COVID-19

Sri Lanka Forces Muslims To Cremate COVID-19 Victims

Sri Lanka Forces Muslims To Cremate COVID-19 Victims

April 4, 2020 2:09 pm

The forced cremation of two COVID-19 infected Muslims in Sri Lanka has sent shock waves among the minority community, which accused the authorities of violating Islamic burial rites.

Bishrul Hafi Mohammed Joonus, a 73–year– old  man from the capital Colombo who died of COVID-19, was the second Muslim to have been cremated in the Indian Ocean island nation, which has registered 151 cases so far.

Bishrul’s son Fayaz Joonus, 46, said his father who had a kidney disorder tested positive for the virus about two weeks ago. He died on April 1 and was cremated the following

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Coronavirus Doctor's Note- Can You Catch Coronavirus Twice

Doctor’s Note: Can You Catch Coronavirus Twice?

April 4, 2020 2:08 pm
There are fears that it may be possible to catch the coronavirus more than once, after a woman in her 40s in Osaka, Japan, tested positive for COVID-19 for a second time at the end of February. Studies and research are still going on to determine if this may be the case. So far, we do not have a definitive conclusion.

Before understanding whether or not the coronavirus can be caught twice, it is worth knowing how we build immunity to a virus in the first place.

When a pathogen (a foreign infection such as a virus or bacteria) enters

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What HIV Can Teach Us About COVID-19

What HIV Can Teach Us About COVID-19

April 4, 2020 6:46 am

From being a killer in the shadows, to having its own international day and UN programme, HIV’s emergence into a global reality can offer many lessons in how to respond to COVID-19, the head of the International Aids Society told AFP Thursday.

Kevin Osborne, who has lived with HIV for nearly half his life, says that beating the pandemic requires a drastic upscaling in testing, private sector funding for research, and a new approach to life as normal.

Q: What is the main thing HIV can teach us about COVID-19?

A: Something we learned belatedly with the HIV response was …

Iraq Understates Confirmed Coronavirus Cases

Iraq Understates Confirmed Coronavirus Cases

April 3, 2020 7:55 am

Iraq has been understating its confirmed COVID-19 cases, as it has many times more than the 772 it has publicly reported.

Reuters reported that the country has between 3,000 and 9,000 confirmed cases, quoting three medical doctors, involved with the testing.

The news agency also relied on a health ministry official and a senior political official for the report.

However, Iraq’s health ministry, the only official outlet for information on the coronavirus, dismissed the report.

“It’s incorrect information,” said Saif al-Badr, the health ministry spokesman, in a text message sent to Reuters without elaborating.

The ministry said in its …

CBN Nigeria’s Coronavirus Donations Hit ₦15bn

Nigeria’s Coronavirus Donations Hit ₦15bn – CBN

April 2, 2020 7:08 am

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Wednesday said that monetary contributions to its relief fund under the auspices of Private Sector Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) stood at ₦15 billion.

CBN’s Director of Corporate Communications, Isaac Okorafor, said in a statement in Lagos that the donations were from 37 donors, including individuals, banks and other corporate bodies.

“A breakdown of the contributions showed that CBN and Aliko Dangote donated ₦2 billion each.

“Abdul Samad Rabiu (Bua Sugar Refinery), Segun Agbaje (GTB); Tony Elumelu (UBA); Oba Otudeko (First Bank); Jim Ovia (Zenith Bank); Herbert Wigwe (Access Bank) and Femi Otedola of …

Why Ventilators Are Very Important In The Covid-19 Fight

Why Ventilators Are Very Important In The Covid-19 Fight

March 29, 2020 12:50 pm

Countries with a large number of cases are struggling to meet the demand for supplies and equipment needed to arm those on the front lines against COVID-19, the highly infectious respiratory disease caused by the virus.

Ventilators – mechanical breathing devices – are crucial in the fight to save patients whose lungs are assailed by the virus.

A ventilator for use during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak is pictured in Santa Cruz, Bolivia March 26, 2020. REUTERS/Rodrigo Urzagasti
A ventilator for use during the coronavirus outbreak in
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COVID-19 Has Confirmed Nigeria Is Not A Federation – Kanu

COVID-19 Has Confirmed Nigeria Is Not A Federation – Kanu

March 29, 2020 5:58 am

Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has blasted the government of Nigeria for its poor handling of the novel Coronavirus, otherwise known as COVID-19.

The IPOB leader wondered why a country as Nigeria with over 200 million people should have only three testing centres.located in Abuja, Lagos, and Edo States.

According to Kanu, Biafra would have done better in a situation like this.

Read Also: Nnamdi Kanu Reveals Where Abba Kyari Was Secretly Flown

The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, on Saturday night announced that eight new cases of COVID-19 have been reported …

Troubled U.S. Announces N2.6bn Aid To Nigeria

Troubled U.S. Announces ₦2.6bn Aid To Nigeria

March 28, 2020 7:28 am

The United States Government has announced a 7 million dollars (about ₦2.6 billion) emergency health and humanitarian aid to Nigeria amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

This is part of a 274 million dollars (₦103 billion) assistance package to no fewer than 63 countries affected by the disease, according to a statement by the Department of States on Friday.

Nigeria’s share, the statement said, will go into funding of “risk communication, water and sanitation activities, infection prevention, and coordination’’.

“This assistance joins more than 5.2 billion dollars (N1.9 trillion) in U.S. health assistance and more than 8.1 billion dollars (N3trillion) in …

Dogs Being Trained To Sniff Out COVID-19

Dogs Being Trained To Sniff Out COVID-19

March 27, 2020 5:54 pm

A British charity has teamed up with scientists to see whether dogs could help detect COVID-19 through their keen sense of smell, they said on Friday.

Medical Detection Dogs will work with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and Durham University in northeast England to determine whether canines could help diagnoses.

It follows previous research into dogs’ ability to sniff out malaria and is based on a belief that each disease triggers a distinct odour.

The organisations said they had begun preparations to train dogs in six weeks “to help provide a rapid, non-invasive diagnosis towards the …

America Lures Medics To U.S. Fight Coronavirus

America Lures Medics To U.S. Fight Coronavirus

March 27, 2020 1:35 pm

The United States of America is luring medical professionals all over the world to come to help fight COVID-19 pandemic.

A country that had hitherto shut its doors against migrants has now rolled out the red carpet to welcome them.

In a Twitter post on Thursday night, the United States of America State Department put out an invitation to medical professionals all over the world, and that will include, we guess, professionals from countries the Trump administration has banned.

“We encourage medical professionals seeking work in the U.S. on a work or exchange visitor visa (H or J), particularly those …

COVID-19 - Borno Shuts IDPs Against Visitors

COVID-19: Borno Shuts IDPs Against Visitors

March 25, 2020 12:09 pm

The Borno State Government has banned visitors to all Internally Displaced Persons’ camps across the state in order to properly curtail the spread of the dreaded Covid-19.

Governor Babagana Umara Zulum who gave the directive to shut all IDP camps from visitors said the strategy will contain the spread of the virus if there is no contact with visitors coming.

The governor said, with about two million Internally Displaced Persons in camps in the state, government was not going to play around with the lives of these vulnerable people who by their conditions are living in a high risk situation

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There Is No Cure Yet For COVID-19 - WHO Chief Tedros

There Is No Cure Yet For COVID-19 – WHO Chief Tedros

March 24, 2020 5:50 am

There is currently no treatment that has been proven to be effective against COVID-19,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the World Health Organisation director-general said on Monday.

At a virtual news conference in Geneva, Tedros warned against the use of drugs not shown to work against the disease.

His remarks came as the number of deaths soared past 15,000, with more than 341,000 people infected worldwide.

“Using untested medicines without the right evidence could raise false hope and even do more harm than good,” he said.

Among other things, countries are looking at using antimalarial drugs as a treatment against the …

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