NCDC - Longest viability period of COVID-19 in patient is 10 days

The longest viability period of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) patient would be 10 days, according to a new study by infectious diseases experts in Singapore.

The Director-General of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, disclosed this at the Presidential Task Force (PTF) media briefing on Wednesday in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) reports that the Singapore study shows that COVID-19 patients are no longer infectious after 11 days of getting sick even though some may still test positive.

“A positive test “does not equate to infectiousness or viable virus,” a joint research paper by Singapore’s National Centre for Infectious Diseases and the Academy of Medicine Singapore said.

The virus “could not be isolated or cultured after day 11 of illness.”

The paper was based on a study of 73 patents in the city-state.

The DG said in line with this latest findings, the health agency would release a new case management guidelines for COVID-19 to review criteria for admission and discharge of patients.

He noted that the move would assist in managing challenges faced in isolation centres across the country, particularly with the shortage of bed space.

“We are now relooking our practice in terms of discharge criteria, and even who to keep in hospital, and who can stay at home and for how long.

Right now, the entire case management team which includes our colleagues at the Federal Ministry of Health, NCDC and few clinicians are reviewing our case management guidelines to redefine our approach around admission in terms of who is admitted and duration of admission and when to discharge,” he stated.

NDDC shut down headquarters over death of director

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has shut down its headquarters in Port Harcourt after the reported death of its Executive Director, Finance and Administration, Chief Ibanga Etang.

Etang was said to have died in the early hours of Thursday as he reportedly took ill last week and was taken to the Rivers State University Teaching in Port Harcourt for treatment.

But efforts made by our correspondent to get the Corporate Affairs Department of the NDDC to confirm the sad incident were not successful.

However, in a memo signed by Silas Anyawu on behalf of the management of the NDDC effecting the shutting down of the office, he said, 

“I am directed to inform all staff that management has approved that the commission be shut down for two weeks from today 28 May 2020.

Consequently, all activities in the commission including ongoing matters are hereby shut down for the time being.

Members of staff are to ensure that all electrical appliances in their offices are switched off before leaving the premises.

The head security is by this memo directed to work out modalities to ensure the safety and security of the commission while director, the administration is requested to fumigate and decontaminate the entire offices and premises in the Headquarters during the period.

Meanwhile staff are enjoined to go into self-isolation for two weeks as they await further directive from Management.”

When contacted, the commission’s Director of Corporate Affairs, Mr. Charles Odili, said he would not be able to confirm the director’s death, adding that such confirmation would come from the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio.

“I don’t have any official information on that; I have not spoken with the family. So, we don’t really have an official position on that matter. If we have to do it, it has to come from the Minister’s office. For now, there is no confirmation,” Odili said.

Nigerian businessman allegedly beaten to death in India

A Nigerian man, identified as Ohaji Egbema Oguta aka Sunny Mic, has been allegedly beaten to death in India.

The incident happened today at Palam , New Delhi. It was gathered that Oguta was accused of theft by an Indian lady which prompted passers-by to accost him and beat him till he passed out.

The police were invited but by the time they arrived the scene, he had died. His body has since been moved to the morgue while friends and family members have taken to social media to demand justice.

Photo credit : Instablog

Anambra communal clash : Community deserted as one dies

One person was reportedly killed on Wednesday in a clash between Urum and Achalla communities in the Awka North Local Government Area of Anambra State.

The feud, it was gathered, was over a piece land.

The Wednesday conflict came barely a week after the Commissioner of Police in the state, John Abang, engaged the leaders of the two communities at the command’s headquarters in Amawbia for peace talks.

Our correspondent gathered that the two communities had had a series of disagreements over ownership of a piece of land where the duo had boundary. A native, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, 

“The people of Urum were invaded by Achalla youths this afternoon, killing and maiming women and children that were tending to their farms.

Many people were chased out of their farms and many others from other villages in Urum have different reports of harassment from Achalla youths.”

He said the matter had been reported to different persons and authorities in the state to no avail.

“This afternoon, Achalla people invaded our farmlands, clearing them with bulldozers. Attempts made by our youths to resist them may result in a war. One person died. He died as hero not like a coward.

Residents of Umuife village, Urum have deserted their homes and fled to different places for safety. Some of them camped at Eke Market, Isuaniocha, trying to figure out their next move,” he added.

The native expressed surprise that as the crisis raged, no police presence was seen in the area.

The state Commissioner of Police, John Abang, confirmed the incident to our correspondent. Abang said, 

“On my own, I had before the sallah festival invited their leaders to my office and asked them to maintain peace pending the outcome of the government’s committee on the disputed land.

I was surprised this afternoon to get a report that they were fighting one another over the land. I have deployed my men there to restore normalcy. For now, I can’t tell you the number of casualties until I get a full report.”

Flight reopening : Expert request hourly disinfection of airports

As stakeholders prepare for the reopening of the nation’s airspace that has been shut down to commercial flights since March, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has been asked to prepare for hourly disinfection of airports when flights resume.

A stakeholder and former Managing Director of the defunct Virgin Nigeria Airways, Capt. Dapo Olumide said the airports need to be disinfected every hour once they are reopened for flights.

Aviation authorities have begun preparations for the reopening of the airspace.

Barring any last minute change, domestic flights operations may resume across the country by the first or second week of June after two months’ shutdown occasioned by COVID-19 pandemic.

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has already held series of meetings with airline operators as well as service providers including Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), and other stakeholders to work out modalities for safe and secure resumption of flights.

Our correspondent learnt that a comprehensive guideline has been developed for seamless reopening of airspace starting with domestic operations.

It was gathered that the NCAA had already issued an advisory circular to all the operating airlines to draw up their post COVID-19 operation manual. An airline operator said, 

“All things being equal, June is feasible for the resumption of flights. The NCAA has already issued us an advisory circular stipulating what they expect from us, what each airline must put in place before we can start operations.”

But speaking at an Aviation webinar yesterday, Olumide said constant disinfection of the airports is imperative to protect the passengers and airport workers and prevent the spread of the COVID-19.

Olumide noted that with the COVID-19 experience, it would get to a time when airport certification around the world would incorporate the preparedness for disease outbreaks.

According to him, the United State Category One certification is basically about safety but it will get to a point where such certification would include the health procedures at the airport.

White Minneapolis man loses his office lease for 'racially profiling' black entrepreneurs inside a gym

The incident occurred on Tuesday inside a building on Lagoon Avenue in Minneapolis. It came a day after the killing of George Floyd by a white Minneapolis police officer.

In the video, Tom Austin, the managing partner of F2 Group questioned the black entrepreneurs using the gym in a building of which they were all tenants. 

“I’m Tom Austin,” the man says in the video. 

“I’m a tenant in the building. Are you?” 

The men in the group responded that they are all tenants. 

Austin demands to know which office they work in. They told him they don’t have to tell him. Then he says he’s going to call 911 but ended up calling the building manager who confirmed the men have a lease in the building.

In an Instagram post, the men accused Austin of “racial profiling and age discrimination.” 

Speaking with the Tribune, Austin said his actions led to his company losing its lease in the building. 

“Should have handled it differently,” he said in an email to the Tribune. “Not my job to have done anything.”

Bobrisky allegedly arrested by the police

Socialite Bobrisky has allegedly been arrested by men of the Ajah police division in Lagos.

It was gathered he was trailed to a salon in Lekki, last night, by the police officers, who interrogated her before being whisked away to the police station.

The reason for his arrest remains unknown, but multiple sources suggest that she might have been arrested for breaking the curfew considering the time he was found outside.

George Floyd : Angry US citizens protest for the second night

Demonstrators gathered Wednesday for a second night of protests in the US over the killing of a handcuffed black man by a policeman who held him to the ground with a knee on has neck.

As dusk fell police formed a human barricade around the Third Precinct in Minneapolis, where the officers accused of killing George Floyd worked before they were fired on Tuesday.

They pushed protesters back as the crowd grew, a day after police fired rubber bullets and tear gas on thousands of demonstrators angered by the latest seemingly needless African American death at the hands of US law enforcement.

Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo cautioned protestors to remain peaceful.

President Donald Trump in a tweet called Floyd’s death “sad and tragic”, as outrage spread across the country over a bystander’s cellphone video of his killing on Monday while in the custody of four white police officers.

All four have been fired, as prosecutors said they had called in the FBI to help investigate the case, which could involve a federal felony civil rights violation.

“I would like those officers to be charged with murder, because that’s exactly what they did,” Bridgett Floyd, his sister, said on NBC television.

“They murdered my brother…. They should be in jail for murder.”

Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey said he could not understand why the officer who held his knee to Floyd’s neck on a Minneapolis street until the 46-year-old restaurant worker went limp has not been arrested.

“Why is the man who killed George Floyd not in jail? If you had done it, or I had done it, we would be behind bars right now,” Frey said.

“Based on what I saw, the officer who had his knee on the neck of George Floyd should be charged,” he said.

‘I can’t breathe’ 

The case was seen as the latest example of police brutality against African Americans, which gave rise six years ago to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Floyd had been detained on a minor charge of allegedly using a counterfeit $20 bill to make a purchase at a convenience store.

In the video, policemen hold him to the ground while one presses his knee to Floyd’s neck.

“Your knee in my neck. I can’t breathe…. Mama. Mama,” Floyd pleaded.

He grew silent and motionless, unable to move even as the officers told him to “get up and get in the car.”

He was taken to hospital where he was later declared dead.

‘A public execution’ 

Calls for justice came from around the country.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said the FBI needs to thoroughly investigate the case.

“It’s a tragic reminder that this was not an isolated incident, but part of an engrained systemic cycle of injustice that still exists in this country,” Biden said.

“We have to ensure that the Floyd family receive the justice they are entitled to.”

Democratic Senator Kamala Harris called the policeman’s using his knee on Floyd’s neck “torture.”

“This is not new, it has been going on a long time… what our communities have known for generations, which is discriminatory implementation and enforcement of the laws,” she said.

“He was begging to be able to breathe,” she said. “It was a public execution.”

The protests evoked memories of the riots in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014 after a policeman shot dead a young African American man suspected of robbery, as well as the case of New Yorker Eric Garner, who was detained by police for illegally selling cigarettes and filmed being held in an illegal chokehold by police that led to his death.

“How many more of these senseless excessive-force killings from the people who are supposed to protect us can we take in America?” said civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who was retained by Floyd’s family

Crump pointed out that the arrest involved a minor, non-violent crime, and there was no sign, as police initially claimed, that Floyd resisted arrest.

“There is no reason to apply this excessive fatal force,” Crump said.

“That has to be the tipping point. Everybody deserves justice…. We can’t have two justice systems, one for blacks and one for whites.”

Sokoto : Gunmen kill over 60 people in three villages

Over 60 people were killed on Wednesday night when some gunmen attacked Garki, Katuma and Kuzari villages under Sabon Birni Local Government Area of Sokoto State. 

Those, who sustained life-threatening injuries, are currently receiving treatment at General Hospital, Sabon Birni, according to residents, who spoke with news reporters. 

The number of people that died may rise as more corpses are being deposited at the mortuary of Sabon Birni General Hospital, it was discovered.

Frequent attacks by gunmen across the local government area has forced hundreds of people to flee their villages. 

On Monday, 18 people were killed in another attack at Faji, Lanjegu, Kadaye, Marakawa and Garin Ahmadu villages -- about 15 to 20 kilometres from Sabon Birni town. 

Some residents of the affected villages alleged that some of the armed attackers were herders, who used the occasion as their response to farmers' efforts to prevent them from destroying their farms by grazing their heard. 

Since the beginning of this year, a growing number of residents in Sabon Birni LGA have fled their homes while those, who had stayed back, had formed vigilante groups to protect their communities.

Buhari approves Nigeria, Siemens electricity deal funding

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has given the nod to a German firm, Siemens AG, to begin the concessionary funding and provision of technical support to the country’s power sector.

According to the official twitter handle of the Presidency, @NGRPresident, Buhari had already directed the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, the Ministry of Power and the Bureau of Public Enterprises “to conclude the engagement with Siemens AG to commence the pre-engineering and concessionary financing aspects of the Presidential Power Initiative.”

The PPI, which transited from the Nigerian Electrification Road Map, first muted in 2018, aims to upgrade power infrastructure in the country as part of efforts to halt frequent blackouts.

“All items to be purchased were provided by the distribution companies and Transmission Company of Nigeria and they will be vetted by a professional project management office,” the Presidency stated.

It explained that the concessionary terms included a three-year moratorium and a “12-year repayment at concessionary (interest rates) through the German Euler Hermes cover, which Nigeria will on-lend as a convertible loan to the other shareholders in the Discos.”

The Presidency added, “All Discos have, directly, and through the BPE, been diligently carried along over the last 15 months to understand in detail the challenges in the electricity system.

“The PPI is a power infrastructure upgrade and modernisation programme agreed to by Nigerian government and Siemens AG of Germany, with the support of the German Government.

Under the PPI, Nigerian government will on behalf of the other shareholders in the Discos invest in infrastructure upgrades in the form of improved payment systems, distribution substations, transformers, protection devices, smart meters, transmission lines, etc.

President Buhari has approved the release of funding for the first part of Phase 1 of the PPI, to kick off the pre-engineering and concession financing work streams.”

The two presidential spokespersons, Mr Femi Adesina and Mr Garba Shehu, did not respond to enquiries by The PUNCH to confirm the @NGRPresident tweets as of 6.05pm.