Skip to main content

WHO lists Nigeria, 12 others as top-risk African nations


The World Health Organisation has identified 13 high-risk African countries for coronavirus.
They are Algeria, Angola, Ivory Coast, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
A statement from WHO said the identified African nations have direct links or a high volume of travel to China.
"WHO has identified 13 top priority countries (Algeria, Angola, Cote d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia) which either have direct links or a high volume of travel to China.
"To ensure rapid detection of the novel coronavirus, it is important to have laboratories which can test samples and WHO is supporting countries to improve their testing capacity. Since this is a new virus, there are currently only two referral laboratories in the African region which have the reagents needed to conduct such tests.
"However, reagent kits are being shipped to more than 20 other countries in the region, so diagnostic capacity is expected to increase over the coming days. Active screening at airports has been established in a majority of these countries and while they will be WHO first areas of focus, the organization will support all countries in the region in their preparation efforts,” the WHO said in a statement.
“It is critical that countries step up their readiness and in particular put in place effective screening mechanisms at airports and other major points of entry to ensure that the first cases are detected quickly,” added WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti.
“The quicker countries can detect cases, the faster they will be able to contain an outbreak and ensure the novel coronavirus does not overwhelm health systems.”
As yet, there are no confirmed cases of the potentially fatal virus on the African continent.
Ethiopian Minister of Health Lia Tadesse said four possible cases there have tested negative for 2019-nCoV, as has been the case elsewhere.
Angolan health minister Sílvia Lutucuta reports a new suspected case there, while Sudanese authorities previously said they were investigating two possible coronavirus infections.
China’s latest update on the coronavirus epidemic, issued at midnight Thursday, listed 213 fatalities with a new total of 9,692 confirmed cases. There were 15,238 suspected cases along with 113,579 close contacts under health monitoring, according to the National Health Commission.
WHO’s International Health Regulations Emergency Committee declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on Thursday.
The PHEIC is a designation for an “extraordinary event” with the potential for international disease spread, one that requires immediate international action and coordinated response to reduce the global public health risk.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lady beheaded inside Cherubim and Seraphim church in Ogun state has been buried

                     35-year-old Raliat Sanni, who was gruesomely murdered with her head and hands cut off by her cherubim and seraphim lover, was laid to rest at her residence, 38 Ilupeju Street residence, Wasimi, near Abeokuta, Ogun State, on Monday April 30th. see our previous report.  Click Here Raliat was beheaded and her hands cut off by her boyfriend, Oluwatobiloba Ipese, the senior pastor of Holy Gathering Evangelical Church of God, Papalanto and his accomplice, Daniel Sopeju, a prophet in a white garment church. The clergyman after killing her, buried her remains inside his church.  Raliat's funeral was attended by her relatives, children and foster children. Her aged parents, Pa Hassan Adebola, 84 and 75-year old Madam Funmilayo Adebola, who could not witness her funeral, wept profusely at their home. Raliat's mothetr asked, "How will I cater for these children at this age of mine, after retiring from active farming? It was Raliat that
Post a Comment
Read more

Father who raped his 19-year-old daughter before she took own life is jailed for nine years thanks to her evidence from beyond the grave

                                  A father has been jailed for nine years for raping his daughter, leading her to commit suicide. He was convicted thanks to an evidence the teenager gave to police before taking her life. James Elder held down and abused Jamie-Leigh Craig at his flat in Glasgow's Parkhead in September 2016 and she was found dead three months later at her home in the city's Southside. Shortly after the rape, the 19-year-old spoke to police. She also tearfully told her mother what happened before she took her life. Her statement to police naming Elder as the attacker was read out at the High Court in Glasgow. It led to the 43-year-old being convicted of the horrific sex attack after a trial last month. The rape happened when Jamie walked out of the family home following a row. She ended up at her father's flat. When she didn't return home, she was reported missing. She eventually returned with two police officers but was not hersel
Post a Comment
Read more

NAF Commissions Another Combat Aircraft, Inducts Additional Vehicles For Base Defence

In its continued efforts to boost its airlift and combat support capability for Armed Forces’ operations across the country, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) on the 29th of January 2020, ‘accepted’ back into service another C-130H aircraft, NAF 913, after a successful Periodic Depot Maintenance (PDM) within the country at the 631 Aircraft Maintenance Depot (631 ACMD), Ikeja, Lagos. According to its spokesman, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, this brings to 2 the number of C-130H aircraft successfully reactivated in-country within the space of one year after NAF 917 was commissioned on 24 June 2019 upon completion of in-country PDM. Air Commodore Daramola in a statement noted that NAF 917 has since been involved in so many missions both within and outside the country, including the delivery of relief materials to flood victims in Mozambique and Zimbabwe as well as the movement of logistics for ongoing operations nationwide. Also inducted today were 3 additional Toyota Land Cruise
Post a Comment
Read more