News
WHO scales up support as Borno confirms COVID-19 Outbreak
Following confirmation of the first COVID-19 case in Borno, the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners are moving rapidly to help health authority in the state to identify, test and treat cases in order to prevent and control further outbreak of the disease.
The first case of COVID-19 was reported 51 days after the country declared an outbreak of COVID-19 disease. As at 20 April 2020, in Nigeria 665 cases have been confirmed in 25 out of 36 States, including Borno, and the Federal capital Territory,
The Chairman, Borno State committee on the Prevention and Control of COVID-19, Alhaji Umar Usman Kadafur, disclosed that the index case a 56-year-old citizen of Borno who was brought in from Pulka with symptoms of severe respiratory disease before he gave up at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.
“The index case is a health worker in Pulka, Gwoza local government area who was managed for 10 days in a health facility before being referred to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital) where he was on admission for three days during which a sample was collected and tested positive for COVID-19 on 18 April 2020. The patient died on same day,” says Alhaji Kadafur.
The Public Health Emergency Operations Center (PHEOC) has been fully activated for the response. Preparatory for response, WHO had trained State and local government area (LGAs) Rapid Response Team (RRT) teams. While continuing insecurity has made surveillance and response challenging, contacts have been identified and are being followed-up. WHO has line-listed over 103 contacts linked with the index case and are on self-quarantine. Details of the contacts indicate that 62 are in Maiduguri while 35 are based in Pulka, Gwoza LGA.
Speaking on the outbreak, Dr Collins Owili, Emergency Manger in the northeast said, “Prior to the index case of COVID-19 in Borno, WHO has been providing technical support to ministries of health in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states in active surveillance, risk communication, contact tracing and logistics among other preparations for response to confirmed cases.
With the technical support from WHO, the Infection, prevention and control (IPC) teams are currently decontaminating health facilities where the index case in Borno state was admitted,” Owili added.
Through its mobile health clinic (hard-to-reach teams), traditional and religious leaders including 229 religious leaders in 23 LGAs, nomadic settlements, and people in security compromised areas of Borno have been educated on the importance of social distancing, use of local hand sanitizers and Face Masks as part of preventive behaviours for COVID-19.
Risk communication interventions including motorized campaign, house-to-house sensitization are taking place in Gwoza LGA where contacts and alerts of suspected cases have been reported.
Borno state is at the heart of a humanitarian crisis in the north-east of Nigeria where almost 7 million people need health assistance and 60% of health facilities are functioning partially or not at all.
Detecting and responding rapidly to suspected cases of COVID-19 is vital to controlling the outbreaks, which can spread rapidly in areas where access to safe water is limited, hygiene conditions are poor and populations are weakened by food shortages. Intense efforts by national and partner response teams in Borno State over the last year mean surveillance and monitoring capacity have been greatly strengthened, enabling early detection of this outbreak.
The headquarters of Heritage Bank at Victoria Island, Lagos, was besieged on Thursday by members of the labour union, protesting the recent dismissal of 1,000 support workers.
The National President of the National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees, Comrade Anthony Abakpa, led the demonstration, condemning the bank’s management for what he deemed a lack of adherence to due process in the termination of employment contracts.
Speaking during the protest, Comrade Abakpa asserted that the leadership of Heritage Bank failed to follow established protocols before executing the mass layoffs.
He emphasised the union’s commitment to pursuing justice for the affected workers, vowing to escalate their demands until the bank’s management rectifies the situation.
“We will intensify our demands for justice,” declared Comrade Abakpa, urging the bank’s management to take corrective action to address the grievances of the dismissed workers.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, clarified that Nigeria is not utilising its foreign reserves to bolster the naira, despite recent fluctuations in reserve levels.
Speaking from Washington DC, where he is attending the International Monetary Fund-World Bank Spring Meetings, Cardoso highlighted the influx of $600 million into Nigeria’s reserves account within the past two days.
While the naira has experienced a notable appreciation against the dollar in recent weeks, climbing over 40% from approximately N1,900/$ to about N1,000/$1, Nigeria’s foreign reserves have been dwindling. As of April 15, reserves dropped to approximately $32.29 billion, marking the lowest level in over six years.
Cardoso emphasised that the shifts in reserves are typical for any country, where various financial obligations, such as debt repayments, necessitate withdrawals.
He stated, “What you’ve seen with respect to the shift in our reserves is normal in any country’s reserves where, for example, debts are due and certain payments need to be made. They are made because that is also part of keeping your credibility.”
Continuing, Cardoso underscored the dynamic nature of the market, advocating for a system driven by willing buyers, willing sellers, and price discovery.
He emphasised, “The shift in our reserves has really little or nothing to do with defending the naira, and that is certainly not our objective.”
Dangote Petroleum Refinery has made headlines by announcing a further reduction in the price of diesel, dropping it from ₦1200 to ₦1000 naira per litre.
The refinery’s decision comes on the heels of its recent supply at a significantly reduced price of ₦1200 per litre, which was introduced three weeks ago, signifying a remarkable 30 per cent decrease from the previous market price of approximately ₦1600 per litre.
This substantial reduction in diesel prices at Dangote Petroleum Refinery is expected to reiterate positively throughout various sectors of the economy, potentially serving as a catalyst in alleviating the persistently high inflation rate in the country.
In a statement last week, Aliko Dangote, Africa’s wealthiest individual and the owner of the refinery, expressed his optimism regarding the potential impact of the price reduction on inflation in Nigeria.
“I believe that we are on the right track. I believe Nigerians have been patient, and I also believe that a lot of goodies will now come through. There’s quite a lot of improvement because if you look at it, one of the major issues that we’ve had was the naira devaluation that has gone very aggressively up to about ₦1900,” he remarked.
As anticipation builds around the implications of this move by Dangote Petroleum Refinery, stakeholders and consumers alike remain hopeful for the positive effects it could bring to the Nigerian economy in the coming months.
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