Coronavirus

AfDB discloses emergency funds given to Nigeria, others to curb COVID-19

As of June 12, COVID-19 emergency packages have reached the continent’s five geographic regions.

Published

1 month ago

June 13, 2020

Abiola Odutola

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African Development Bank (AfDB) has said that it has responded swiftly to the needs of its member countries to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement issued by the AfDB and seen by Nairametrics, it stated that the pandemic is forecast to cause Africa’s GDP to drop by between $22.1 billion and $88.3 billion.

It stated, “African countries, with the experience of having fought off Ebola, are working to adapt to this new threat and looking to the Bank for an effective, multilateral response to the crisis.”

As of June 12, the Bank’s COVID-19 emergency packages have reached the continent’s five geographic regions.

West Africa

Before the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, West Africa was home to at least four of the continent’s fastest-growing economies, and it has felt the impact of the disease hard, as borders remain closed and economic and social distress deepens.

It has given Nigeria about 288.5 million euros, Senegal – 88 million euros, Côte d’Ivoire – 75 million euros, Cabo Verde – 30 million euros, ECOWAS – $22 million.

“Gambia, Mali and Niger will benefit from an ECOWAS support package to bolster national health systems in response to the pandemic. Much of the funds to this region will seek to address shortages in personal protective equipment (PPE), ventilators and other emergency equipment.

“The support will also enable governments to provide shortfall cash to the millions of people who have been affected by mass layoffs or are unable to work because of lockdowns.”

North Africa

The North African region is the worst hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with over 60,000 cases as at 12 June.

It stated, “The disease has already triggered a sharp drop in household incomes in North Africa, as export and tourism earnings suffer. The region will be assisted with a series of emergency operations to boost containment measures and help to ensure the supply and distribution of laboratory tests and reagents.”

The package for the region include Morocco – 264 million euros, Tunisia – 180 million euros and Egypt – $500,000.

East Africa

East Africa, the continent’s fastest-growing region economically, has been simultaneously struck by the coronavirus outbreak and an infestation of desert locusts – a double whammy for the region’s farmers and economies.

In a region of climate change and water scarcity, post-harvest losses and poorly developed agricultural markets could threaten the promise of economic reforms and investment.

Ethiopia, Kenya and Rwanda are the top-performing countries, which have all seen a sharp fall in tourism revenue.

● Kenya – 188 million euros

South Africa

A decisive lockdown has been effective in stemming the spread of COVID-19 in the region’s economic powerhouse, South Africa. However, the spread of the virus is by no means curtailed. Measures taken across the region to contain the pandemic have affected millions of people, many of whom work in the informal economy.

Assistance to this region comes in the form of preventive and protective measures as well as financial assistance to the vulnerable beyond the end of the epidemic.

• Mauritius – 188 million euros
• Zimbabwe – $13.7 million

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Central Africa
In Central Africa, Cameroon has reported over 8,000 cases as at 12 June and significant community transmission.

The package approved for this region, $13.5 million, will target the provision of PPEs, testing kits and healthcare and laboratory facilities, for Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic, which is among the countries with the least number of ventilators on the continent.

• CEMAC/RDC – $13.5 million

Abiola Odutola

Abiola has spent about 14 years in journalism. His career has covered some top local print media like TELL Magazine, Broad Street Journal, The Point Newspaper. The Bloomberg MEI alumni has interviewed some of the most influential figures of the IMF, G-20 Summit, Pre-G20 Central Bank Governors and Finance Ministers, Critical Communication World Conference. The multiple award winner is variously trained in business and markets journalism at Lagos Business School, and Pan-Atlantic University. You may contact him via email - [email protected]

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Coronavirus

COVID-19 Update in Nigeria

On the 15th of July 2020, 643 new confirmed cases and 6 deaths were recorded in Nigeria.

Published

14 hours ago

July 16, 2020

Samuel Oyekanmi

The spread of novel Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) in Nigeria continues to record significant increase as the latest statistics provided by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control reveal Nigeria now has 34,259 confirmed cases.

On the 15th of July 2020, 643 new confirmed cases and 6 deaths were recorded in Nigeria, having carried out a total daily test of 12,707 samples across the country.

To date, 34,259 cases have been confirmed, 13,999 cases have been discharged and 760 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. A total of 199,016 tests have been carried out as of July 15th, 2020 compared to 186,309 tests a day earlier.

COVID-19 Case Updates- 15th July 2020,

Total Number of Cases – 34,259
Total Number Discharged – 13,999
Total Deaths – 760
Total Tests Carried out – 199,016

According to the NCDC, the 643 new cases were reported from 19 states- 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), Ekiti (1).

Meanwhile, the latest numbers bring Lagos state total confirmed cases to 12,941, followed by Abuja (2,738), Oyo (1,951), Edo (1,850), Rivers (1,427), Delta (1,398), Kano (1,318), Ogun (1,132), Kaduna (1,067), Ondo (770), Katsina (669), Ebonyi (646), Borno (593), Plateau (591), Gombe (533), Enugu (531), Bauchi (521), Kwara (422), Abia (413), Imo (409).

Jigawa state has recorded 321 cases, Bayelsa (318), Osun (311), Nasarawa (254), Sokoto (153), Akwa Ibom and Niger (145), Benue (143), Adamawa (110), Anambra (101), Kebbi (88), Zamfara (76), Ekiti (67), Yobe (62), Taraba (30), Cross River (10) while Kogi state has recorded 5 cases only.

Lock Down and Curfew

In a move to combat the spread of the pandemic disease, President Muhammadu Buhari directed the cessation of all movements in Lagos and the FCT for an initial period of 14 days, which took effect from 11 pm on Monday, 30th March 2020.

The movement restriction, which was extended by another two-weeks period, has been partially put on hold with some businesses commencing operations from May 4. On April 27th, 2020, Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari declared an overnight curfew from 8 pm to 6 am across the country, as part of new measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19. This comes along with the phased and gradual easing of lockdown measures in FCT, Lagos, and Ogun States, which took effect from Saturday, 2nd May 2020, at 9 am.

On Monday, 29th June 2020 the federal government extended the second phase of the eased lockdown by 4 weeks and approved interstate movement outside curfew hours with effect from July 1, 2020.

Date	Confirmed case	New cases	Total deaths	New deaths	Total recovery	Active cases	Critical cases
July 15, 2020	34259	643	760	6	13999	19500	7
July 14, 2020	33616	463	754	10	13792	19070	7
July 13, 2020	33153	595	744	4	13671	18738	7
July 12, 2020	32558	571	740	16	13447	18371	7
July 11, 2020	31987	664	724	15	13103	18160	7
July 10, 2020	31323	575	709	20	12795	17819	7
July 9, 2020	30748	499	689	5	12546	17513	7
July 8, 2020	30249	460	684	15	12373	17192	7
July 7, 2020	29789	503	669	15	12108	17012	7
July 6, 2020	29286	575	654	9	11828	16804	7
July 5, 2020	28711	544	645	11	11665	16401	7
July 4, 2020	28167	603	634	6	11462	16071	7
July 3, 2020	27564	454	628	12	11069	15867	7
July 2, 2020	27110	626	616	13	10801	15693	7
July 1, 2020	26484	790	603	13	10152	15729	7
June 30, 2020	25694	561	590	17	9746	15358	7
June 29, 2020	25133	566	573	8	9402	15158	7
June 28, 2020	24867	490	565	7	9007	14995	7
June 27, 2020	24077	779	558	4	8625	14894	7
June 26, 2020	23298	684	554	5	8253	14491	7
June 25, 2020	22614	594	549	7	7822	14243	7
June 24, 2020	22020	649	542	9	7613	13865	7
June 23, 2020	21371	452	533	8	7338	13500	7
June 22, 2020	20919	675	525	7	7109	13285	7
June 21, 2020	20242	436	518	12	6879	12847	7
June 20, 2020	19808	661	506	19	6718	12584	7
June 19, 2020	19147	667	487	12	6581	12079	7
June 18, 2020	18480	745	475	6	6307	11698	7
June 17, 2020	17735	587	469	14	5967	11299	7
June 16, 2020	17148	490	455	31	5623	11070	7
June 15, 2020	16658	573	424	4	5349	10885	7
June 14, 2020	16085	403	420	13	5220	10445	7
June 13, 2020	15682	501	407	8	5101	10174	7
June 12, 2020	15181	627	399	12	4891	9891	7
June 11, 2020	14554	681	387	5	4494	9673	7
June 10, 2020	13873	409	382	17	4351	9140	7
June 9, 2020	13464	663	365	4	4206	8893	7
June 8, 2020	12801	315	361	7	4040	8400	7
June 7, 2020	12486	260	354	12	3959	8173	7
June 6, 2020	12233	389	342	9	3826	8065	7
June 5, 2020	11844	328	333	10	3696	7815	7
June 4, 2020	11516	350	323	8	3535	7646	7
June 3, 2020	11166	348	315	1	3329	7522	7
June 2, 2020	10819	241	314	15	3239	7266	7
June 1, 2020	10578	416	299	12	3122	7157	9
May 31, 2020	10162	307	287	14	3007	6868	7
May 30, 2020	9855	553	273	12	2856	6726	7
May 29, 2020	9302	387	261	2	2697	6344	7
May 28, 2020	8915	182	259	5	2592	6064	7
May 27, 2020	8733	389	254	5	2501	5978	7
May 26, 2020	8344	276	249	16	2385	5710	7
May 25, 2020	8068	229	233	7	2311	5524	7
May 24, 2020	7839	313	226	5	2263	5360	7
May 23, 2020	7526	265	221	0	2174	5131	7
May 22, 2020	7261	245	221	10	2007	5033	7
May 21, 2020	7016	339	211	11	1907	4898	7
May 20, 2020	6677	284	200	8	1840	4637	7
May 19, 2020	6401	226	192	1	1734	4475	7
May 18, 2020	6175	216	191	9	1644	4340	7
May 17, 2020	5959	388	182	6	1594	4183	7
May 16, 2020	5621	176	176	5	1472	3973	7
May 15, 2020	5445	288	171	3	1320	3954	4
May 14, 2020	5162	193	168	3	1180	3815	4
May 13, 2020	4971	184	164	6	1070	3737	4
May 12, 2020	4787	146	158	6	959	3670	4
May 11, 2020	4641	242	152	10	902	3589	4
May 10, 2020	4399	248	142	17	778	3479	4
May 9, 2020	4151	239	127	11	745	3278	4
May 8, 2020	3912	386	118	10	679	3115	4
May 7, 2020	3526	381	108	4	601	2818	4
May 6, 2020	3145	195	104	5	534	2507	1
May 5, 2020	2950	148	99	5	481	2370	4
May 4, 2020	2802	245	94	6	417	2291	2
May 3, 2020	2558	170	88	2	400	2070	2
May 2, 2020	2388	220	86	17	351	1952	2
May 1, 2020	2170	238	69	10	351	1751	2
April 30, 2020	1932	204	59	7	317	1556	2
April 29, 2020	1728	196	52	7	307	1369	2
April 28, 2020	1532	195	45	4	255	1232	2
April 27, 2020	1337	64	41	0	255	994	2
April 26, 2020	1273	91	41	5	239	994	2
April 25, 2020	1182	87	36	3	222	925	2
April 24, 2020	1095	114	33	1	208	855	2
April 23, 2020	981	108	32	3	197	753	2
April 22, 2020	873	91	29	3	197	648	2
April 21, 2020	782	117	26	3	197	560	2
April 20, 2020	665	38	23	1	188	466	2
April 19, 2020	627	86	22	2	170	436	2
April 18, 2020	541	48	20	2	166	356	2
April 17, 2020	493	51	18	4	159	317	2
April 16, 2020	442	35	13	1	152	277	2
April 15, 2020	407	34	12	1	128	267	2
April 14, 2020	373	30	11	1	99	263	2
April 13, 2020	343	20	10	0	91	242	2
April 12, 2020	323	5	10	0	85	228	2
April 11, 2020	318	13	10	3	70	238	2
April 10, 2020	305	17	7	0	58	240	2
April 9, 2020	288	14	7	1	51	230	2
April 8, 2020	274	22	6	0	44	226	2
April 7, 2020	254	16	6	1	44	204	2
April 6, 2020	238	6	5	0	35	198	2
April 5, 2020	232	18	5	1	33	194	2
April 4, 2020	214	5	4	0	25	185	0
April 3, 2020	209	25	4	2	25	180	0
April 2, 2020	184	10	2	0	20	162	0
April 1, 2020	174	35	2	0	9	163	0
March 31, 2020	139	8	2	0	9	128	0
March 30, 2020	131	20	2	1	8	121	0
March 29, 2020	111	22	1	0	3	107	0
March 28, 2020	89	19	1	0	3	85	0
March 27, 2020	70	5	1	0	3	66	0
March 26, 2020	65	14	1	0	2	62	0
March 25, 2020	51	7	1	0	2	48	0
March 24, 2020	44	4	1	0	2	41	0
March 23, 2020	40	10	1	1	2	37	0
March 22, 2020	30	8	0	0	2	28	0
March 21, 2020	22	10	0	0	1	21	0
March 20, 2020	12	4	0	0	1	11	0
March 19, 2020	8	0	0	0	1	7	0
March 18, 2020	8	5	0	0	1	7	0
March 17, 2020	3	1	0	0	0	3	0
March 16, 2020	2	0	0	0	0	2	0
March 15, 2020	2	0	0	0	0	2	0
March 14, 2020	2	0	0	0	0	2	0
March 13, 2020	2	0	0	0	0	2	0
March 12, 2020	2	0	0	0	0	2	0
March 11, 2020	2	0	0	0	0	2	0
March 10, 2020	2	0	0	0	0	2	0
March 9, 2020	2	1	0	0	0	2	0
March 8, 2020	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
March 7, 2020	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
March 6, 2020	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
March 5, 2020	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
March 4, 2020	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
March 3, 2020	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
March 2, 2020	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
March 1, 2020	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
February 29, 2020	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
February 28, 2020	1	1	0	0	0	1	0

Coronavirus

Covid-19: Oxford’s vaccine is the new frontrunner, to produce 2 billion doses in september

The human trials of the Oxford vaccine are expected to be through in September.

Published

23 hours ago

July 15, 2020

Chike Olisah

Covid-19: Oxford's covid-19 vaccine, EU, Health: Nigeria records first case of coronavirus

The University of Oxford’s vaccine trial is expected to present some positive results as it has been shown to be ahead of others. The positive news which was reported by a UK journalist is coming on the COVID-19 vaccine that the University of Oxford is developing with British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical firm, AstraZeneca Plc.

This is coming moments after it was revealed that Moderna Inc vaccine had recorded positive results in its first stage of the human trial, being able to produce antibodies in all patients in an early test.

According to a report from Bloomberg, ITV’s Robert Peston said in a tweet post, ‘’The vaccine is generating the kind of antibody and T-cell (killer cell) response that the researchers would hope to see.’’

He also added that details of the result will soon be released in a medical journal, The Lancet.

The University of Oxford’s vaccine trial is led by Sarah Gilbert, who is profiled this week in Bloomberg Businessweek. The trial shot for the vaccine which is regarded as being months ahead of all other key vaccine candidates is already undergoing a third phase trial in Brazil, which ranks second with most infected cases in the world with 1,884,967 infections.

The human trials of the Oxford vaccine are expected to be through in September as AstraZeneca has lined up agreements to produce 2 billion doses.

Kate Bingham, the Chair of UK government’s Vaccine Taskforce, told the parliamentary committee in early July that Gilbert’s team has gone ahead of other vaccine contenders to the point where it will likely finish vaccinating subjects in its big 10,000-person efficacy trial before the other vaccine candidates even start testing on that scale.

It was earlier reported federal researchers said that the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine produced antibodies to the coronavirus in all the 45 patients that were tested in an initial safety trial, clearing a key milestone.

The US biotech firm’s breakthrough is one of the most promising development yet in the race to develop a vaccine against the virus that has crippled the global economy.

These vaccine developments are part of several efforts working on a potential vaccine for COVID-19. The World Health Organization (WHO) had disclosed that over 100 vaccines for COVID-19 are currently under development globally.

Coronavirus

Moderna’s shares gain over 16% as COVID-19 vaccine passes first human trial

Participants received two doses of the potential vaccine.

Published

1 day ago

July 15, 2020

Olumide Adesina

Moderna COVID-19 vaccine passes safety test on animals

Moderna’s share price gained over 16% on Tuesday after the U.S drugmaker disclosed that its potential vaccine in containing the COVID-19 virus had produced a “robust” immune response in all the 45 patients in its first phase of the human trial, according to data released yesterday night in the peer-reviewed New England Journal of Medicine.

In a report credited to CNBC, about 45 patients produced neutralizing antibodies, which scientists believe is important for building immunity. It also provided more promising data that the vaccine may give some protection against the coronavirus. In the trial, each participant received a 25, 100 or 250 microgram dose, with 15 people in each dose group. Participants received two doses of the potential vaccine.

“After two vaccinations, the COVID-19 vaccine generated a “robust” immune response in all participants in all dose cohorts,” Moderna said. The company also disclosed that the levels of neutralizing antibodies in patients in the high dose group were fourfold higher than in recovered COVID-19 patients.

“These Phase 1 data demonstrate that vaccination with mRNA-1273 elicits a robust immune response across all dose levels and clearly support the choice of 100 µg in a prime and boost regimen as the optimal dose for the Phase 3 study,” Moderna’s chief medical officer, Tal Zaks, said in a statement. “We look forward to beginning our Phase 3 study of mRNA-1273 this month to demonstrate our vaccine’s ability to significantly reduce the risk of COVID-19 disease.”

Quick fact about COVID-19: Although for some individuals, the COVID-19 virus causes only mild illness, it can make other individuals seriously ill. The disease can be very fatal, especially among older individuals, and those with compromised immunities (such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or heart problems) appear to be more susceptible.

Recall that about a month ago, Nairametrics reported news of a series of tests carried on laboratory mice with Moderna Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine showing hope that it might not increase the risk of more serious diseases and that one dose might provide protection against the COVID-19 virus.

Moderna also disclosed that the COVID-19 vaccine was generally well-tolerated, though more than half of the participants reported mild or moderate symptoms such as fatigue, muscle aches, or pain at the injection site.