CORONAVIRUS: Kwara shuts down schools

The Kwara State Government has announced the closure of its public schools from Monday, March 23rd.
Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Rafiu Ajakaye, said this in a terse statement yesterday night.
Ajakaye appealed to people not to panic but maintain basic principles of hygiene and safety measures earlier announced by the state’s Ministry of Health.
He said, “I can confirm that Kwara State will be shutting down schools from Monday, March 23rd. It is part of the efforts to contain the global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We urge our people to maintain the highest level of hygiene and to remain calm and adhere to all safety measures earlier announced by the Kwara State Ministry of Health and other national bodies.”
He said that further details on the closure of schools would be released later by the government.

Nigeria imposes total travel ban on US, UK, China, Italy, 9 others

The Federal Government in response to the situation on Wednesday, announced a travel ban on 13 countries, including the USA and United Kingdom and suspended visas on arrival policy.
Five new cases of coronavirus just confirmed in Nigeria by the Federal Ministry of Health were imported from the USA and United Kingdom, increasing the cases in Nigeria from three registered in Lagos to eight nationally.
Three of the confirmed cases, two of them Nigerians, a mother and her six-week old baby arrived from the US. Another two cases, all Nigerians arrived from the UK.
Government did not indicate where the cases were found.
“A detailed travel history of each case is being compiled and contact tracing has begun. “Our National Emergency Operations Centre is supporting response in the states.
“The Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Health is conducting risk assessment to initiate other relevant measures”, said a tweet by the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control.
“We urge Nigerians to remain calm as public health response activities are intensified across the country”, NCDC said.
The first index case of the virus is an Italian from Milan.
Hence, the Federal Government announced entry restriction for travellers from the US, Italy and the UK.
Other countries affected are China, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Japan, France, Germany, Norway, Netherlands and Switzerland.
These are all countries with over 1,000 cases domestically.
“The Federal Government is temporarily suspending all visas issued to nationals from these countries. Nigerians arriving from these countries will be subjected to supervised isolation for 14 days.
“The Federal Government of Nigeria is also advising all Nigerians to avoid travel to these countries.
“These restrictions will come into effect from Friday 20 March 2020 for 4 weeks subject to review”, said Boss Mustapha, secretary to the Government of the Federation, who also chairs the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19.

Senate asks Buhari to address Nigerians over rising cases

Worried by the coronavirus pandemic, the senate has implored President Muhammadu Buhari to address Nigerians on the current situation in the country.
The senate made the request after debating a matter of urgent public importance at Wednesday’s plenary session.
The president is yet to address citizens since the outbreak, even though the country recorded its first case of the infection three weeks ago.
The upper legislative chamber also asked for the establishment of testing centres in all the 36 states and the federal capital territory (FCT).
It also sought mandatory quarantine for travellers from high-risk countries and restriction of flights from such countries.

Lagos confirms 4 new cases, bans religious gathering

Nigeria has recorded increase in the cases of Corona virus as the Lagos State Ministry of Health confirmed that four persons have tested positive to the virus.
In a tweet Wednesday afternoon, the Lagos Ministry said those infected are a mother and child who arrived Lagos on 13th March, 2020 from California on Virgin Atlantic flight number VS411, an American citizen who came into Lagos through Benin Republic border on 13th March, 2020, Another Nigerian who returned to Lagos from London on 13th March, 2020 via Virgin Atlantic Flight number VS411.
Perhaps the Federal authorities added the suspect case of an Indian, who was also admitted into the coronavirus facility.
But Lagos said the Indian national tested negative.
“He is doing perfectly well in our isolation unit. His case will be reviewed in the morning”, LSMOH said.
In a bid to contain the spread of corinavirus in the country the Lagos State government has banned religious gathering of over 50 worshippers.
The state Commissioner for Home Affairs, Anofiu Elegushi, disclosed this at a meeting with religious leaders on Wednesday.
Present at the meeting were Alexander Bamgbola, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), and Suleiman Nolla, grand chief imam of Lagos.
Commissioner for Information, Gbenga Omotoso, had earlier said the government would suggest to religious leaders to suspend large gatherings.

Schools to shut down in North-West

Towards curbing spread of coronavirus, schools in the North-West region of Nigeria are to be closed for 30 days.
Governor Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State announced the decision in a communique at the end of a meeting of North-West Governors held in Kaduna.
Masari explained that measures shall be taken in each of the states in consultation with examination bodies to close schools for a period of 30 days starting from Monday, March 23, 2020.
In addition, he said the affected states shall carry out sensitisation campaigns to discourage large gatherings while encouraging citizens to uphold personal and environmental hygiene.
States in the region include Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara.
Masari explained that the meeting had asked the governors to jointly fund security operations to confront the menace of banditry.
He explained that governor of Kwara State had agreed to implement decisions arrived at during the meeting.
The communique was jointly signed by Governor Masari and Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger State.