 per litre. Abdulkadir Saidu, the Executive Secretary of the agency, who announced the new pump price, said all retail outlets should start selling at the new price effective from yesterday. Tuesday’s adjustment came less than two weeks after the government revised downward the pump price from N145 to N125, following the declining crude oil prices in the international market associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The recent downward review in fuel pump price is based on the reduced landing cost of petrol into the country Read more
Nigeria, S’Africa, others seek debt relief from W’Bank (Punch)
The ministers of finance from African countries have called for debt relief from bilateral, multilateral and commercial partners to cushion the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the economies of countries within the region.
They said the debt relief should be done with the support of multilateral and bilateral financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank Group, and the European Union, among others. Read more
When coronavirus patients are most contagious (NYPost)
Coronavirus patients are most contagious during their first week showing symptoms, new research suggests.
The early, albeit “limited” study of nine patients in Germany found very high levels of the virus in the throat of those patients at their earliest onsets of sickness, according to the scientist behind the research published in Nature journal.
That means those who fall ill could still be going about their daily lives when they’re most contagious. Read more
Fountains of Wayne songwriter Adam Schlesinger dies of coronavirus complications (ChicagoTribune)
Emmy and Grammy-winning musician and songwriter Adam Schlesinger, known for his work with his band Fountains of Wayne and on the TV show “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” died Wednesday after contracting the coronavirus, his attorney said.
Schlesinger died at a hospital in upstate New York, his longtime lawyer Josh Grier told The Associated Press. It is not clear where or how Schelsinger, a 51-year-old father of two, contracted the virus. He had been sedated and on a ventilator for several days.
Schlesinger was nominated for 10 Emmys for writing comical songs across several television shows, winning three. He was nominated for an Academy Award for writing the title song to the 1997 Tom Hanks-directed movie “That Thing You Do.” Read more
BA expected to suspend 36,000 staff (BBC)
British Airways is expected to announce it will suspend around 36,000 staff.
The airline, which grounded much of its fleet due to the coronavirus crisis, has been negotiating with the Unite union for more than a week.
The two sides have reached a broad deal but are yet to sign on some details.
The agreement means that up to 80% of BA cabin crew, ground staff, engineers and those working at head office will have their jobs suspended but no staff are expected to be made redundant. Read more
Italian nurse strangles doctor girlfriend, claims she gave him coronavirus NYPost)
An Italian nurse who claimed his doctor girlfriend gave him the coronavirus strangled her in a fit of rage, according to a report.
Antonio De Pace, 28, called the police Tuesday and confessed that he had killed his partner, Lorena Quaranta, over the infection, The Sun and local media reported.
Police arrived at their apartment and found Quaranta, 27, dead and De Pace on the floor with his wrists cut. Read more
Engineers are turning £25 snorkel masks into ventilators (Metro)
A firm is making valves that transform a £25 snorkelling mask into a respiratory ventilator for coronavirus patients. Protolabs, in Telford, Shropshire, is 3D printing the parts for Italian firm Isinnova, where engineers came up with the novel solution.
The mask is widely sold at Decathlon stores and online priced at £24.99. They were contacted by doctors having to cope with a shortage of ventilators during the Covid-19 pandemic. Read more
Coronavirus deaths near 46,000 worldwide (Guardian)
The new coronavirus pandemic has killed at least 45,719 people worldwide since its appearance in December in China, according to a tally by AFP from official sources on Wednesday at 1900 GMT.
More than 905,580 cases of infection have been officially diagnosed in 187 countries and territories since the start of the epidemic.
The number of detected cases, however, only reflects a fraction of the actual number of infections, with many countries now testing only those cases requiring hospital care. Read more
Coronavirus: US death toll exceeds 5,000 (BBC)
The US death toll from the coronavirus pandemic has gone above 5,000, Johns Hopkins University has said.
Earlier the university said 884 people had died in 24 hours – a new record.
Among the latest victims was a six-week-old baby. More than 216,000 are now infected – the world’s highest figure.
Meanwhile, the Washington Post said the federal government’s reserves of protective equipment and medical supplies were almost exhausted. Read more
Psychologist warns watching pandemic movies like Contagion could ‘amplify anxiety’ (Metro)
If there’s anything Hollywood has portrayed well, it’s what could happen in real life if a pandemic or epidemic were to break out. Contagion became the most-watched film for Warner Bros. ahead of the entire Harry Potter series in March, due to the coronavirus pandemic spreading worldwide.
The film’s resurgence certainly came as a surprise as Contagion was originally released in 2011. It told the fictional story of a disease which rapidly spread worldwide killing 26 million people. Read more
PCN mourns Para powerlifter Ndidi Nwosu (Guardian)
The Paralympic Committee Nigeria (PCN) has expressed sadness over the death of Nigerian Para powerlifter Ndidi Nwosu who died recently.
President of PCN, Brig. Gen. Emico Eruwa, while commiserating with the Nigeria Para Powerlifting Federation and the family of the diseased, said the death of Ndidi Nwosu, a Paralympic gold medalist and world record holder came to him as a rude shock and has thrown the entire Paralympic family into mourning mood. Read more
QPR playmaker Eze undecided between England and Nigeria (DailyTrust)
Eberechi Eze said he is yet to make a decision on his international future with England and Nigeria hoping to secure his services. The youngster has been outstanding in the Championship this season, starting all of QPR’s 37 league games with a contribution of 12 goals and eight assists. Eze is currently playing for the England U21 team, but he joined the Super Eagles in a training session last June in London. Read more
Van Dijk: Messi MY toughest opponent (Punch)
Virgil van Dijk named Lionel Messi as his toughest opponent as the Liverpool defender opened up on a number of topics as part of a Twitter question and answer session.
The Liverpool defender singled out the two Argentinian stars as his biggest tests
Van Dijk faced off with Messi in last season’s Champions League semi-finals, as Liverpool famously overcame a 3-0 first-leg deficit by triumphing 4-0 at Anfield to book a spot in the Champions League final. Read more
Marcus Rashford urges Jadon Sancho to join Manchester United (Metro)
Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford has urged Jadon Sancho to move to Old Trafford this summer. The Dortmund superstar is expected to leave Germany at the end of the season and United are one of a host of Premier League clubs chasing the winger’s signature. United were desperate to sign Sancho last summer but their failure to qualify for the Champions League ended their hopes. However, Dortmund have conceded that Sancho wants to leave the club and they’re content to sell, provided they can raise their £120m valuation. Read more
Enyeama relives amazing AFCON outing against Cote d’Ivoire (DailyTrust)
Vincent Enyeama has relived his starring performance in Nigeria’s 2-1 win against Cote d’Ivoire at 2013 Africa Cup of Nations. Having qualified as Group C runners-up, the Super Eagles were faced with the arduous task of defeating a Didier Drogba-inspired Elephants side in Rustenburg. With the score still at 1-1 after Cheick Tiote had levelled following Emmanuel Emenike’s opener, the francophone nation attacked Stephen Keshi’s men in their numbers with Enyeama called to make several brave saves. Seven years later, the former Nigeria international has picked his double save in the 67th minute as his cherished moment of that match. Read more
Fury hungry to repeat Wilder win in rematch (DailyTrust)
Tyson Fury says he will never tire of beating Deontay Wilder in anticipation of his third fight against the American heavyweight, even though his potential all-British showdown with Anthony Joshua is on hold for now. Following a controversial draw in December 2018, Fury overpowered Wilder in Las Vegas in February, beating him in seven rounds. Wilder has activated the rematch clause in his contract, delaying the possibility of a hugely anticipated unification bout between WBC champion Fury and Anthony Joshua, who holds the WBA, IBF and WBO titles. Read more
De Bruyne vows to play two extra years after virus lockdown (Guardian)
Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne has vowed to play for an extra two years at the end of his career to make up for the time lost due to the coronavirus.
The Premier League is postponed until at least April 30 because of the pandemic and is likely to be delayed even longer when the English game’s stakeholders meet on Friday.
De Bruyne has not played since March 1 because of the health crisis and the miserable experience has underlined to the Belgian star just how much he loves the game. Read more