TIG Post

Tag: COVID-19

  • Government to roll out robust COVID-19 vaccination programme – Ofori-Atta

    The Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta says the Government has rolled out an aggressive vaccination programme to protect Ghanaian lives from covid-19.

    According to him, sustained efforts have seen about 2 million Ghanaians receiving a single dose of the vaccine, with 825,706 fully vaccinated as at September 2021.

    He said this while reading the 2022 Budget Statement on Wednesday in Parliament.

    “We will not relent until our goal of vaccinating 2O million is obtained as supply of some 9 million vaccines are now assured and we will mobilise to meet this goal to protect our people,” he said.

    He also said government will accelerate the implementation of Agenda 111, comprising 111 district hospitals, 7 regional hospitals and 3 psychiatric hospitals.

    The Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta says the Government has rolled out an aggressive vaccination programme to protect Ghanaian lives from covid-19.

    According to him, sustained efforts have seen about 2 million Ghanaians receiving a single dose of the vaccine, with 825,706 fully vaccinated as at September 2021.

    He said this while reading the 2022 Budget Statement on Wednesday in Parliament.

    “We will not relent until our goal of vaccinating 2O million is obtained as supply of some 9 million vaccines are now assured and we will mobilise to meet this goal to protect our people,” he said.

    He also said government will accelerate the implementation of Agenda 111, comprising 111 district hospitals, 7 regional hospitals and 3 psychiatric hospitals.

    He said already, 50 percent of the contractors have been given their industrial plans, hospital sites for them to start work.

    Source: atinkaonline.com

  • COVID-19: Active cases drop to 1,274; death toll up 1,203

    As of 5 November 2021, 19 new cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed, according to the latest figures from the Ghana Health Service.

    It brings the active cases within that period to 1,274.

    Of that number, 12 are in critical condition while 37 are severe.

    Since mid-March 2020, Ghana has recorded a total of 130, 608 cases of the virus.

    Out of that number, 128,131 have recovered.

    A total of 1,203 people have, however, succumbed to the virus since mid-March 2020.

    Regional breakdown

    Greater Accra Region – 70,550

    Ashanti Region – 20,716

    Western Region – 7,531

    Eastern Region – 6,592

    Volta Region – 5,350

    Central Region – 4,854

    Bono East Region – 2,552

    Bono Region – 2,119

    Northern Region – 1,758

    Upper East Region – 1,483

    Ahafo Region – 1,058

    Western North Region – 1,006

    Oti Region – 848

    Upper West Region – 739

    North East Region – 283

    Savannah Region – 262

    Source: classfmonline.com

  • US reopens borders to vaccinated travellers after 20 months

    The US has reopened its borders to double-jabbed foreign visitors, ending a 20-month entry ban.

    The ban was imposed by former President Donald Trump due to Covid-19.

    It has affected non-US citizens from over 30 countries, including the UK and EU states, separating families and stalling tourism.

    Airlines are expecting a flood of visitors as the restrictions are lifted for those who are fully vaccinated, and undergo testing and contact tracing.

    “It feels good, it feels good!” Jerome Thomann, head of Paris-based travel agency Jetset Voyages told Reuters news agency, saying his team had seen an “incredible upturn” in bookings.

    In an effort to stop the spread of coronavirus, US borders were initially closed to travellers from China in early 2020. The restrictions were then extended to other countries.

    The rules barred entry to most non-US citizens who had been in the UK and a number of other European countries, as well as China, India, South Africa, Iran and Brazil.

    Under the new rules, foreign travellers will need to show proof of vaccination before flying, get a negative Covid-19 test result within three days of travelling, and hand over their contact information. They will not have to quarantine.

    Alison Henry, a 63-year-old British mother, told AFP news agency: “It’s been so hard – I just want to see my son.”

    Ms Henry, from Cheshire, plans to fly to New York on Monday to see her son for the first time in 20 months.

    The US land borders with neighbours Canada and Mexico will also reopen for the fully vaccinated.

    Thousands of migrants have arrived in areas along Mexico’s border with the US, hoping to take advantage of the newly-relaxed rules.

    In southern Mexico, a new caravan of thousands of mainly Central American migrants – many of them children – has crossed from Chiapas to Oaxaca state, with the ultimate aim of reaching the border and being accepted into the US.

    The Migrant Alliance Group, a Mexico-based advocacy group, has warned that false information is being spread about the new rules in some communities – with many asylum seekers assuming that they will now receive more favourable treatment from border officials.

    Businesses in cities along the border with Mexico are hoping for a boost after struggling under America’s Covid-induced restrictions.

    United Airlines says it expects a 50% rise in international inbound passengers, while Delta’s chief executive Ed Bastian warned travellers to expect queues.

    Mr Bastian said: “It’s going to be a bit sloppy at first. I can assure you, there will be lines unfortunately.”

    The EU recommended allowing American travellers into the bloc in June, while visitors from the US have been able to travel to the UK since 28 July.

    Source: bbc.com

  • A/R: GHS trains Journalists for accurate reportage on COVID-19

    The Ghana Health Service (GHS) in collaboration with UNICEF on Monday commenced a two-day workshop in Kumasi, to train selected Journalists across the country on Covid-19 reportage and Vaccine misinformation.

    The programme aims to equip the participants on ways to report on the pandemic appropriately and within the right context to avoid misleading the public.

    Dr Kwame Amponsa-Achiano, Programme Manager for the Expanded Programme on Immunisation, GHS, said the programme was expected to enhance the skills of the Journalists in covering issues related to the pandemic
    .
    This, he said, would enable them provide the public with the right and up-to-date information in order to make informed decisions on the ways they could protect themselves.

    Dr Amponsa-Achiano stated that the country had received over 7.3 million vaccines made up of various types such as AstraZeneca, Johnson and Johnson, Sputnik V, among others.

    He advised Ghanaians to take advantage of the ongoing vaccination exercise to get inoculated, saying they should discard the misconception about the vaccines.

    According to him, the only way to keep the citizenry out of danger was to get vaccinated.

    Dr Amponsa-Achiano called on the Journalists to be Ambassadors of Covid-19 by giving accurate information, adding, “Do not propagate disinformation, misinformation and rumours”.

    Madam Offeibea Baddoo, Communications Officer UNICEF, said the media outreach regarding the pandemic had guided and helped millions of Ghanaians to make informed decisions in their daily lives.

    She said they were happy to partner with the GHS to hold the programme to share information and ideas on misinformation on Covid-19 and its reportage.

    Madam Baddoo said misinformation in every way was devastating to everybody and that it was essential for the media to play its role of informing the public.

    Mr George Sabblah, the Head of Safety Monitoring, Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), said all the vaccines the Authority approved were safe for Ghanaians, adding, “We will not allow any vaccine that will be harmful to Ghanaians.”

    He added that the objective of the Authority’s Emergency Use Authorisation was to make medicines, vaccines and diagnostic available as rapidly as possible to address emergencies in the country, while adhering to stringent criteria of safety, efficacy and quality.

    Mr Sabblah said the FDA received about 30 serious adverse events following the ongoing immunization exercise, adding that most of the events were coincidental or known during clinical trials of the vaccines.

    He added that three adverse effects happened for every 1,000 and that the side effects were mild and resolved within a day or two.

    Source: GNA

  • GHS alarmed at increase in hypertension, diabetes cases in the Greater Accra Region

    The Ghana Health Service (GHS) is alarmed at the increased spate of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the country, calling on the populace to be more responsible with their lifestyle choices.

    Making a case in point of Accra Metropolis in the Greater Accra Region, Acting Programme Manager of the NCDs Control Programme (NCDCP), Dr Afua Commeh, said from 2019 till date, over 29,000 cases of hypertension had been recorded within the city.

    “For Diabetes, the metropolis in 2019 recorded 4,200 cases, in 2020, 4,385, and as of end of September this year, 3,330 have been reported which means we are likely to hit 4,000 by end of year and this is just one metropolitan so you can imagine the figures nationwide,” she said, in an interview with the Ghanaian Times at a dissemination meeting on a digital tool being developed by the GHS to address the surge.

    The “NCD Digital Tool” to be piloted in the Accra Metropolitan and Ga Central Districts from November this year, would allow for data collection and information sharing on NCDs to provide early treatment and promote healthy living among persons suffering a condition.

    The medium, targeting conditions including hypertension, diabetes, asthma and cancer, would also empower members of the public to make the right health choices to avoid contracting NCDs.

    Dr Commeh said the majority of persons contracting NCDs in recent times were young people between the ages of 18 and 45 with a gradual rise in the number of children being diagnosed on one condition or the other.

    “Some of the children are born with it and others are picking them up as they grow and this is alarming. We must take our lifestyles choices more seriously now than ever and the fact that these diseases are becoming normalised is of great worry.

    “The sooner we wake up and take action on them, the better. From the home to our schools, we must watch what we eat, do physical activities, avoid alcohol and tobacco and other lifestyles that increase the risk for NCDs.”

    The Programmes Manager said the neglect of NCDs over the years was “coming back to haunt us as a nation” judging from the many people who have died from COVID-19 due to underlying conditions like hypertension and diabetes.

    “It has become necessary in that as we are all going about and chasing after COVID-19, our chronic disease also seems to be chasing after us.

    Unfortunately for us, since the pandemic took off in 2020 till date, our death toll gets worst by the day and over 90 per cent of them are as a result of these chronic diseases,” she stated.

    Dr Commeh entreated stakeholders at the meeting to be ambassadors of healthy living in their respective communities urging Ghanaians as well to frequent the hospitals for regular check-ups to pick up diseases in time and promote longevity.

    The Health Promotion Officer of Accra Metro, Andrew Abbey, urged stakeholders to help in awareness creation on NCDs.

    Responding to poor reception and attitude of some health staff during check-ups, Mr Abbey, asked individuals to report any wrong attitude by any health worker to the heads of the various health institutions, to encourage the habit of regular check-ups, among Ghanaians.

    Source: ghanaiantimes.com.gh

  • We shouldnt use COVID-19 vaccine as immigration control tool Nana Addo to world leaders

    President Akufo-Addo has made an appeal to world leaders not to use the COVID-19 vaccine and vaccination as a tool for immigration control, as that will be retrogressive.

    Addressing the 76th United Nations General Assembly in New York, the President said it is unfortunate that some countries, especially in Europe, are not recognizing vaccinations with the OxfordAstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine manufactured in India.

    His main concerns stem from the fact that many African countries received the vaccine through the COVAX facility.

    “One unfortunate development appears to be the recent measures on entering into some countries in Europe which suggests that Covidshield, the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured in India, are not recognized by these countries,” he said.

    “What is intriguing is the fact that this vaccine was donated to African countries through the COVAX facility. The use of vaccines as a tool for immigration control will be a truly retrogressive step. The last time there was such an upheaval in the world was during the second world war, which led to the establishment of a new world order,” he added.

    There have been several reports of extra scrutiny of persons who received the AstraZeneca jabs in Europe.

    In some instances, the vaccination certificates of such persons were not accepted.

    But President Akufo-Addo said such a measure must be done away with.

    Ghana has administered more than one million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine with only about half of the population receiving the mandatory two jabs.

    In August, an additional 249,600 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines were received through the COVAX facility.

    AstraZeneca was the first vaccine to arrive in Ghana earlier this year when the country heightened its efforts to beat COVID-19.

    So far, Ghana has vaccinated over 3 million of the entire population, but the President says the target of 20 million is still on course.

    Source: citinewsroom.com

  • Herbal treatment for COVID-19 in the offing

    The Centre for Plant Medicine Research (CPMR) at Mampong Akwapim in the Eastern Region has made progress in the development of a herbal medicine for the treatment of COVID-19.

    The acting Executive Director of the centre, Dr Kofi Bobi Barimah, who disclosed this, said his outfit was fast developing the herbal medicine, and that it would bring great respite to Ghanaians when it was introduced.

    He said since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the centre had been working at the laboratory to help find a remedy to the life-threatening virus.

    Dr Barimah gave the hint in Accra last Wednesday during the launch of an immune-boosting food supplement called Thorntina-74 Mixture on the market.

    “We have been working around the clock to get a herbal treatment for the COVID-19 and it will be out soon,” he said.

    The herbal immune booster, which aims at providing support for the immune system to fight infectious diseases, is a distillate generated from three main plants — Moringa Oleifera, Spondias Mombin, commonly known as yellow mombin, and tetrapleura tetraptera (prekese).

    Increase in patients at CPMR

    Dr Barimah said the increase in patient attendance at the CPMR to seek treatment attested to the strong belief in and efficacy of herbal medicine, saying that had encouraged the centre to work on developing a cure for the COVID-19 pandemic.

    He revealed that since the outbreak of the pandemic, the medical facility at the centre had witnessed an increase in intake of patients from 80 to 140 per day.

    He said over the years, due to its thoroughness and the promotion of the safe use of plant medicine, many people had turned to the centre for the treatment of viral and other forms of diseases.

    “For the past 46 years since the inception of the centre, it has promoted the safe and responsible use of plant medicine through research and many have found it very helpful, for which reason they continue to patronise it,” he emphasised.

    A medical herbalist of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Dr Albert Wirekoh-Tawiah, who was part of the team that developed the Thorntina-74 immune booster, said the mixture had been prepared with the best herbal products to stand the test of time.

    “This herbal solution contains an anticarcinogenic and an immunomodulator that prevents cancerous cells and prevents bacterial from easily affecting the system,” he explained.

    A scientific officer of the Ghana Standards Authority, Dr Kenneth Agbodza, said his outfit had proved the efficacy of the mixture and encouraged all to utilise it for its good effects.

    A biomedical and public health researcher, Dr Richard Eghan, called for a collaborative effort between herbal medicine and synthetic medicine to enable the best form of treatment for patients.

    “There is the need for a scientific integration of natural or herbal medicine and synthetic ones for effective healing,” he noted.

    Diagnostics Herbal Clinic

    The Managing Director of the Diagnostic Herbal Clinic, originators of the medicine, Mr Yaw Owusu Gyapong, said the immune booster was developed as a response to his own need for an immune booster to promote his general health and help find a solution to the threat posed by the COVID-19 in particular.

    “The knowledge that people with a stronger immune system are able to fight and survive the COVID-19 drove me to go back to the laboratory, and after comprehensive research, came up with the Thorntina-74 Immune Booster,” he explained.

    He urged Ghanaians to pay attention to their health and personal well-being and encouraged them to trust the efficacy of natural herbal medicine which had been developed from trusted sources.

    Three Ghanaians who have already tried the medicine attested to its efficacy and encouraged Ghanaians to patronise it.

    The CPMR

    The Centre for Plant Medicine Research (CPMR), formerly called the Centre for Scientific Research into Plant Medicine (CSRPM), based at Mampong-Akwapim, was established by the Government of Ghana in 1975 as a result of the dream and vision of Dr Oku Ampofo, a renowned allopathic medical practitioner.

    Since the outbreak of the COVID-19, the centre has received many herbal products and plants to be tested and certified as having the potential to cure the disease or at least alleviate symptoms.

    Source: graphic.com.gh

  • Are frontline health workers still benefiting from COVID-19 reliefs? NDC team member quizzes

    A communication team member of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Gabriel Maestro is demanding the current state of the incentive package paid to frontline health workers to help them fight the coronavirus in the country.

    Appearing on Frontline on Rainbow Radio 87.5Fm, he stated that Ghanaians deserve to know whether the Frontline health workers are benefiting from the COVID-19 reliefs.

    President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in June 2020, extended the tax holiday provided for all health workers in the country for another three months.

    In his 13th update, the President said the extension meant that all health workers would pay no income taxes for the next three months, that is July, August, and September.

    President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo added that all frontline health workers, as defined by the Ministry of Health, would continue to receive the additional allowance of 50 percent of their basic salary per month, for July, August, and September.

    The President first announced the incentive package for health workers in his fifth update to the nation on Sunday, April 5, 2020. The “thank you” package was for all health workers for the months of April, May, and June.

    Gabriel Maestro commenting on the issue said it would be important for the government to tell Ghanaians whether the reliefs were still in place.

    He said the virus was still with us, thus we have there was the need to let the people know if our Frontline health workers are being treated fairly.

    Source: rainbowradioonline.com

  • Ashiaman records 1,185 COVID-19 cases Municipal Health Director

    The Ashaiman Municipality has recorded about 1,185 cases of COVID-19 with ten deaths since the outbreak of the pandemic, Mrs Patience Ami Mamattah, the Ashaiman Municipal Health Director has revealed.

    She stated that the municipality still had some positive cases with some on admission.

    She identified that people in the municipality do not wear the nose mask especially at the markets and in public transports popularly known as trotro.
    To prevent the further spread of the virus in the municipality, she appealed to the residents to strictly observe all the safety protocols with emphasis on the wearing of a nose mask and maintaining social distancing.

    Mrs Mamattah disclosed this at a brief ceremony to hand over a site to a contractor for the construction of a three-storey market complex which will be known as the “Nii Annang Adzor Market” at Ashaiman.

    The MCE noted that the Ashaiman health data revealed that many people have hypertension and other non-communicable diseases which can be prevented, “we have noticed that from last year to June this year many people in the municipality have high blood pressure (BP),” she said

    Mrs Mamattah urged people especially traders in the municipality to be conscious of their health as they need to stay in good health to be able to reap from their investments.

    She also appealed to key stakeholders involved in the construction of the market complex to provide the health directorate with an outlet to be able to extend health services to the market users.

    “Some people feel unwell but they are unable to leave their goods and services and seek medical care due to the distance so please allow us to be closer to serve them better,” she stated.

    Nii Annang Adzor, the chief of Ashaiman, expressed displeasure at the unhygienic situation in the market and appealed to the traders to ensure a clean and healthy market at all times.

    When completed, the market complex would have 1,700 stalls, a lorry park, banks, health post, a crèche, police post, fire station, and warehouses.

    The market is being constructed by Achamful and Sons Construction, a construction development company based in Kumasi, and is expected to be completed between six and eight months.

    Source: GNA

  • Senegal’s economy struggles amid COVID-19 pandemic

    Senegal’s recent protests have shone a light on simmering frustrations over sluggish economic activity and unemployment in the West African state, which have been compounded by a year of coronavirus restrictions.

    But many argue that anger also boiled over because of deepening poverty in the nation of 16 million people, especially among the young.

    Tourism sector hit hard

    At the Soumbédioune craft market in central Dakar, usually a draw for tourists looking for souvenirs, merchants are struggling as the pandemic drags on.

    Moulaye Ndiaye, a sculptor from Dakar’s crafts market, shares his local observations.

    “Everything is slowed down, or rather, everything has completely stopped. For other sectors, the shopkeepers in the city centre, for example, it’s not that bad, they are still working. But we, who are craftsmen, who depend directly on tourism, are very affected by all this.”

    Gorra Sarr, a crafts vendor, expresses what he believes is the frustration of the Senegalese people.

    “What I can say is that the Senegalese are tired, and they are hungry. If you notice, they have attacked the stores where we sell food. For example, they didn’t attack us because we don’t sell anything to eat.”

    Situated in the westernmost part of Africa, Senegal is bordered by Mauritania, Mali, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau. It is surrounded by the Gambia, an English-speaking country with one of the smallest land areas on the continent.

    Senegal has a tropical, dry climate and a population of 15.4 million, a quarter of which lives in the region of the capital, Dakar, on 0.3% of the territory.

    The country is one of the most popular tourist destinations in West Africa, which is home to Dakar and Saint Louis, two dynamic cultural hubs.

    Senegal is also home to several diverse wildlife parks, including the Niokolo-Koba National Park, the Oiseaux du Djoudj National Park, and the Bandia Game Reserve. Senegal is known as the land of “teranga”, which is the Senegalese value of hospitality, respect, and community. Teranga is a Wolof word (one of the national languages) that encompasses the Senegalese spirit of warmth and friendliness to visitors.

    Visitors to Senegal are sure to experience a warm welcome on their arrival, as well as throughout their visit. The Senegalese beaches are beautiful and sandy, with rich populations of fish. Savoury Senegalese food is sure to tempt your taste as well.

    The pandemic not only hit the hospitality and tourism industries but also slashed foreign remittances which represent about 10% of the country’s GDP.

    About two million people had fallen into poverty since the onset of the coronavirus crisis.

    Pape Abdou Fall, President of Soumbédioune crafts market’s sculptor’s association, provides some more insight into the situation.

    “Before COVID, we were already in a state of crisis, which COVID has aggravated. We who work in the tourism sector, it is a total crisis. I can say that 95% of our work is the tourists, because we make wooden sculptures, and the sculptures are bought by tourists.”

    Economic situation

    Between 2014 and 2018, Senegal recorded some of the strongest economic growth in Africa, consistently above 6% per year. Real GDP growth was 5.3% in 2019, down from 6.3% in 2017. It is mainly driven by the services sector, while on the demand side, the main drivers of growth are investment (+12.5%) and exports (+7.2%).

    Since the beginning of 2020, the coronavirus pandemic (coronavirus) has significantly changed the country’s economic outlook. In 2020, growth has slowed sharply to an estimated 1.3%, with services (such as tourism and transport) and exports particularly affected. Senegal has responded with containment measures and an ‘economic and social resilience programme’ (ESRP) to protect lives and livelihoods. However, weak budgetary reserves and safety nets, a vulnerable health system and a large informal sector pose challenges.

    Economic recovery is likely to be gradual and driven by a strong return of private consumption and investment. The reforms envisaged under the Plan Sénégal Émergent (PSE) need to be deepened so that growth returns to its pre-pandemic trajectory.

    A significant influx of private investment is essential to increase Senegal’s productive capacity and sustain export growth. Services continue to dominate GDP, while the primary sector (agriculture, in particular) is the most dynamic engine of growth. The current health crisis has delayed oil and gas projects, which are only expected to contribute to revenues and exports around 2025.

    The COVID-19 pandemic risks jeopardising the socio-economic gains from improved access to key services, both in terms of affordability and infrastructure deployment. It could result in severe losses to households through reduced in-work and out-of-work income (especially private remittances), domestic price inflation and disruption of essential service provision.

    Senegal’s economy was growing before the pandemic, with its GDP increasing by 5.3% in 2019, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

    However, despite the IMF forecasting a recovery this year after a slowdown in 2020, coronavirus restrictions have ravaged Senegal’s large informal sector and growing numbers of people are struggling to make ends meet.

    Source: africanews.com

  • Present PCR test results or pay US$3,500 per passenger each – Airlines warned

    Airlines that fail to present PCR test results of their passengers before disembarkation at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) will pay a fine of US$3,500 per each passenger.

    Also, non-ECOWAS citizens are required to pay US$150 for COVID-19 testing at the KIA, while Ghanaians and ECOWAS citizens are to pay US$50 each, effective February 8, 2021.

    Information Minister-designate Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, who announced the charges during a COVID-19 Media Updates in Accra on Tuesday, said the new rates formed part of the Enhanced Amendment made on the COVID-19 Safety Guidelines at the country’s airport.

    The Minister-designate said Ghanaian residents departing the country and return within a week will no longer be required to present COVID-19 report, but would be required to undergo COVID-19 testing upon arrival back in Ghana at their own cost.

    He said non-Ghanaian citizens may be refused entry at the country’s airport and returned to their point of departure at the cost of the airline if there is no proof of adherence to COVID-19 safety guidelines.

    Mr Oppong Nkrumah said all arriving passengers who test positive for COVID-19 would undergo mandatory isolation and treatment at designated health facility at their own cost, except Ghanaian citizens.

    He said transit passengers through Ghana would not be required to undergo COVID-19 testing, but would be required to take the COVID-19 Test of the country of destination.

    He said passengers arriving in the country under emergency circumstances due to flight diversion would not be required to undergo COVID-19 testing but would not leave the enclave of the airport unless the person is being isolated.

    Mr Oppong Nkrumah urged Ghanaians travelling outside to get to the airport four hours before departure for the necessary COVID-19 checks before the scheduled departure time.

    He said children under five years would not be required to undergo COVID-19 testing at the country’s airport.

    Source: GNA

  • Ghana Water headquarters shuts down over COVID -as ex-MD Kweku Botwe dies from virus

    The headquarters of Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), has shut down for a week after the detection of some 19 cases of coronavirus, according to some workers there.

    It comes as reports available to The Herald, says one of its former Water Managing Director, who left the employ of the state water provider years ago, Kweku Botwe, has also been killed by the coronavirus, further heightening the fear around the disease which has taken the lives of Nanabanyin Pratt, a younger brother of ace journalist Kwesi Pratt and the General Manager of Radio Gold, Sainti Baffoe-Bonnie.

    The lockdown of the GWCL which started on Monday, followed a test conducted at the place on the instruction of management where out of the over 200 workers, the 19 individuals were detected as living with the condition.

    Names of the workers were not given, but The Herald is informed that, the headquarters will open for business sometime next week.

    In the case of Kweku Botwe, The Herald was informed that he died sometime about a week ago, at a health facility in Accra after being detected to have contracted the virus.

    Family sources say, Mr Botwe, who was withdrawn from GWCL in 2013 by the Ministry of Works and Housing, had returned from a business trip to Turkey, where he was believed to have acquired the condition.

    Meanwhile, the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), has revealed that twenty cases of the coronavirus, have been recorded in the schools since the reopening.

    Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, revealed this at a press conference in Accra yesterday.

    “Greater Accra, has cumulatively reported about 20 cases in a couple of schools,” he said but failed to give out the names of the schools although this would help parents, teachers and students in these to take precautionary measures.

    He added “Three cases, limited outbreaks have been recorded in two secondary schools from the Upper West. 34 contacts screen in the Upper West SHS school yielded one additional positive case. Thus, a school has three active cases and the second has one.”

    It comes as the Mortuary Workers Association of Ghana (MOWAG) has questioned statistics on Covid-19 casualties the government has been reporting.

    General Secretary of MOWAG, Richard Kofi Jordan, told host Aduanaba Kofi Asante Ennin that the government is massaging the actual figures for whatever reasons best known to them.

    He explained that, “even the number of people who die in their various houses is more than the deaths”.

    “We the mortuary attendants work closely with the doctors and we know the number of people who are brought into the morgue as a result of Covid-19, so we want to tell the public that the Covid-19 is real and so many people are dying contrary to what we have been told.”

    He further admonished the public to adhere to the laid down Covid-19 protocols to fight the communal spread of the virus.

    As at January 29, 2021, Ghana’s active Covid-19 cases stood at 5,358 with 67,010 confirmed cases and 416 deaths.

    Thirty-six nurses at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi, have within the last four weeks tested positive for Covid-19.

    Averagely, each day since January 1, at least one nurse at the Hospital tests positive for the virus, a situation health experts, say has been the highest since the outbreak of the virus in March, 2020.

    The Chairman for the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwifery Association (GRNMA) for the KATH Gabriel Ofori Agyei, revealed he has recently tested positive for the virus, including his wife and kid.

    Speaking on Akoma FM’s morning show Ghana Akoma, he explained the virus’ new wave has been very prevalent at the referral centre.

    Mr Ofori Agyei told host Aduanaba Kofi Asante Ennin that “in the last 28 days, 36 of my staff have tested positive, including myself”.

    “The virus has been very active in the past four weeks. Although there are PPEs available, most of the frontline workers are contracting the virus so I will appeal to the general public to adhere to the Covid-19 protocols to reduce the communal spread of the virus.”

    Last year, between the months of March and December, 300 nurses at KATH tested positive for the virus, but it seems the second wave of the virus is spreading at a faster rate than before.

    With the ongoing total disregard to safety protocols, more Ghanaians are feared to be infected especially among health workers.

    Meanwhile, Information Minister-designate, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has been clarifying the decision of the President to ban funerals and weddings as part of measures to deal with the coronavirus.

    In his 23rd update on the coronavirus virus last Sunday January 31, President Akufo-Addo, placed the ban on all social gatherings including weddings and funerals.

    Providing further explanations into this matter, Mr Oppong Nkrumah said that “The president did not ban burial service because of the activity of burial, we actually encourage it to go on… What is banned is the funeral where typically in the Ghanaian community we will all gather, shake hands, announcement of people, then they’ll call for a song, people will come and dance, where there is a little party associated with it. That is what has been banned,”

    He added “In the same way, when it comes to marriage, what the president has said is that, what in Ghana we call weddings, the full-blown wedding where we have a big party with reception and people dancing and people eating, sitting at reception tables, etc, that is what has been banned.

    “We’ve got a lot of requests about what if somebody is having a church service, which is allowed, and they choose to bless their marriage there as part of the church service.

    “I’m not sure that is what has been banned. It’s the wedding. The full-blown wedding with its reception and social activity associated with it is what has been banned”.

    Source: www.theheraldghana.com

  • Eight (8) MPs test positive to COVID-19

    Eight members of Parliament(MP) according to information reaching our news desk have tested positive to the deadly coronavirus.

    According to the reports the eight cases are both from the majority and minority sides of parliament.

    Per what we gathered, the names of the Members of Parliament who have been infected by the COVID-19 have remained hidden.

    It is said that their names have not been released to the public due to the fear of stigmatization.

    The number of active COVID-19 cases according to the GHS on an average daily rate stands at about 700.

    Due to this the President during his address to the Nation yesterday, announced some restrictions to help curb the spread of the virus.

  • Coronavirus: Only ‘a few students’ infected since schools reopened Akufo-Addo

    President Nana Akufo-Addo has said since he reopened schools two weeks ago, “we have witnessed only a few reports of [COVID-19] cases among students”.

    In his 23rd national address on the pandemic on Sunday, 31 January 2021, the President appealed to “school authorities and teachers to enforce the guidelines provided by the Ghana Education Service, and I urge the Ghana Health Service to continue their surveillance at the schools, so we can contain any reported cases”.

    Concerning the general situation, however, the President reported that in just two weeks, the active COVID-19 case count in Ghana has almost tripled, jumping from 1,900 to 5,358.

    Within the same period, the second wave of the virus has killed 64 people in Ghana, the President noted in his address.

    He said: “As of Friday, 29th January, sixty-four (64) more people have, sadly, died, over the last two weeks, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths to four hundred and sixteen (416)”.

    “Our hospitalisation rates are increasing, with the number of critically and severely ill persons now at one hundred and seventy-two (172)”, he noted, lamenting: “Our hospitals have become full, and we have had to reactivate our isolation centres”.

    Mr Akufo-Addo added: “Our average daily rates of infection now stand at seven hundred (700), compared to two hundred (200) two weeks ago”.

    Giving further details, the President noted: “The total number of active cases has more than doubled, from a little over one thousand, nine hundred (1,900), two weeks ago, to five thousand, three hundred and fifty-eight (5,358) currently”.

    “When I delivered Update No. 22, thirteen (13) out of the sixteen (16) regions had recorded active cases; today, all sixteen (16) regions have active cases. Indeed, Greater Accra, Central, Western, Ashanti, Eastern, Upper East, Upper West, Volta, and Northern Regions are the hardest hit, accounting for ninety-four per cent (94%) of the total number of active cases”.

  • Coronavirus: Our hospitals are full Akufo-Addo announces

    When COVID-19 first hit Ghana in March, the president declared a lockdown of parts of Accra, Tema and Tema metropolitan areas when total active cases hit 397.

    Today, however, despite over 4000 active cases recorded in this second wave of infections, with “our average daily rates of infection now stand[ing] at 700, compared to 200 two weeks ago”, all social media predictions of a lockdown announcement by the president did not materialise.

    The president in his 23rd Coronavirus address on Sunday said: “You do not have to be arrested by the police before you wear your mask, your workplace should not be closed for non-conformity with the protocols, if there is no urgent reason for you to be outside, please stay at home.”

    He continued, “As of Friday, January 29, sixty-four more people had sadly died over the last two weeks, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths to 416…our hospitalisation rates are increasing, with the number of critically and severely ill persons now at 172. Our hospitals have become full, and we have had to reactivate our isolation centres.”

    The total number of active cases, President Akufo-Addo noted, has more than doubled from a little over 1,900 two weeks ago, to 5,358 currently.

    The president, therefore, only announced that funerals should be limited to 25 persons.

    “My faith in God tells me that this too shall pass, for, the Battle is the Lords,” Akufo-Addo concluded his speech.

  • COVID-19 monitoring team in place to ensure safety of students – GES PRO

    Madam Eureka Abbey, Public Relations Officer (PRO), Hohoe Municipal Education Directorate, has said her outfit had formed a monitoring team to ensure the safety of school children in the Municipality.

    She said the COVID-19 monitoring team would visit schools in the Municipality to ensure teachers and students adhered to all safety protocols during school hours.

    Madam Abbey in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) disclosed that all schools in the Municipality were safe for students to return for academic activities.

    The PRO said the Directorate had received safety materials to ensure the well-being of teachers and students.

    “We have received materials and all schools are expected to receive their share by the end of the week,” she added.

    Madam Abbey also said teachers had received training on ensuring strict adherence to safety protocols while those teaching Kindergarten levels would also be trained.

    A GNA visit to some private and public schools saw most teachers and students reporting for academic works with classes being in session for the day.

    There was an appreciable level of adherence to COVID-19 protocols especially wearing of masks and handwashing.

    The schools visited also had Veronica buckets filled with water, thermometer guns and tissue papers.

    At the Momo Montessori School, there was a member of staff whose duty was to ensure that students and visitors adhered to the safety protocols.

    Source: GNA

  • Western North Region records nine new COVID-19 cases

    The Western North Region has recorded nine new cases of COVID-19 cases bringing to a total of 674 active cases with 663 recoveries and two deaths in the region.

    The new cases were recorded in the Sefwi-Waiwso and Aowin municipalities, with Sefwi-Waiwso recording five active cases, while the Aowin Municipal recorded four.

    This was contained in a release issued by the Regional Public Health and Emergency Management Committee (PHEMC), signed by Dr. Marion Okoh-Owusu, Western North Regional Health Director, and copied to the Ghana News Agency (GNA).

    The Regional Health Director disclosed that 68 contacts were being traced and would be isolated when contacted.

    Dr. Okoh-Owusu noted that the failure of residents to wear nose masks was a serious concern to the health directorate and hinted that the health directorate would intensify the COVID-19 police activities as an immediate measure.

    She in this regard asked opinion leaders to lead the campaign to ensure that people in the various communities adhered to all the COVID-19 safety protocols.

    Dr. Okoh-Owusu further tasked shop owners and attendants to ensure customers and clients washed their hands before entering the shop as this would go a long way to help in the fight against the pandemic.

    She entreated residents and the general public to observe physical and social distancing at public gatherings, use alcohol-based hand sanitizer, wear nose masks, and regularly wash their hands to defeat COVID-19 in the Region.

    Source: GNA

  • Covid-19 dominates Google searches this year

    In a year dominated by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, it’s not a surprise that the top searches on Google in Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria have been dominated, according to the company’s review, by inquiries about the virus.

    In South Africa, the hardest-hit country on the continent, people searched for details about the imposed lockdowns and news about cigarettes and alcohol which were banned from sale.

    In Kenya, some of the questions people searched for in relation to the pandemic included: how to make sanitisers and how to boost immunity.

    Searches about misleading content like the role 5G in the spread of coronavirus was among topics people looked for in South Africa.

    There was also interest in the US elections in the three countries with users searching for details about president-elect Joe Biden and the incoming vice-president Kamala Harris.

    Nigerians, just like users in the other two countries, searched for local celebrity news.

    News about the English Premier League was popular in Kenya.

    In Nigeria, Fem, a song by Afrobeats star Davido was the most searched.

    Recipes for porn star martini – a popular South African cocktail made with passion fruit – was also among the top searches in Nigeria.

    Source: bbc.com

  • Madagascar president sacks health minister after COVID-19 surge

    Madagascar on Thursday said it had fired its health minister as part of a government reshuffle, a move that came a month after he butted heads with the president for seeking outside help for coronavirus.

    The Indian Ocean island-nation saw COVID-19 cases surge in July despite an official campaign to promote a controversial herbal drink touted as a remedy for the virus.

    As hospitals raised concern about lack of beds, Health Minister Ahmad Ahmad wrote a letter in July asking international agencies to send medical equipment.

    His appeal sparked anger in President Andry Rajoelina’s administration, which said Ahmad had acted “without consulting” either the government or head of state.

    Ahmad’s cabinet exit was revealed on Thursday in the announcement of a new list of ministers following a reshuffle.

    “Jean Louis Hanitrala Rakotovao has been named new health minister,” cabinet secretary Valery Ramonjavelo told a press conference, without giving details about the change.

    Rajoelina has been promoting an infusion derived from artemisia, a plant with proven anti-malarial properties, as a homegrown cure for COVID-19.

    The drink, named COVID-Organics, has been widely distributed in Madagascar and sold to several other countries, mainly in Africa.

    The UN’s World Health Organization (WHO) has cautioned that there have been no published scientific studies to validate claims for the drink, and mainstream scientists have pointed to potential risks from untested concoctions.

    Rajoelina has ignored the warnings and blamed a jump in cases last month on “increased testing capacity”.

    Madagascar’s coronavirus outbreak seems to have slowed since then, with new daily confirmed cases dropping from peaks of over 400 in July to an average of around 80 since Monday.

    To date the country has recorded more than 14,000 infections, of which 177 deaths have been fatal.

    Source: france24.com

  • Africa surpasses 1 million Covid-19 cases, more than half in South Africa

    The number of COVID-19 cases in Africa has risen to over one million, with more than half registered in South Africa, according to an AFP count late Thursday.

    The continent’s worst-hit nation has registered 538,184 infections, including over 8,000 new cases on Thursday, and 9,604 deaths.

    Egypt has recorded around 95,000 COVID-19 cases while the figure in Nigeria is 45,000.

    South Africa’s infection figures are the fifth-highest after the US, Brazil, India and Russia.

    Nevertheless the African continent remains one of the least affected, according to the official figures, with only Oceania registering fewer COVID-19 cases.

    But the official numbers are likely to be a fraction of the real extent of the virus’ spread throughout Africa where a number of countries have failing healthcare systems and limited screening capacities.

    Worldwide there have been some 19 million recorded coronavirus cases resulting in over 709,000 deaths.

    Source: france24.com

  • COVID-19: Ghana’s Death toll passes 200

    The novel Coronavirus pandemic has now killed 206 people in Ghana.

    This was contained in the latest figures released by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) today (August 7, 2020) in which it reported eight new deaths.

    The GHS update also disclosed that even persons are in critical condition from Coronavirus-related illnesses. Four of the persons in critical condition are breathing with the assistance of a ventilators.

    Case count

    In the update, the GHS also announced 455 new positive cases of Coronavirus, increasing the country’s cumulative case count to 40,097.

    However, the country has 3,253 active cases and 36, 638 recoveries from the illness.

    “A total of 455 new cases were reported on August 4, 2020. These are samples that were taken from the period 15 July to 3 August 2020 as seen in Figure 11 but reported from the lab on August 4,” the update reads.

    Cumulative Cases per Region

    Greater Accra Region 20,300

    Ashanti Region 9,972

    Western Region 2,766

    Eastern Region 1,809

    Central Region 1,669

    Volta Region 614

    Bono East Region 569

    Western North Region 526

    Bono Region 439

    Northern Region 424

    Ahafo Region 364

    Upper East Region 282

    Oti Region 204

    Upper West Region 88

    Savannah Region 62

    North East Region 9

    Source: graphic.com.gh

  • Almost 100 people in Ohio were infected with coronavirus after man attended church service

    A man with COVID-19 went to church in mid-June, then 91 other people got sick, including 53 who were at the service, according to Ohio’s governor.

    “It spread like wildfire, wildfire. Very, very scary,” Gov. MIke De Wine said Tuesday. “We know that our faith-based leaders want nothing more than to protect those who come to worship.”

    To illustrate how one infected person can spread the virus, state health officials released a color graphic showing how the cases radiated to some who weren’t even at the service.

    DeWine urged people attending religious services to wear masks. He had mandated wearing face coverings for people 10 and older on July 22. On Wednesday, he ordered children in schools to wear masks, with a few exceptions.

    The governor said he was going to send letters to churches, mosques and synagogues to share important health information.

    “It is vital that, any time people gather together, everyone wear masks, practice social distancing, wash hands, and while indoors, making sure there is good ventilation and airflow,” he said.

    In the case of community spread from the worshiper at the undisclosed church, a 56-year-old man went to the service. A total of 53 people got sick and 18 of those churchgoers spread it to at least one other person.

    One instance of spread was a family in which a 34-year-old man became sick. His 31-year-old wife also became infected, as did four children who range in age from 1 to 11.

    The wife and two children of the 56-year-old worshiper mentioned by the governor also got sick. The state didn’t detail the seriousness of the 91 people’s illnesses.

    More than 96,000 people in Ohio have tested positive for the coronavirus.

    Source: cnn.com

  • Oaxaca bans sale of junk food to children

    The Mexican state of Oaxaca has banned the sale of junk food and sugary drinks to children in an attempt to reduce high obesity and diabetes levels.

    Oaxaca is the first state to take the measure in Mexico, which has one of the world’s highest rates of childhood obesity.

    People breaking the law can be fined and have their businesses closed. Re-offenders face jail terms.

    The move comes as Mexico’s number of deaths linked to COVID-19 nears 50,000.

    Mexico’s death toll is the third-highest in the world after the US and Brazil. Experts say being obese or overweight puts you at greater risk of serious illness or death from the virus.

    About 73% of the Mexican population is overweight, compared to one-fifth of the population in 1996, according to according to study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

    Mexicans consume more carbonated drinks per person than any other nation.

    Oaxaca is the Mexican state with the highest child obesity rate and the second-highest rate in adults, according to Oaxaca state health data.

    The passing of the law was greeted with applause from lawmakers inside the state Congress, but outside shop owners and street sellers were protesting against it.

    The law forbids the sale, distribution and promotion of sugary drinks and junk food to those under age. It will also apply to vending machines in schools.

    The lawmaker who introduced the bill, Magaly López Domínguez, said the idea was not to harm shop owners and street sellers. She argued that they could continue selling sugary drinks and junk food, just not to children.

    Mexico’s deputy health minister and the country’s coronavirus czar, Hugo López-Gatell, welcomed the move. Mr López-Gatell last month called sugary drinks “bottled poison” and urged people not to drink them.

    Christian Skoog, the Unicef representative in Mexico, also tweeted his approval (in Spanish), saying that such measures protected children’s rights to quality and nutritious food.

    In 2014, Mexico introduced a tax on sugary drinks and junk food but it had so far stopped short of banning the sale of such items to children.

    Source: bbc.com

  • Europe fears second virus wave as Trump takes heat for & misinformation

    While Europe tightened virus restrictions to face the threat of a second wave of COVID-19, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday found himself in the crosshairs of Facebook and Twitter because of a video in which he claims children are “almost immune” to the new COVID-19. The worldwide death toll crossed 700,000 as the two US social media giants took action against Trump for spreading what they called “misinformation” about the virus.

    Several European countries and cities reimposed tighter restrictions, including a “wake-up week” in Greece and new face mask and quarantine rules elsewhere.

    The US tallied another 1,262 deaths and 53,158 cases Wednesday, marking 157,930 total deaths and more than 4.8 million cases — making it by far the worst-hit country in the world.

    A total of 703,640 deaths have been recorded so far around the world, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources as of 0300 GMT Thursday.

    Europe remains the hardest-hit region with 211,764 fatalities, but the number of deaths is rising fast in Latin America, with 208,329 deaths recorded.

    Restrictions re-introduced Announcing the re-introduction of restrictions in Greece, government spokesman Stelios Petsas told Mega TV: “We are trying to awaken people with messages and daily announcements on additional measures,” citing travel, social gatherings and public transport as major spreading concerns.

    Restrictions reimposed on the northeast Scottish city of Aberdeen included the closure of all indoor and outdoor hospitality venues starting late Wednesday as First Minister Nicola Sturgeon referred to what could become a “significant outbreak.”

    Toulouse in southwest France made face masks compulsory, with more French cities expected to follow suit.

    And Germany included Belgium’s Antwerp province on its list of regions requiring arriving travelers to quarantine for 14 days unless they can show a negative virus test.

    In Belgium, one of the country’s biggest meat processing plants, Westvlees, sent 225 staff home to quarantine after a cluster of coronavirus cases was discovered.

    Switzerland added mainland Spain to a quarantine list of 46 countries as well as Singapore and Romania.

    In the Netherlands, similar mask-wearing measures came into force in Rotterdam and in some busy neighborhoods of Amsterdam, including its famous red-light district.

    ‘Misinformation’ In an extraordinary move late Wednesday, Facebook removed a video clip about the virus from Trump’s account.

    It was the first time the social network has taken down one of the president’s posts for violating its content rules — for “claims that a group of people is immune from COVID-19 which is a violation of our policies around harmful COVID misinformation,” a Facebook spokesperson told AFP.

    Twitter meanwhile said it had blocked Trump’s official campaign account, also for a “misinformation” violation over a tweet containing the same video, in which Trump made the case for reopening US schools starting in September.

    Soon thereafter, the @TeamTrump account was active, suggesting the contested video had been taken down.

    Also in the United States, New York mayor Bill de Blasio, announcing new checkpoints at access roads into the city, said: “We’re not going to let our hard work slip away and will continue to do everything we can to keep New Yorkers safe and healthy.”

    The virus killed more than 32,000 people in the city, which was one of its first epicenters in the United States.

    Latin America surge One of Brazil’s leading indigenous chiefs, 71-year-old Aritana Yawalapiti, died Wednesday of respiratory complications caused by COVID-19.

    Brazil, South America’s largest country, is driving a surge in Latin America and the Caribbean. It has recorded nearly 2.9 million cases, and more than 97,000 deaths, nearly half the region’s 208,329 fatalities.

    Meanwhile the death toll continued to rise in Peru, which reported a new daily record of 221 deaths and 7,734 new cases, according to Health Ministry figures, bringing the total COVID-19 deaths to 20,228, and 447,624 confirmed cases — though total deaths could be closer to 50,000 when considering suspected cases, according to press reports.

    Peru, population 33 million, has the third highest death toll in Latin America after Brazil and Mexico.

    Vaccine trials In South Africa, the hardest-hit country in Africa, some 24,000 health workers have contracted the coronavirus and 181 have died since March, Health Minister Zweli Mkwize said.

    But he added: “We haven’t got to the stage where we don’t have hospital space for patients.”

    In Afghanistan, the health ministry said nearly a third of the population — or 10 million people — has been infected with the novel coronavirus.

    The world’s hope of ending the current cycle of outbreaks and lockdowns rests on finding a treatment, which has proved elusive so far.

    The US government Wednesday announced a new $1 billion investment in a COVID-19 vaccine being developed by Johnson & Johnson, guaranteeing 100 million doses.

    J&J;, via its subsidiary Janssen, received $456 million in March.

    Clinical trials on humans began in China for a potential coronavirus vaccine developed by German pharmaceutical group BioNTech with Chinese company Fosun Pharma.

    Source: Pulse Ghana

  • Macron announces coronavirus bonus for France’s homecare workers

    France’s 320,000 homecare workers will be granted COVID-19 bonuses under a €160 million package unveiled by French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday.

    “These men and women were the forgotten ones of the Covid bonus”, Macron said in the southern city of Toulon on Tuesday, referring to bonuses previously awarded to healthcare workers on the front line of the pandemic.

    Speaking before an audience of homecare workers, the president said the sum would allow those professionals “to have the €1,000 bonus that the others received”.

    Macron said the French state would put up €80 million and local governments the other half of the package.

    The announcement comes two months after the government issued decrees enacting exceptional bonuses of €1,000 to €1,500 for hospital staff and nursing home workers.

    Last month, unions signed up to a deal giving over €8 billion in pay rises for health workers, with the government admitting the move was overdue in view of the coronavirus pandemic.

    The bulk of the package comprises €7.5 billion in pay increases for nurses and careworkers, who will get an average monthly raise of €183.

    There is also €450 million for doctors, intended to bolster wages for those working solely in the public sector. The move is aimed at luring doctors from more lucrative private clinics.

    But some unions, including the hardline CGT, refrained from signing the accords, an indication that tensions over the issue may not yet be resolved.

    Source: france24.com

  • Letter from Africa: How African generosity dried a crying teacher’s tears

    In our series of letters from African journalists, Kenyan Joseph Warungu looks at the acts of generosity helping ordinary people through desperately trying times.

    When Covid-19 hit Africa, the effects were devastating – but some people have been crushed more than others, by the illness but also by the measures to deal with it.

    Private-school teachers, who make up a significant amount of the education workforce, have been particularly hard hit by school closures as they have no safety net and in most cases no firm return date either.

    Many have turned to farming, cleaning and street hawking in the meantime.

    ‘Don’t cry, it’s ok’
    The strain has become unbearable, moving many to tears – among them Akindele Oluwasheun Oladipupo in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja.

    He and other teachers were full of hope in July when the Nigerian government said it would allow schools to reopen for exams. But when that decision was reversed, the pain was too much.

    Akindele, who is married with three children under eight years, told me in a telephone interview that he just sat in shock digesting the news, before tears ran down his face.

    “My wife said to me, ‘Don’t cry, it’s ok, we’ll manage, somehow.’ But I was thinking of the many teachers who have nothing to feed their families. In many cases, both wife and husband are teachers. That’s the entire family income gone – indefinitely.”

    Unable to bear his own and other teachers’ burdens, he turned to his mobile phone and poured out his sorrow.

    A friend saw the video recording and urged him to post it online. It went viral, earning him the nickname of “the crying teacher”.

    Akindele says he filmed it in the hope of encouraging people to help other private-school teachers in need.

    Nigerian journalist Lara Wise launched a Facebook campaign to find Akindele and urged him to post a second clip with his account details. Donations poured in from around the world.

    Overwhelmed by the generosity, Akindele decided to re-direct the more than 1.2m naira ($3,100; £2,400) to dozens of needy teachers.

    “I said to myself – now that God has tested me and has opened a way for the money to come in, if I should sit on that money, it means I’m sitting on the destiny of my children.

    “That’s how we started looking for teachers who were struggling. We reached out to more than 200 teachers and gave them enough foodstuff including rice, spaghetti. We also put some money in envelopes and gave it them.”

    It is only when Akindele started to distribute relief packages that he realised the scale of the problem. Many teachers from different parts of Nigeria sought help from him.

    “It was really difficult seeing elderly teachers who had given many years of service to the profession pleading for food.”

    Facebook was full of comments lauding the crying teacher while also castigating the government for ignoring the plight of private-school teachers.

    ‘God bless Akindele’
    One Nigerian said: “Shame on the politicians who eat this country dry. If a man who receives grace from God can do all this, all those men in agbadas (flowing robes) and those women hiding under [social media] filters, should bury their faces in shame.”

    “God bless Akindele immensely,” wrote another. “May God remember and help many who are ashamed to cry out publicly… who are dying in silence.”

    Apart from the selfless acts of frontline workers, especially health professionals who are saving lives during the pandemic, many people across the continent are coping through the generosity of ordinary Africans.

    As he waits to see if the new school reopening date of late August will materialise, Akindele tells me this spirit of ubuntu – a common humanity and shared responsibility – shocked him.

    “Africans are great people. That’s what I’ve seen in these past three weeks,” he says.

    “People I’ve never met in my life – they don’t know me, they don’t know where I come from, they don’t know if I’m a scammer or fraudster – but they have been sending money to my account. I’m very grateful to them all.”

    ‘My suffering sparked empathy’
    In Kenya, Michael Munene has also been praised for his spirit of giving during the pandemic.

    Brought up in a poor family that could hardly afford one meal a day, he knows how hunger and poverty feels. When he started out in life working odd jobs he kept falling behind on rent.

    He told me of the incident that unexpectedly sparked ubuntu in him.

    “Early one morning my landlord waited for me to use the bathroom, which was outside the house, and quickly locked me out of his house because of rent arrears.

    “Stuck outside with no clothes and no money, I swore to himself I would never let anyone else suffer such humiliation.”

    Today Michael is a landlord renting to nearly 30 tenants. When their incomes shrank he gave them a payment holiday on their rent, which they have not had to pay since May.

    “It’s tough for my business but I can’t bear the sight of homelessness. I’ve told my tenants that for now they should just focus on finding food for their families.”

    In Ghana’s capital, Accra, when the lockdown was announced, Elizabeth Yawson’s thoughts turned to the vulnerable living on the streets.

    When the radio journalist launched an online campaign to help homeless people, the response was enthusiastic.

    “People responded generously and we were able to feed about 100 people for one week.

    “I later got the support of two restaurants and we reached out to 30 health workers at a hospital in Kasoa, in the central region of Ghana, giving them free lunch for a whole week.”

    What Akindele, Michael and Elizabeth have shown is that although the cock belongs to one household, when it crows it is heard in the whole village.

    News of their deeds and others like them have stirred many souls across the continent.

    Source: bbc.com

  • Swaziland pledges public service job cuts, below inflation wage increases to secure IMF loan

    Swaziland (eSwatini) pledged to cut public sector jobs, contain wages and award below inflation salary increases in order to get a loan from the International Monetary Fund.

    These were some of the pledges made that included cutting public spending. Some personal taxes and VAT (Value Added Tax) would rise. Taxes on companies would not be cut.

    A loan of US$110.4 million to help fight the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic was agreed on 29 July 2020. Swaziland faces an urgent balance of payments crisis.

    The loan was the full amount available under the IMF’s Rapid Financing Instrument. In a statement last week Neal Rijkenberg, the Swazi Finance Minister, estimated a total of US$207 million was needed to shore up the economy. Swaziland is seeking additional loans from the World Bank and African Development Bank (AfDB).

    The job cuts and salary pledges were part of a package of promises set out in a letter dated 20 July 2020 to the IMF jointly signed by Rijkenberg and Majozi V. Sithole, Governor, Central Bank of eSwatini.

    In the letter they stated, ‘The virus is spreading rapidly, and Eswatini’s relatively high HIV/AIDS prevalence and an already pressured health care system exacerbate risks that the pandemic could propagate even faster. To contain the pandemic, the government has swiftly put in place an array of containment measures. It has declared a national emergency and imposed a partial lockdown across the country, including travel bans, closure of schools and universities, and a suspension of all non-essential activities. These measures, combined with a sharp decline in external demand for eSwatini’s key exports and spillovers from South Africa, are causing a dramatic fall in economic activity.’

    They promised the IMF, ‘We will contain public wage spending, continuing our policies of gradual employment reduction and lower-than inflation salary adjustments. We have commissioned an external review of the extra budgetary sector with the aim of rationalizing spending and transfers to key state-owned entities and merge entities with similar mandates over time.

    ‘We will also continue to pursue new ways to reduce our operational expenditures, and intend to improve the targeting of our main social assistance programs.

    ‘In addition, about 40 percent of our adjustment plan relies on boosting our domestic revenue by broadening tax bases, increasing some tax rates such as personal taxation and VAT, and continuing strengthening tax administration.

    ‘To protect revenue collection, we also commit not to introduce measures that would reduce corporate income tax revenue. This strategy will allow us to broadly preserve capital spending and domestic capital accumulation, and caring more effectively for the most vulnerable members of the society.’

    They also pledged, ‘The government will intensify reforms to strengthen governance, transparency and accountability, and reduce vulnerabilities to state-capture and other forms of corruptions.’

    Source: allafrica.com

  • Coronavirus: Nigerian drug stores hike hydroxychloroquine price

    Hydroxychloroquine, the controversial drug used in the treatment of COVID-19, is being sold in one drug store in Rivers State, South-South Nigeria, at an outrageous price of N50,000.

    Hydroxychloroquine, before now, was essentially used for malaria treatment. It was never known to be this costly, as at then.

    The drug began selling at about N3,000 around March in Nigeria during the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus in the country, a pharmacist told PREMIUM TIMES.

    Some person who apparently wanted to alert Nigerians on the exorbitant price of the COVID-19 drug took a photo of its pack, with the price tag, name and the telephone contact of the drug store on it, and then got it circulated on WhatsApp over the weekend.

    The drug, as shown in the photo, is Zentiva brand, with 60 tablets (200mg) in a pack. The store selling it is Ebus Pharmacy Ltd, at Eastern bypass, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

    The N50,000 price tag attracted outrage from Nigerians who felt it was too high.

    Ebus Pharmacy said the retail price of the hydroxychloroquine was dependent on how much money they used in importing it.

    “What is your concern about how much I sell what I buy when you don’t know how much I bought it?” A man from Ebus Pharmacy told PREMIUM TIMES, Monday, on telephone.

    The man refused to disclose his name and position in the drug store. But Truecaller, a phone app, identified him as Boniface Ebugosi.

    “Have you checked around here in Port Harcourt, Lagos or Abuja to know the price (of the hydroxychloroquine) before you say it’s outrageous? Or is it only hydroxychloroquine that you know the price has changed since COVID-19 came to be?” Mr Ebugosi said, while arguing that the naira was depreciating against the dollar and that it was negatively affecting imports.

    He said people were free to buy at other drug stores if they felt Ebus Pharmacy was selling their products at exorbitant prices.

    PREMIUM TIMES asked Mr Ebugosi how much his store was selling hydroxychloroquine before now.

    “Those things do not hold water,” he responded. “What we are saying now is: do you have it? How much is the price? Bring it.”

    Mr Ebugosi said besides hydroxychloroquine, the prices of other drugs used in COVID-19 treatment, like vitamin C and zinc, have increased in Nigeria.

    He said prices of food items too have increased in the country.

    Really, the prices of vitamin C and zinc has increased across Nigeria because of COVID-19.

    In Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, for instance, most drug stores as of last week were selling at about N5,000, 100 tablets of 100mg zinc in a small container. On Monday, the price suddenly increased to N5,500 in some of the stores in the city.

    “At some point it was selling at N8,000,” a pharmacist in Uyo told PREMIUM TIMES, Monday evening.

    “Before COVID-19 it was N2,000,” he added.

    “It is not anybody’s making. Ebus, as a company which has a name to protect, would want to sell at the cheapest prices so that our customers would remain with us,” Mr Ebugosi said of the exorbitant price of hydroxychloroquine at his store.

    PREMIUM TIMES’ checks at three other drug stores in Port Harcourt showed that they were also selling hydroxychloroquine at about the same amount with Ebus Pharmacy.

    One of the stores said they were selling it at N54,000, but had ran out of stock.

    Some other stores in the city were selling between N15,000 and N18,000, another brand of hydroxychloroquine which contains 20 tablets in a pack, unlike the brand at Ebus Pharmacy which has 60 tablets.

    A federal agency in Nigeria, the Federal Competition & Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) intervened in a similar case in Lagos in March and forced a drug store – Medmark Pharmacy – to make a refund to a woman who bought a 500ml hand sanitiser at an exorbitant price of N19,950.

    The incident happened at the time many Nigerians were involved in panic-buying of hand sanitiser and face mask because of the Coronavirus.

    The woman who felt she was being ripped off said she thought the price of the sanitiser was N1,950.

    The head of FCCPC, Babatunde Irukera, told PREMIUM TIMES, Monday evening, that his agency was investigating the sales of hydroxychloroquine at exorbitant price in Port Harcourt.

    Ebus Pharmacy was not open on Sunday when operatives from the FCCPC visited it, Mr Irukera said.

    The operatives went back to the drug store on Monday, according to Mr Irukera, but hydroxychloroquine was not on the shelf.

    The manager of Ebus Pharmacy was said to have declined to give information to operatives on the sales of hydroxychloroquine in the store.

    “Our people will be there tomorrow (Tuesday) to check the inventory in the pharmacy,” Mr Irukera said.

    Mr Irukera said his agency has also received information about a location where hydroxychloroquine was being sold at N75,000 in Victoria Island, Lagos.

    He said the agency was conducting surveillance operations on the Lagos location and other locations in Abuja.

    A pharmacist in Port Harcourt who did not want his name mentioned in the report attributed the exorbitant price of hydroxychloroquine to a viral video of a U.S-based medical doctor, Stella Immanuel who claimed she has used the drug to successfully treat more than 300 COVID-19 patients in America.

    “Nobody needs to get sick. This virus has a cure – it is called hydroxychloroquine. I have treated over 350 patients and not had one death,” Ms Immanuel said in the video, surrounded by other doctors with similar views.

    The video, which many people believed was done to promote the U.S President Donald Trump’s political ambition, prompted a global discourse especially among medical experts on hydroxychloroquine, but it was quickly taken down by Facebook and Twitter on grounds that it was promoting unproven medical claims.

    Mr Trump has been advocating for the use of the anti-malaria drug in the treatment of COVID-19, contrary to the advice of the World Health Organisation and the U.S Food And Drug Administration.

    Coronavirus has been on the increase in Nigeria. The number of confirmed cases in the country is 43,841 as of August 2.

    Eight hundred and eighty-eight people have died so far from the virus, according to the data from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, while 20,308 have been treated and discharged from hospital.

    Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, remains the epicentre of the virus, with 15,267 confirmed cases, followed by Abuja, with 3,972.

    Rivers, an oil-producing state with over 5 million population, has 1,829 cases, the fifth highest in the country.

    Some states in Nigeria, overwhelmed by the number of cases, have resorted to home-treatment for many COVID-19 patients, and in some cases the patients are asked to procure the drugs for their treatment.

    The implication here is that if drug stores arbitrarily fix high prices for COVID-19 drugs, some poor Nigerians face the risk of being excluded from treatment for COVID-19 and may die without getting medical help.

    Source: allafrica.com

  • Pandemic’s economic fallout will worsen conflicts – UN diplomats

    The coronavirus pandemic is worsening the humanitarian situation in the world’s deadliest conflicts and threatens to unleash economic devastation that will intensify violence, United Nations diplomats and experts warn.
    COVID-19 is hampering aid programs, diverting the attention and resources of major powers battling the deadly virus at home, and cutting remittances to already fragile, war-weary economies, they say.

    “There’s a very high level of concern that its economic impact is going to spark more disorder, more conflict,” said New York-based UN expert Richard Gowan.

    “We’re still only really in the opening act of quite a long drama,” he told AFP.

    UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’s plea for a global ceasefire back in March has gone largely unheeded, with fighting continuing to rage in hotspots such as Yemen, Libya and Syria.

    Lockdowns are restricting the movements of envoys, peacekeeping troops and non-governmental agencies, hindering mediation efforts and impeding the distribution of desperately needed aid to increasingly vulnerable civilians.

    In Yemen — where tens of thousands of civilians have died since 2015 in what the UN describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis — fighting is intensifying, according to diplomats who say the country is in free fall.

    “Famine is again on the horizon. Conflict is again escalating. The economy is again in tatters. Humanitarian agencies are again nearly broke. And then the new problems – COVID-19 is spreading out of control,” UN relief chief Mark Lowcock said last week.

    The British diplomat told the UN Security Council that the coronavirus crisis had slashed remittances, which has long been a lifeline for the country, by as much as 70 percent.

    He cited a recent survey that found that about half of Yemeni families have lost at least 50 per cent of their income since April.

    “Help Yemen now or watch the country fall into the abyss,” he implored.

    Lowcock also reported depressing economic news from Syria, whose economy has been devastated by almost a decade of civil war.

    He said lockdown measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 was one factor in the Syrian economy expecting to contract by more than seven percent this year.

    ‘Bleak and depressing’
    The diplomat added that job losses in recent months have increased unemployment from 42 percent last year to close to 50 percent now.

    Diplomats say western governments are reducing the amount of aid they send to humanitarian crisis zones as they focus on getting their own coronavirus-battered economies up and running again.

    Analysts say it has also taken the steam out of peace efforts as mediators swap face-to-face meetings for Zoom and Skype calls.

    In January, at a summit hosted by Germany in Berlin, world leaders committed to ending all foreign meddling in Libya’s civil war and to uphold a weapons embargo as part of a plan to end the nine-year conflict.

    But last month Guterres denounced “unprecedented levels” of interference in the war-torn country, where Russia and Turkey back rival factions.

    “Now obviously Germany’s focus is on propping up the European economy,” said Gowan, of the International Crisis Group think-tank.

    Experts are also watching with close concern Lebanon, currently mired in its worst economic crisis since its 1975-1990 civil war, with runaway inflation and bank capital controls fuelling poverty, despair and angry street protests.

    “It’s a pretty bleak and depressing picture across the board,” a UN diplomat told AFP.

    “The economic fallout is just going to exacerbate conflict in those countries,” he added.

    Source: Pulse Ghana

  • Dozens test positive for coronavirus on Norwegian cruise ship

    At least 40 passengers and crew on a Norwegian cruise ship have tested positive for COVID-19, officials say.

    Hundreds more passengers on the MS Roald Amundsen are in quarantine and awaiting test results, the company that owns the ship said.

    The ship, which belongs to the Norwegian firm Hurtigruten, docked in the port of Tromso in northern Norway on Friday.

    Hurtigruten has halted all leisure cruises because of the outbreak.

    “We are now focusing all available efforts in taking care of our guests and colleagues,” the company’s Chief Executive Daniel Skjeldam said in a statement.

    “A preliminary evaluation shows a breakdown in several of our internal procedures,” he added. “The only responsible choice is to suspend all expedition sailings.”

    Four crew members were admitted to hospital on Friday with coronavirus symptoms, shortly after the ship docked in Tromso, and later tested positive for the virus.

    Another 32 of the 158 staff on board were infected, test results showed.

    But almost 180 passengers were allowed to disembark the ship, leaving the authorities scrambling to locate and test those who had been on board.

    All the passengers have now been contacted and told to self-isolate, health officials said on Sunday. Five passengers have so far tested positive out of 387 who have traveled on the ship since 17 July.

    “We expect that more infections will be found in connection to this outbreak,” Line Vold, a health official, told Reuters news agency.

    The MS Roald Amundsen had been on a week-long voyage to Svalbard in the Arctic, and was also reportedly scheduled to visit ports in England and Scotland in September.

    But all future journeys are uncertain as the cruise industry finds itself affected by the coronavirus pandemic once again. Thousands of passengers were stranded at sea earlier this year as ships were hit by outbreaks of the virus.

    These included passengers on the MS Roald Amundsen, which was stranded for several days in March after Chile refused it entry because it had confirmed COVID-19 cases on board.

    And while the industry has restarted in recent weeks, there have already been setbacks.

    A crew member on a ship in the Pacific tested positive for the virus on Sunday. The Paul Gauguin was forced to suspend its journey when the case was detected by the ship’s doctor, local media report.

    Passengers were told to stay in their cabins as the ship turned back to Papeete on the island of Tahiti, where all on board are being tested.

    Ahead of resuming operations, Ponant, the company that runs the Paul Gauguin, had reassured customers in a blog post that it had strict regulations in place that “go further than the international standards for the sector”.

    Source: bbc.com

  • Covid-19 should make you an innovative entrepreneur Itrade Commercial CEO

    The outbreak of coronavirus pandemic has driven many businesses to the brim.

    However, other businesses have managed to salvage the situation and continue their operations as usual.

    With the rapid change in the Ghanaian economy these past few months due to the Covid-19 crisis, many companies have laid off workers and reduced their services, while others have shut down completely.

    Some companies, nonetheless, have inventively adapted to the effects of the pandemic. One of such companies is Itrade Commercial Limited.

    Itrade Commercial Limited is a leading provider of vehicle hire-purchase services and car rentals in Ghana.

    The CEO, Zubair Mustapha, has assured that despite the economic effects of Covid-19, Itrade Commercial Limited remains committed to its original mission: Serving the ordinary people.

    He also revealed that the company has relaxed its payment packages to allow clients to acquire the luxuries they desire, especially in a time like this.

    Mr Zubair, however, admonished clients and all Ghanaians to adhere to all the necessary hygiene and social distancing protocols laid out by the government whenever they visit their office.

    Sharing a word of advice to entrepreneurs, he noted that although the emergence of the pandemic is a challenge, a business-minded person will only be apt to find innovative ways to keep up with the work.

    Itrade Commercial Limited, previously known as Itrade Commercial Enterprise, provides various kinds of services such as hire purchase, car rentals, real estates and other transport services.

    The rebranding included a new logo, website, positioning and expanded services which better reflected the quality of services the company provided its clients.

    The company was awarded the Emerging Brand of the Year at the NiBS Ghana Innovation Awards in 2019.

    Source: adomonline.com

  • UK to roll out millions of 90-minute ‘rapid tests’

    Britain is set to roll out millions of new, 90-minute “rapid tests” for the novel Coronavirus and other viruses common in winter, the country’s health ministry has said.

    Starting next week, hospitals, nursing homes and laboratories will have access to some 5.8 million tests analysing DNA and another 450,000 swab tests.

    Neither requires medical training to administer, meaning they can be performed in non-clinical environments, the ministry said in a statement released on Monday.

    This would be a significant increase on current testing capacity in the country and would aim to limit community spread of the virus before the cold months, when people are more vulnerable to viruses

    “The fact these tests can detect flu, as well as COVID-19, will be hugely beneficial as we head into winter, so patients can follow the right advice to protect themselves and others,” Health Minister Matt Hancock said.

    Approximately 5,000 machines that will be used for the analysis of DNA collected in nasal swabs will be distributed to government hospitals from September.

    “We have been able to successfully adapt our in-store consumer DNA testing technology – which identifies genetic risks for chronic conditions related to obesity and type 2 diabetes – and validate it for detecting COVID-19 with gold-standard accuracy,” said Chris Toumazou, CEO and co-founder of DnaNudge, the company the produced the DNA-based tests and associated machines.

    Meanwhile, almost half a million of the new swab tests, called LamPORE, will be available at elder care settings and labs from next week, with millions more to be rolled out later in the year.

    With more than 300,000 cases of infection recorded, the UK has been hit hardest in Europe by the pandemic in terms of the death toll.

    More than 46,000 people have died from COVID-19, according to official figures, the fourth-highest toll in the world.

    Britain’s healthcare system has come under severe strain during peaks in the outbreak.

    Separately, the publicly funded National Health Service (NHS) said it would be offering “COVID-friendly” treatments to cancer patients, including drugs that do not have a big impact on the immune system.

    Source: aljazeera.com

  • About 85,000 businesses still closed down due to Covid-19 Government Statistician discloses

    About 85,000 businesses in Ghana are still closed down due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.

    This was featured in the Covid-19 Rapid Surveys Business Tracker Highlights by the Ghana Statistical Service.

    In all 115,000 businesses have either permanently or temporarily closed down across the country.

    The tracker also reveals that more than 45,000 workers lost their jobs during the partial lockdown with those in the Accommodation and food sector badly hit.

    So, more than half a million workers had their wages reduced.

    Despite some respite granted businesses by government with the ¢600 million stimulus package, close to 131,000 businesses revealed they still had challenges accessing finance with over 60 per cent calling for subsidised interest rates.

    The sample for the research were extracted from the Ghana Business Register, Non-farm establishments from Ghana Living Standards Survey and National Board for Small Scale Industries.

    Data was collected between May 26 to June 17, 2020, with a targeted sample size of 4,248 businesses.

    Source: myjoyonline.com

  • German children start new school year amid pandemic

    A new school year has kicked off in parts of Germany, where pupils have daily class for the first time since a coronavirus lockdown in March. Catch up with this and other latest news on the COVID-19 pandemic.

    School children in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern went back to school on Monday, the first state in Germany where the academic year has started again following the summer holidays. For the first time since the coronavirus lockdown closed schools in mid-March, the state’s 152,700 pupils and students will once again have daily classes.

    Around 400 of the state’s 13,000 teachers are considered at high risk for COVID-19 and will therefore work from home. Consequently, distance learning will continue to play a role this school year.

    To minimize the risk of infection, pupils have been divided into set groups which are not to intermingle, though social-distancing within those groups is not required. Medical face masks are also required in the halls of the building.

    Some islands in the northern state of Schleswig-Holsten also returned to school on Monday. The city of Hamburg will follow suit on Thursday, with schools in Berlin, the surrounding state of Brandenburg, as well as the western state of North Rhine Westphalia due to join next week.

    Here’s a roundup of the other major stories regarding coronavirus around the world:

    Asia

    A body of lawyers in Hong Kong have said that their government’s move to postpone Legislative Council elections may be unlawful.

    There are “serious doubts about the legal and evidential basis of the government’s decision,” the Hong Kong’s Bar Association said on Sunday.

    Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Friday had announced that she was postponing an election planned for September 6 for one year due to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.

    Meanwhile, the mandate of Hong Kong’s current Legislative Council is due to expire. Lam asked China’s parliament to resolve the issue.

    The bar association said the local government was “effectively inviting” Beijing to “override the relevant provisions” of its mini-constitution.

    Authorities in the Philippines said on Sunday they would reimpose a stricter lockdown in the capital, Manila, and nearby provinces on Tuesday, with restrictions remaining till August 18.

    Under the lockdown, some businesses and public transport are expected to be shut down in the capital, and work and quarantine passes will be required. Currently, the city is under restrictions but of a less stringent nature.

    The move, approved by President Rodrigo Duterte, comes after 80 local groups representing medical workers called for a reimposition of lockdown restrictions, saying the country was losing its battle against the pandemic.

    The country experienced its largest daily rise in recorded infections on Sunday, with 5,032 new cases taking the confirmed total to 103,185. The death toll rose by 20 to 2,059.

    The toll of infections and death is the second-highest in Southeast Asia after Indonesia.

    Manila and other provinces were already subject to one of the longest and strictest lockdowns in the world for three months from mid-March. President Rodrigo Duterte began loosening the restrictions in June in a bid to revive the economy, which is facing its biggest slump in more than three decades.

    Australia’s second-biggest city of Melbourne is under an overnight curfew, after a surge of infections in the state of which it is the capital, Victoria, caused authorities to declare a state of disaster.

    Under newly imposed restrictions, Melbourne residents will be allowed to shop and exercise only within 5 kilometers (3 miles) of their homes, while students will return to learning at home. L

    Less strict restrictions are in force in other regions of the state, which currently has 6,322 cases of active infection. The measures are to stay in place until at least September 13.

    India’s Interior Minister Amit Shah, 55, who heads the ministry that is mainly responsible for managing the epidemic in the country, has tested positive for COVID-19 and been admitted to hospital. He is the most senior politician in India to have contracted the disease.

    Meanwhile, renowned veteran Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan, who was taken to hospital on July 11 with his son Abhishek after testing positive for the disease, has been discharged from hospital in Mumbai. In a tweet, he thanked the staff at Nanavati Hospital for his recovery.

    India has recorded its steepest spike of 57,118 new cases over the past day, taking its coronavirus caseload close to 1.7 million, with July alone accounting for nearly 1.1 million infections. Is public negligence causing a surge in cases? Read our full story here.

    In the Philippines, coronavirus infections have passed the 100,000 mark after a record 5,032 cases were reported on Sunday. The total caseload is now 103,185, with the death toll also rising on Sunday by 20 to 2,059. Health care workers have called on the government to reimpose a lockdown in the capital, Manila, in a bid to curb the spread of the disease.

    Europe

    The northern English city of Manchester has declared a “major incident” to increase coordination and free resources to combat a rising number of coronavirus cases, a local official was quoted as saying by the Manchester Evening News.

    “It allows the establishment of a central command structure to oversee the response and enables agencies involved to draw on extra resources,” said the head of the city council, Richard Leese.

    He said such a declaration was “standard practice” for situations where several agencies had to coordinate and that residents should not be alarmed.

    Belgium is the latest European country to ban travel to some areas of Spain due to a surge in cases. The regions of Navarra and Aragon, along with the Catalan cities of Barcelona and Lleida are now prohibited for non-essential travel.

    Belgium has also put areas in Bulgaria, Romania, central England, northern France and Switzerland on its red list, which means anyone returning from these locations must self-isolate.

    From Saturday, arrivals into Belgium have to fill out forms stating where they have been over the past 14 days.

    Around 20,000 protesters rallied in Germany’s capital Berlinon Saturday, with many ignoring social distancing rules and labeling the pandemic a “false alarm.” Police eventually broke up the demonstration and some people were forcibly removed by officers. Read more about the protests

    Latin America

    Rising death tolls in countries like Brazil and Mexico have cemented Latin America’s status as one of the epicenters of the virus as cases in the region have doubled over the past month to more than 4.7 million infections.

    The real number of infections is likely to be higher, as comparatively fewer people are being tested there.

    North America

    The coronavirus has been blamed for the decision to hold the vote to renominate Donald Trump as the Republican candidate for president in private. A spokeswoman for the Republican National Convention said the poll would take place without the presence of the media.

    Trump called off the public components of the convention in Florida last month, citing spiking cases of the virus. However, 336 delegates are scheduled to gather in Charlotte, North Carolina, on August 24 to formally vote to make Trump the GOP standard-bearer once more.

    Nominating conventions are traditionally meant to be media frenzies, as political parties seek to leverage the attention the events draw to spread their message to as many voters as possible.

    Also in the US, Hurricane Isaias’ imminent arrival forced the closure of some outdoor testing sites even as Florida reached a new daily high in deaths.

    Middle East

    Muslims are marking the Eid al-Adha holiday despite restrictions due to the pandemic. The streets of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, have been largely empty due to a 10-day lockdown imposed by authorities to prevent further spread of the virus.

    The last day of the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia has been taking place with as few as 1,000 pilgrims compared to last year’s 2.5 million.

    Meanwhile, an Israeli Cabinet minister says he has tested positive for the coronavirus. Minister for Jerusalem and Heritage Rafi Peretz tweeted late Saturday that he received a positive result, but said he felt well.

    Israel is experiencing a surge in coronavirus cases after having largely contained an earlier outbreak in the spring.

    Africa

    South Africa has surpassed 500,000 confirmed cases, but President Cyril Ramaphosa said Sunday he sees “promising signs’” that the rapid growth of infections has stabilized.

    South Africa has now tallied more than 50% of all recorded infections in Africa’s 54 countries and has the fifth-highest number of cases in the world.

    The country’s hospitals have been stretched to the limit but in most provinces, they are succeeding in providing treatment to COVID-19 patients, Ramaphosa said.

    The coronavirus pandemic has had devastating effects on finances worldwide, both public and private. A new study has found that in Germany, it is the under-30s who have been bearing the brunt. And at a psychological level, it is women who have been suffering more than men.

    Source: dw.com

  • Iran cover-up of deaths revealed by data leak

    The number of deaths from coronavirus in Iran is nearly triple what Iran’s government claims, a BBC Persian service investigation has found.

    The government’s own records appear to show almost 42,000 people died with COVID-19 symptoms up to 20 July, versus 14,405 reported by its health ministry.

    The number of people known to be infected is also almost double official figures: 451,024 as opposed to 278,827.

    The official numbers still make Iran the worst-hit in the Middle East.

    In recent weeks, it has suffered a second steep rise in the number of cases.

    The first death in Iran from COVID-19 was recorded on 22 January, according to lists and medical records that have been passed to the BBC. This was almost a month before the first official case of coronavirus was reported there.

    Daily number of deaths from COVID-19 in Iran
    Official figures vs uncovered data, 22 January to 20 July 2020

    Since the outbreak of the virus in Iran, many observers have doubted the official numbers.

    There have been irregularities in data between national and regional levels, which some local authorities have spoken out about, and statisticians have tried to give alternative estimates..

    A level of undercounting, largely due to testing capacity, is seen across the world, but the information leaked to the BBC reveals Iranian authorities have reported significantly lower daily numbers despite having a record of all deaths – suggesting they were deliberately suppressed.

    Where did the data come from?

    The data was sent to the BBC by an anonymous source.

    It includes details of daily admissions to hospitals across Iran, including names, age, gender, symptoms, date and length of periods spent in hospital, and underlying conditions patients might have.

    The details on lists correspond to those of some living and deceased patients already known to the BBC.

    The source says they have shared this data with the BBC to “shed light on truth” and to end “political games” over the epidemic.

    The discrepancy between the official figures and the number of deaths on these records also matches the difference between the official figure and calculations of excess mortality until mid-June.

    Excess mortality refers to the number of deaths above and beyond what would be expected under “normal” conditions.

    What does the data reveal?

    Tehran, the capital, has the highest number of deaths with 8,120 people who died with COVID-19 or symptoms similar to it.

    The city of Qom, the initial epicentre of the virus in Iran, is worst hit proportionally, with 1,419 deaths – that is one death with COVID-19 for every 1,000 people.

    It is notable that, across the country, 1,916 deaths were non-Iranian nationals. This indicates a disproportionate number of deaths amongst migrants and refugees, who are mostly from neighbouring Afghanistan.

    The overall trend of cases and deaths in the leaked data is similar to official reports, albeit different in size.

    The initial rise of deaths is far steeper than Health Ministry figures and by mid-March it was five times the official figure.

    Lockdown measures were imposed over the Nowruz (Iranian New Year) holidays at the end of the third week in March, and there was a corresponding decline in cases and deaths.

    But as government restrictions were relaxed, the cases and deaths started to rise again after late-May.

    Crucially the first recorded death on the leaked list occurred on 22 January, a month before the first case of coronavirus was officially reported in Iran.

    At the time Health Ministry officials were adamant in acknowledging not a single case of coronavirus in the country, despite reports by journalists inside Iran, and warnings from various medical professionals.

    In 28 days until the first official acknowledgement on 19 February, 52 people had already died.

    Who were the first whistleblowers?

    Doctors with direct knowledge of the matter have told the BBC that the Iranian health ministry has been under pressure from security and intelligence bodies inside Iran.

    Dr Pouladi (not their real name) told the BBC that the ministry “was in denial”.

    “Initially they did not have testing kits and when they got them, they weren’t used widely enough. The position of the security services was not to admit to the existence of coronavirus in Iran,” Dr Pouladi said.

    It was the persistence of two brothers, both doctors from Qom, which forced the health ministry to acknowledge the first official case.

    When Dr Mohammad Molayi and Dr Ali Molayi lost their brother, they insisted he should still be tested for COVID-19, which turned out to be positive.

    In Kamkar hospital, where their brother died, numerous patients were admitted with similar symptoms to COVID-19, and they would not respond to the usual treatments. Nevertheless, none of them were tested for the disease.

    Dr Pouladi says: “They got unlucky. Someone with both decency and influence lost his brother. Dr Molayi had access to these gentlemen [health ministry officials] and did not give up.”

    Dr Molayi released a video of his late brother with a statement. The health ministry then finally acknowledged the first recorded case.

    Nevertheless state TV ran a report criticising him and falsely claiming the video of his brother was months old.

    Why the cover-up?

    The start of outbreak coincided both with the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution and with parliamentary elections.

    These were major opportunities for the Islamic Republic to demonstrate its popular support and not risk damaging it because of the virus.

    Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, accused some of wanting to use the coronavirus to undermine the election.

    In the event, the election had a very low turnout.

    Before the global coronavirus pandemic hit, Iran was already experiencing a series of its own crises.

    In November 2019, the government increased the price of petrol overnight and cracked down violently on protests which followed. Hundreds of protesters were killed in a few days.

    In January this year, the Iranian response to the US assassination of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, seen as one of the most powerful figures in Iran after its Supreme Leader, created another problem.

    Then Iranian armed forces – on high alert – mistakenly fired missiles at a Ukrainian airliner only minutes after it had taken off from Tehran’s international airport. All 176 people on board were killed.

    The Iranian authorities initially tried to cover up what happened, but after three days they were forced to admit it, resulting in considerable loss of face.

    Dr Nouroldin Pirmoazzen, a former MP who also was an official at the health ministry, told the BBC that in this context, the Iranian government was “anxious and fearful of the truth” when coronavirus hit Iran.

    He said: “The government was afraid that the poor and the unemployed would take to the streets.”

    Dr Pirmoazzen points to the fact that Iran stopped international health organisation Médecins Sans Frontières from treating coronavirus cases in the central province of Isfahan as evidence of how security-conscious its approach towards the pandemic is.

    Iran was going through tough times even before the military showdown with the US and coronavirus hit.

    The sanctions which followed Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal in May 2018 hit the economy hard.

    Dr Pouladi says: “Those who brought the country to this point don’t pay the price. It is the poor people of the country and my poor patients who pay the price with their lives.”

    “In the confrontation between the governments of the US and Iran we are getting crushed with pressures from both sides.”

    The health ministry has said that the country’s reports to the World Health Organization regarding the number of coronavirus cases and deaths are “transparent” and “far from any deviations”.

    Source: bbc.com

  • Coronavirus: Nigeria records 462 new infections

    Nigeria on Friday confirmed 462 new cases of COVID-19.

    This brings the number of Coronavirus infections in Africa’s biggest economy to 43,151, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

    The new figure is slightly lower than the 481 cases reported on Thursday.

    The agency made this known via its verified Twitter handle @NCDCgov on Friday. It said only one fatality was recorded from the virus in the past 24 hours pushing the total number of confirmed deaths from the virus to 879.

    According to the NCDC, out of a total 43,151 infected persons so far, 19,565 have recovered and have been discharged after treatment in the country’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    The new cases, according to the NCDC, were found in the following 16 states:

    FCT-93 Lagos-78 Plateau-64 Kaduna-54 Oyo-47 Ondo-32 Adamawa-23 Bauchi-19 Rivers-9 Ogun-9 Delta-9 Edo-7 Kano-6 Enugu-6 Nasarawa-5 Osun-1

    About a third of Nigeria’s cases (over 15,000) were recorded in Lagos, the country’s commercial capital. The second most affected place in Nigeria is Abuja, the capital city with 3,803 cases.

    Nigeria is Africa’s third most impacted behind only South Africa and Egypt. The federal and state governments are working to increase testing as authorities stress that cases definitely far exceed the current tally with less than 300,000 people tested so far.

    Nigeria has tested almost 280,000 of its 200 million population.

    The country continues to record hundreds of new COVID-19 cases daily but has also had to reopen its economy as authorities seek to balance health needs with the economic needs of the populace. Schools are being reopened gradually, domestic flights have resumed, while markets and religious centres are also gradually being reopened.

    Source: allafrica.com

  • Rwanda uses robots to fight against coronavirus

    One of the challenges being faced worldwide is the rate of infection of health professionals while treating COVID-19 patients. 2016 statistics show the following picture of Rwanda’s health sector: 1/50,505 ground ambulance/population ratio; 1/10,055 Doctor/population ratio; 1/1,094 Nurse/population ratio; 1/10,500 Laboratory technicians/population ratio.

    Although Rwanda is on track to meeting most of the required quota, the country cannot afford the set back that a pandemic like COVID-19 among health professionals would cause.

    To minimize contact time with confirmed cases and therefore reducing the risk of contamination of health professionals in COVID-19 treatment centres, robots were deployed. At Gatenga and Kanyinya treatment centres in Kigali City, visits by medical staff to patients went from 3-4 to 2 per day since May 2020.

    The 5 human-size robots are programmed to perform temperature screening, take readings of vitals, deliver video messages and detect people not wearing masks then instruct them to wear masks properly.

    On Tuesday, May 19 at the Kanyinya COVID-19 Treatment Centre, the 5 robots were launched by the Ministry of Health. Named in Kinyarwanda, Akazuba, Ikirezi, Mwiza, Ngabo, and Urumuri are made by Zora Bots, a Belgian company specialised in robotics. They were acquired through a partnership between the UNDP Rwanda Accelerator Lab (AccLab) and the Ministry of ICT and Innovation. Each robot costs about $30,000.

    Urumuri is currently deployed at the Kigali International Airport with the capacity to screen 50 to 150 people per minute and report abnormalities to officers on duty.

    As Rwanda is reopening Kigali International Airport for commercial international flights from 1st of August, Urumuri will allow to speed up mass screenings of fever for passengers as they land.

    Smart anti-epidemic robots have been used in Asia to help flatten the COVID-19 curve. The pandemic has proven to be a crosscutting challenge affecting Rwanda in all sectors (Health, Economy, Education, Agriculture, …). It therefore requires different sometimes innovative solutions with available resources like robots.

    Source: allafrica.com

  • French health minister says observing social distancing ‘vital’ to avoid new lockdown

    France’s health minister urged the country on Wednesday not to drop its guard against COVID-19, saying it faced a long battle and that observing social distancing rules was vital to avoiding a new national lockdown.

    France reported 14 new deaths from the novel coronavirus on Tuesday, a figure twice as high as the daily average increase of seven seen over the previous week. A total of 30,223 people have now died of COVID-19 in France, health authorities said.

    “We are not facing a second wave, the epidemic is continuing… Some people do not respect the rules. We must not let down our guard,” Health Minister Olivier Véran told LCI television.

    “We do not want to resort to another lockdown, we are examining the situation on a case-by-case basis. The war is not over… People must understand that we are going to live with this virus for a fairly long time.”

    Véran was asked whether he would advise against going on holiday in the Brittany resort of Quiberon after a COVID-19 cluster was reported there last week and local authorities ordered a night curfew for beaches.

    “On Quiberon, there is a cluster of about 50 people. We are looking at the situation. It will depend on the spread of the virus. If we need to take other measures, we will take them,” he said.

    The Quiberon prefecture later said there were now 72 confirmed cases, mostly people aged 18 to 25.

    Source: france24.com

  • Germany’s exploited foreign workers amid coronavirus

    After major coronavirus outbreaks at several businesses, German lawmakers are finally considering cracking down on the exploitation of foreign workers.

    “I will never go back to Germany, not even for a holiday,” Mariana Costea, a seasonal worker from Romania, told DW. She spent two months toiling away on a Bavarian farm until she decided that was all she could take. Mariana was forced to work unpaid overtime, had to sleep in filthy dorms, and was at risk of contracting the coronavirus — as no safety precautions were in place.

    “I could not accept that eight of us had to share one bedroom and bathroom,” she recalls. To make matters worse, 30 seasonal workers were expected to share a single bathroom.

    Every morning 14 or 15 of them would pile into a minivan with just eight seats to be driven out to work on the fields. In the evenings, the Eastern Europeans would be shuttled back to their overcrowded accommodation. Costea says those in charge made no effort to enforce social distancing and other precautions to prevent them from contracting the coronavirus.


    German slaughterhouses face scrutiny after COVID-19 outbreaks
    We can no longer turn a blind eye

    Costea is one of many Eastern Europeans seasonal workers who have recently spoke out about the catastrophic working and living conditions they have endured in Germany. They have recounted harrowing experiences as meat processing plant workers, delivery men and women, caregivers, construction workers and seasonal farmhands. Yet much of this has been known for years, as German Labor Minister Hubertus Heil openly acknowledged at a recent press conference in Berlin. The difference, however, is that the pandemic has made it impossible to ignore this situation.

    Alex, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, told DW about his experience of spending two years working for Tönnies, Germany’s biggest meat producer. He fears he could face serious consequences if anyone learns his identity. “They made us work between 10 and 13 hours a day, instead of 8 hours with a 45-minute break,” he told DW. “It was exhausting, and psychologically draining.”

    Most seasonal workers are hired by subcontractors; workers are employed by an external company — and not the meat producers, which are are not directly responsible for the laborers. Alex, too, was hired by a subcontractor that oversees parts of the meat production. But he also had to accept the subcontractor’s terms.

    Most subcontracted laborers do piecework — which is when workers are paid according to items processed, rather than the actual time spent working. Alex says the tasks expected were simply impossible to fulfill during a regular 8-hour workday. This, he says, constitutes systematic exploitation, adding that anyone who protests is fired. German labor standards have gone absent.

    According to numerous accounts of workers, little to no precautions were in place to protect workers at the Tönnies meat processing plant. When, in early June, some 1,500 laborers of the 7,000-strong workforce tested positive for the coronavirus, the development hardly came as a surprise. As a result, the region of Gütersloh, where the site is situated, was placed on lockdown.

    Federal prosecutors are now taking legal action against the company and numerous subcontractors accused of violating Germany’s law on the prevention and control of infectious diseases.

    Subcontractors hard to monitor

    There are many subcontractors and recruitments agencies that supply laborers to German companies. Keeping tabs on how they treat the workers and house them, however, is difficult.

    Marius Hanganu counsels Eastern European workers hired by subcontractors on behalf of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB). Hanganu, who was born in Romania, says Germany’s customs agency and public health departments are responsible for ensuring that basic labor and housing standards are fulfilled. But, he says, checks are not as thorough as they should be.

    Hanganu recalls how Bavarian companies were tipped off about impending inspections by the customs agency. “It is puzzling how a state department could have such “leaks”…there must have been a mole,” he says. According to Hanganu, there must have been an informant up in the higher echelons of the agency.

    DW reached out to Germany’s Central Customs Authority for comment on the claim. “There is no knowledge of this!” said the federal authority in a brief reply.

    After news broke of soaring coronavirus infections at German farms and meat processing plants due to dismal working and housing conditions, German lawmakers were forced to act. They plan to outlaw the practice of subcontracted laborers in the meat industry by January 1, 2021. From then on, companies will have to directly employ all their workers.

    Labor Minister Hubertus Heil has tabled a bill that will be debated and, potentially, adopted after parliament’s summer recess. It is unclear, however, why this measure will only be applied to Germany’s meat industry.

    Heil told DW: “There are areas where labor standards need to be monitored; we will raise the standards so we have more influence on crucial sectors.”

    “There are other areas in which it is about workplace safety inspections. Those (inspections) will be increased mandatorily so that we can go into vulnerable areas more frequently.”

    An opportunity for change

    An ongoing coronavirus outbreak in Bavaria has yet again put the spotlight on businesses’ apparent disregard for coronavirus precautions — and the lack of state checks to enforce them. Over 170 seasonal workers at an agricultural business in Mamming, some 140 kilometres (87 miles) northeast of Munich, tested positive for COVID-19. Most of the laborers hail from Romania. Several others are from Bulgaria, Hungary and Ukraine. The business has been placed under quarantine.

    At a press conference Monday, Bavarian State Premier Markus Söder said the company had knowingly breached hygiene rules and other standards — prompting the state leader to call for tougher, unannounced checks, both during the day and night.

    Source: dw.com

    Söder also suggested increasing fines for such breaches from €5,000 to €25,000 ($5,800 to $29,000). In addition, Söder wants to see all seasonal workers in Bavaria tested for the coronavirus. A complete regional lockdown might also loom, he said.

    The pandemic has drawn attention to the inhumane treatment of workers that has persisted in Germany for years. The outbreak might present an opportunity to finally improve the lives of many Eastern European workers in the country.

    Alex is certain that without the pandemic, everything would have continued as before. He has now started working for a different meat processing company. He has been given a permanent position — and says he will never again allow himself to be exploited.

  • Coronavirus: Government to take cost of testing players

    Government is to take up the cost of COVID-19 testing for players of national teams returning to train, Dr Anthony Nsiah Asare, the Presidential Advisor on Health, has said.

    “We will be doing the mandatory testing for these national teams as FIFA has recommended and European clubs are doing,” he said.

    President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in his 14th Address to the nation on measures to contain the COVID-19, asked the Black Maidens and the Black Princesses to resume camping and prepare for their international assignments later this year.

    Dr Nsiah Asare said the decision followed a proposal by the Minister of Sports on the need to consider national teams, which had international assignments, to start training with strict adherence to all safety protocols.

    He said the return matches would be played behind closed doors at venues chosen by the Ghana Football Association (GFA).

    Dr Nsiah Asare said the teams would be camped under tight security as done for second cycle institutions until all return matches were played.

    The Black Maidens have a FIFA U-17 World Cup qualifier against Nigeria whiles the Princesses will take on Guinea-Bissau in a 2021 FIFA U-20 World Cup qualifier in September, this year.

    Source: GNA

  • Coronavirus ‘most severe health emergency’ WHO has faced

    Covid-19 is easily the most severe global health emergency ever declared by the World Health Organization (WHO), its leader has said.

    Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he would reconvene the WHO’s emergency committee this week for a review.

    There have been five other global health emergencies: Ebola (two outbreaks), Zika, polio and swine flu.

    More than 16m cases of Covid-19 have been reported since January, and more than 650,000 deaths.

    “When I declared a public health emergency of international concern on 30 January… there were less than 100 cases outside of China, and no deaths,” Dr Tedros said.

    “Covid-19 has changed our world. It has brought people, communities and nations together, and driven them apart.”

    The total number of cases, he added, had roughly doubled in the past six weeks.

    Although the world had made a huge effort in fighting the virus, there remained “a long hard road ahead of us”, he said.

    In other developments:

    US President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, has tested positive for coronavirus. He is the highest-ranking official in the administration known to have tested positive

    Spain insists recent outbreaks of new cases were isolated and the country is safe for tourists to visit, after the UK introduced new measures requiring visitors from Spain to quarantine for 14 days

    Vietnam has closed the coastal city of Da Nang to tourists, after 15 new locally transmitted coronavirus cases were recorded there – the first in the country since April

    US biotech company Moderna has begun the final phase of clinical trials for a potential Covid-19 vaccine. Some 30,000 volunteers are taking part in the third and last phase of testing before the vaccine can be submitted to a regulatory authority for evaluation and possible approval

    Belgium is tightening restrictions to try to avoid another lockdown because of a worrying rise in the number of its cases. From Wednesday, Belgians will be allowed to see a maximum of five people outside of their families. Currently a Belgian individual can meet 15 people in a “social bubble”

    At Monday’s briefing in Geneva, Switzerland, the WHO also said travel restrictions could not be the answer for the long term, and countries had to do more to halt the spread by adopting proven strategies such as social distancing and wearing masks.

    “It is going to be almost impossible for individual countries to keep their borders shut for the foreseeable future. Economies have to open up, people have to work, trade has to resume,” WHO emergencies programme director Mike Ryan said.

    WHO officials acknowledged however that further lockdowns in countries experiencing renewed outbreaks may be necessary, but suggested they should be as short as possible, and confined to as small a geographic area as possible (ie local lockdowns).

    “The more we understand about the virus, the more surgical we can be in controlling it,” said Mr Ryan.

    Source: BBC

  • Properly dispose of medical waste to curtail spread of coronavirus – NCCE

    The Western Regional Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Mr Justice Yaw Ennin, has called for the proper disposal of medical waste to help curb the spread rate of COVID-19 in the country.

    He suggested that the disposal of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) used in the various health facilities as well as used tissue paper, should be properly disposed of by qualified personal to prevent people from getting infected with the virus.

    Mr Ennin who said this during the Commission’s monthly public sensitization programme on COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing Registration exercise said currently, there was no measure put in place for individuals to effectively dispose off their used Personal Protective Equipment.

    The sensitization programme, going on at the marketplaces, lorry terminals, churches, mosque, and other public institutions is being supported by OXFAM on theme: “Change your Attitude towards the Fight against COVID-19“.

    The Regional Director noted that the fight against COVID-19 could only be achieved if people desisted from stigmatizating those who are infected with the virus, those who have recovered and observe all the safety protocols.
    “If people change their attitude and strictly observe all the safety protocols, the virus will be eradicated in no time”, he stressed.

    Mr Ennin noted that failure to observe the safety protocols would result in more COVID-19 cases and suggested that the law enforcement agencies should arrest people who failed to wear nose masks in public.

    Touching on the ongoing registration exercise, Mr Ennin tasked the various political party agents monitoring the exercise to let the vigilantism Act 99(2019) be their guiding principle to avoid any violent confrontations.

    He said the party agents should use challenge forms to challenge unqualified registrants instead of resorting to violent acts, which did not augur well for the current peace being enjoyed in the country.

    Mr Ennin indicated that, apart from two isolated cases reported in Sekondi and Axim, the registration exercise in the region had been peaceful and urged political parties to help maintain the current peaceful atmosphere.

    He also urged them to be law-abiding and observe all the rules and regulations of the voter registration exercise

    Source: GNA

  • Ethiopia, using experiences from the polio program in the response to coronavirus

    Many frontline workers are putting their lives on-the-line in the response to COVID-19 Pandemic. They put their lives at risk daily, tasked with the critical mission of controlling the spread and mitigating the impact of this pandemic. Mrs. Berhane Beyene is one of those heroines with the mission-essential task of keeping laboratory surveillance and detection of COVID-19 in motion.

    As a critical Staff in the Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Mrs. Beyene, despite the UN Circular information on the AWW ?Alternative Ways of Working) and the “stay home” announcement from the government, Mrs. Beyene is working nonstop, including weekends, and not even getting enough sleep since the declaration of COVID-19 pandemic.

    Every day at the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI), Mrs. Beyene works along with her National Lab Team to make sure COVID-19 testing is conducted accurately and continuously. The Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI), the technical arm of the Ministry of Health (MoH) is tasked with managing public health emergencies.

    Mrs. Berhane Beyene is one of the many World Health Organization (WHO) Ethiopia workers who have been deployed to the COVID-19 outbreak preparedness and now response under WHO Incident Management System. She is assigned by WHO to coordinate the laboratory pillar, mainly supporting the establishment and expansion of COVID-19 testing laboratories at the national and regional levels throughout the country.

    “I feel proud of being able to do my part to serve my country in fighting against COVID-19,” Berhane says while asked about her thoughts about her task during this challenging period.

    Reflecting on her 22 years’ experience, Berhane expressed how her expertise from the national polio laboratory and the work on other viral pathogens in the Laboratory helped her to support the establishment of COVID-19 laboratory testing capacity during the current pandemic. “I was engaged in the establishment of the National Polio Laboratory in 1998 from the inception of EPHI.

    With continuous technical, logistic and financial support from WHO, the Laboratory managed to conduct testing using cell culture and molecular technology for more than 3500 Acute Flaccid paralysis (AFP) samples and contacts coming through the surveillance system from 9 regions and 2 city administrations. The laboratory expanded its activity and established Environmental surveillance in three regions since 2017.

    The Laboratory maintained accreditation for the past 18 years and integrated other vaccine-preventable diseases laboratory detection such as measles, rubella, Rotavirus and influenza laboratory surveillance throughout the country. After integrating the National Measles Laboratory which was founded in 2005, it expanded to sub-national measles laboratories in Amhara and SNNPR regions.

    The national and sub-national measles laboratories are accredited under the WHO to deliver on-time laboratory result for Public Health Emergency Management by processing more than 4000 samples from the case-based surveillance throughout the country.

    The National Polio Laboratory and other vaccine-preventable diseases surveillance is under Public Health Emergency Management at EPHI and supported by the WHO EPI and surveillance team at the National and regional level. As a virology research team leader for the past ten years at EPHI, I have been serving as a senior researcher and licensed chief public health expert and mainly engaged with heading the National Polio and Measles Laboratory and other Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Laboratory services.”

    The laboratory technical guidance for COVID-19, laboratory reagent and kit provision, technical support, External Quality Assurance, laboratory capacity-building through training and supportive supervisions were the major support of WHO through the overall leadership of the WR Ethiopia Dr. Boureima Hama SAMBO and the well-organized coordination of the Incident Manager Dr. Emmanuel Musa and the EPR Team Lead Dr. Aggrey Bategereza.

    The success of the laboratory pillar was also dependent on the dedication and contribution of other COVID-19 response team pillars such as surveillance, point of entry, risk communication, case management, logistic and Infection prevention and control.

    “I feel proud of being able to do my part to serve my country in fighting against COVID-19,” Berhane says while asked about her thoughts about her task during this challenging period.

    Reflecting on her 22 years’ experience, Berhane expressed how her expertise from the national polio laboratory and the work on other viral pathogens in the Laboratory helped her to support the establishment of COVID-19 laboratory testing capacity during the current pandemic.

    “I was engaged in the establishment of the National Polio Laboratory in 1998 from the inception of EPHI. With continuous technical, logistic and financial support from WHO, the Laboratory managed to conduct testing using cell culture and molecular technology for more than 3500 Acute Flaccid paralysis (AFP) samples and contacts coming through the surveillance system from 9 regions and 2 city administrations.

    The laboratory expanded its activity and established Environmental surveillance in three regions since 2017. The Laboratory maintained accreditation for the past 18 years and integrated other vaccine-preventable diseases laboratory detection such as measles, rubella, Rotavirus and influenza laboratory surveillance throughout the country.

    After integrating the National Measles Laboratory which was founded in 2005, it expanded to sub-national measles laboratories in Amhara and SNNPR regions. The national and sub-national measles laboratories are accredited under the WHO to deliver on-time laboratory result for Public Health Emergency Management by processing more than 4000 samples from the case-based surveillance throughout the country.

    The National Polio Laboratory and other vaccine-preventable diseases surveillance is under Public Health Emergency Management at EPHI and supported by the WHO EPI and surveillance team at the National and regional level. As a virology research team leader for the past ten years at EPHI, I have been serving as a senior researcher and licensed chief public health expert and mainly engaged with heading the National Polio and Measles Laboratory and other Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Laboratory services.”

    The laboratory technical guidance for COVID-19, laboratory reagent and kit provision, technical support, External Quality Assurance, laboratory capacity-building through training and supportive supervisions were the major support of WHO through the overall leadership of the WR Ethiopia Dr Boureima Hama SAMBO and the well-organized coordination of the Incident Manager Dr. Emmanuel Musa and the EPR Team Lead Dr. Aggrey Bategereza.

    The success of the laboratory pillar was also dependent on the dedication and contribution of other COVID-19 response team pillars such as surveillance, point of entry, risk communication, case management, logistic and Infection prevention and control.

    Source: allafrica.com

  • Fake coronavirus testing kits seized from 77 countries in international crackdown

    Some 17,000 fake COVID-19 testing kits discovered in raids against illicit food and drink products across dozens of countries, have been siezed by the International Police (Interpol).

    407 people linked to the seized $40 million (34.5 million euros) worth of fake or substandard products from 77 countries, have been arrested in raids carried out from December 2019 to June 2020.

    Interpol said on Wednesday July 22, that some of the products include contaminated dairy products; meat from illegally slaughtered animals and food products falsely labelled as medicinal cures, disinfectants and even a shipment of seafood in South Africa originating from Asia, cosmetics, footwear, clothing, handbags, car parts, electronics, tobacco and medicines.

    The agency’s secretary general Jurgen Stock said in a statement: “As countries around the world continue their efforts to contain COVID-19, the criminal networks distributing these potentially dangerous products show only their determination to make a profit.”

    AFP reported that this is the agency’s ninth year of coordinated Ops on raids against counterfeit or substandard food and drink, which regularly seize thousands of tons of fake and potentially harmful products.

    Source: AFP

  • Nigeria’s fish shortage looms as farmers battle survival

    Just like other forms of farming, aqua or fish farming urgently requires the attention of stakeholders to save it from total collapse.

    Our agric editor who has been monitoring the sub-sector reports that the outbreak of the COVID-19 has further threatened fish farming activities across the country.

    The fear in the sector now is that unless something urgent is done to salvage the situation, it will be difficult for the farmers to meet the huge local demand in the country.

    According to World-Fish Nigeria Strategy 2018-2022, Nigeria produces one million metric tonnes of fish annually, leaving a deficit of about 800,000 metric tonnes; which is imported.

    According to World-Fish Nigeria, fishery is a major economic sector, estimated to employ over 8.6 million people directly and a further 19.6 million indirectly; 70 per cent of whom are women.

    However, stakeholders believe the sector is under great threat if the authority fails to take urgent action.

    Challenges

    A Lagos-based aquaculturist, Mr. Amah Eteobong, identified capital intensiveness, increasing fish feed cost and poor expertise as some of the challenges facing aqua farming in the country; even before the outbreak of COVID-19.

    Mr. Eteobong, a marine farming entrepreneur, said the bottlenecks faced in the aquaculture system had hindered the growth of the sector in the country.

    He said, “The challenges currently plaguing aquaculture farming in the country include set-up capital, cost of fish feed and poor expertise.

    “Aquaculture is a capital-intensive venture; even if a farmer wants to start small, he is still going to put in a lot of money to start up a fish farm.

    “One major challenge in going into aquaculture business is the bottlenecks we face when it comes to accessing grants and loans. For instance, before a farmer is able to set up a farm and raise 1,000 fishes comfortably, you need to have nothing less than N1m to N1.5m. The farmer needs to invest extensively on the fixed assets on the farm like ponds and boreholes, hence the cost-intensiveness to start up.”

    The farmer also spoke on the increasing cost of fish feed which in turn does not allow local fish farmers to get returns on their investments.

    According to him, 50 per cent of farmers’ expenses are allocated to procuring fish feed and the cost of fuel in running boreholes.

    He said, “The problem is that the prices of fish feed keep increasing, but the price of cultured fish remains constant thereby, causing the farmers to run short. The cost of feed production is on the increase. Maize, soya beans, groundnut cake and fish meal have all increased.”

    He further said lack of expertise in aquaculture was another major challenge and therefore called for more people to learn aquaculture farming.

    He explained that, “We need people to be trained in aquaculture because climate change actually affects cultured fish. So fishermen are not catching enough fish from our seas or rivers, hence the fall back on cultured fish.

    “We have a lot of novices in aquaculture today. Some people get into the business just because a motivational speaker said they could put a fish into a pond and harvest a river after five months.”

    Therefore, the aquaculturist told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that, “People need to be trained in aquaculture farming because according to experts, in a few years, one-third of protein consumed by humans will be gotten from farmed fish.

    Also, the National Fish Association of Nigeria (NFAN), at the weekend, called on the Federal Government to come to the aid of its members who were in distress due to losses incurred as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    NFAN said its members suffered huge losses during the first two months of the lockdown and were yet to recover from it.

    The President of NFAN, Dr. Gabriel Ogunsanya, said the industry required strong government commitment, particularly in terms of policy direction and funding, for fish importation to be banned in 2022 as assured by the Federal Government.

    Dr. Ogunsanya said, “As we carry on with the task to meet national fish demand threshold in two years, our farmers require palliatives and economic stimulus packages to remain in business as extended to others.

    “We, therefore, pray the Federal Government to consider declaring a state of emergency and implementation of a structured plan to revamp the struggling fishery and aquaculture sub-sector. We also urge the Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development and Industry, Trade and Investment to bring attention of government, MDAs and funding bodies to the plight of hard working fish farmers and industry operators.”

    In a statement, the Publicity Secretary of NFAN, Mr. Chidike Ukoh, said, “We have serious concerns that in the midst of inadequate fish supply, production challenges and personal sacrifices, our farmers are currently facing unbelievable fish glut. They are equally facing abysmally low pricing and inability to harvest and evacuate ponds and other fish-holding water bodies.

    “These challenges are, therefore, preventing restocking to break the production cycle.”

    What must be done?

    Mr. Toyin Afolabi, another marine farming entrepreneur, urged the government to develop and implement a strategic plan for the sector which would allow interested fish farmers to access soft bank loans.

    Mr. Afolabi said, “Our extension service department should be strengthened so that more extension officers are recruited to train and guide intending fish farmers before venturing into the business. Effort should be made to encourage local production of maize, soya beans and other additives for the production of fish feeds, because as it is now, there is no way fish farmers can make it with the present high cost of feeds.”

    Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sabo Nanono, had said plans were underway to stop fish importation in 2022.

    He said time had come for Nigeria to look inward to tap into the huge potentials in fisheries and aquaculture for local consumption and export.

     

    Source: allafrica.com

  • WASSCE begins smoothly in Techiman Municipality

    The West Africa Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) on Monday began smoothly in the Techiman Municipality amidst the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

    The Techiman Senior High School (SHS) happened to be the only school that actually commenced the examination with the practical aspects of Visual Arts because, that is the only SHS out of seven in the Municipality that offered that subject on the examination time table for the day.

    Thirty-nine candidates comprising two girls and 37 boys offered the subject, Mr. Samuel Kwaku Donyina, the Assistant Headmaster, Academic, told the Ghana News Agency in an interview at Techiman in the Bono East Region.

    Mr Donyina said generally the Management of the School had been enforcing strict observation of and compliance with the directives and protocols against the spread of the COVID-19 and assured the candidates of their safety before, during and after the examination.

    He disclosed that the institution had presented 693 candidates, saying parents and guardians must not entertain fears about the health and safety of their children and wards, because the school had prepared adequately to protect them from contracting the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Other SHSs the GNA visited included Our Lady of Mount Carmel Girls and Kesse Basahyina SHSs that had prepared 249 and 119 candidates respectively to write the examination.

    Mr Richard Skyere, the Techiman Municipal Examination Officer, also in another interview with the GNA, said the Municipal Education Directorate was closely monitoring for proper supervision of the examination for its successful completion.

    Source: GNA

  • Nigeria records 643 new cases of coronavirus

    Nigeria, on Wednesday, recorded another 643 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 with six deaths bringing the total number to 34,259.

    According to the daily situation report of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, no new state has reported a case in the last 24 hours.

    The NCDC updates read: “Till date, 34259 cases have been confirmed, 13999 cases have been discharged and 760 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory”

    “The 643 new COVID-19 cases are reported from 19 states of Lagos 230, Oyo 69 FCT 51, Edo 43, Osun 35, Rivers 30, Ebonyi 30, Kaduna 28, Ogun 27, Ondo 23, Plateau 20 Benue 17, Enugu 16 Imo 10, Delta 6, Kano 4 Nasarawa 2, Kebbi- 1 and Ekiti 1.”

    Source: vanguardngr.com

  • Hospitals in Kenya may soon run out of space – Kenyans warned

    You still stand a high chance of succumbing to Covid-19 even after getting admission to intensive care unit, data from the Health ministry, which confirmed 497 new cases yesterday, show.

    The figures show that 78 of the 225 coronavirus patients who had been admitted to ICU died, with five succumbing yesterday.

    The ministry expressed fears that if the numbers of those requiring ICU care shoot up, hospitals will run out of space.

    Health Director-General Patrick Amoth said the procedures needed for people in ICU are complex and time consuming and “if the numbers of those in need of critical care go up, we will not be able to have the adequate numbers of healthcare worker to offer this service.”

    The new cases announced by Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe – 318 males and 179 females – takes Kenya’s Covid-19 caseload to 10,791.

    Mr Kagwe expressed concern over the high number of those testing positive in Nairobi, which accounts for more than half of all the cases at 5,705. Mombasa (1,739), Busia (550) and Kiambu (520) also recorded spikes in infections.

    Nairobi’s Westlands, Lang’ata, Dagoretti North and South, Embakassi East and West and Starehe continue to bear the bulk of the cases for Nairobi.

    Dr Amoth’s concern over fast-filling ICU came as studies revealed patients who recover after intensive care may have to deal with long term disabilities such as muscle wasting, organ and brain damage.

    A 2012 study published in the journal Annals of Intensive Care recorded an average of 53 percent of patients who experience frightening delusions after leaving the ICU.

    This is common in patients who went to the ventilators.

    Experts also warn Covid-19 patients who spend time in the ICU are prone to physical, cognitive and even mental health problems after discharge.

    Dr Jeremiah Chakaya, a pulmonary diseases expert said post-intensive care syndrome is common, regardless of any disease that puts them there.

    Mr Amos Kamimo was among the first patients in Kenya to land into ICU due to Covid-19. Already with heart problems, the forty days following his hospitalisation was like the biblical walking in the valley of the shadow of death.

    “When I left home, I knew my health was not perfect owing to the shortness of breath and I disguised it as my congenital heart disease. Never did it cross my mind that I could be a Covid-19 patient,” he said.

    He was transferred to the Aga Khan University Hospital since his situation needed the HDU, which at the time, had been occupied at Mbagathi Hospital.

    “I was transferred because my lungs, heart and kidney were failing. My oxygen saturation level would drop to 60 percent and my doctors had told me that it should not go below 88 percent, I was scared,” he says.

    The WHO says about 80 percent of those with Covid-19 recover without needing any specialist treatment, but an estimated one in six persons become very ill “and develop difficulty breathing”.

    Source: allafrica.com

  • Government considering inspection of offices to enforce COVID-19 safety protocols

    The government is considering an inspection regime for workplaces to ensure compliance with COVID-19 safety protocols.

    Responding to a question on the matter at a press briefing on Tuesday, the Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said: “more daring steps will be taken on workplaces that are found to be openly flouting these regulations.”

    He noted that the Ministry of Trades and Industry has a factory inspection unit and “we are exploring how to step that up to go a bit beyond that.”

    “If it becomes necessary to take more drastic steps, we will let the nation know,” he said.

    The government has consistently warned that workplaces are contributing to recent surges in COVID-19 cases.

    It outlined safety measures to guide institutions to tackle the spread of the virus at their premises.

    After the lockdown of Accra, Kasoa, Kumasi and Tema was lifted in April Ghana has seen COVID-19 cases rise from 1,042 to the current figure of 23,463.

    A number of workplaces, including state institutions, have had to close down because of significant infections.

    The most extreme incident of workplace infections occurred at a fish-processing factory in Tema where one worker is believed to have infected 533 other workers at the facility.

    The spread at the factory garnered international attention as it was the largest number of confirmed cases within a single organisation in Ghana.

    The Ghana Health Service has attributed the spike in coronavirus cases at workplaces to the disregard for safety protocols.

    At the same presser, the Director-General of the service, Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye complained that most people work in crowded environments leading to the spikes.

    He has therefore urged employers to work towards better social distancing.

    “These same [infected] persons either pick it [the virus] up from the workplace and take it to the communities where they live enhancing the spread or they the bring from the communities and spread at the workplace because certain etiquettes are not being followed,” Dr. Kuma-Aboagye said.

    Source: citinewsroom.com

  • Akufo-Addo receives visitors whilst in isolation – Photo drops

    The President of the Republic has gone into mandatory self-quarantine after one of his aides tested positive for COVID-19.

    The President thus began a 14-day self-isolation with his wife, Rebecca Akufo-Addo in an undisclosed location.

    A photo of the President his family in isolation has gone viral.

    Sources claim the daughters of the President visited them whilst they isolate. In a photo, one can note that they have observed some distance between them.

    Also, the President and his wife look stronger, an indication that they are doing fine.

    We hope their results come negative to ease the tension imposed on Ghanaians.

    It has also been reported that former President John Agyekum Kuffour and his wife Theresah Kuffour have gone into isolation after one of their guards also tested positive for COVID-19.

     

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    Source: ghanacelebrities.com