THUR, MARCH 12 2020-theG&BJournal- The U.S president Donald Trump Wednesday announced a 30-day on some travel from Europe into the United States. Trump said the travel suspension would Friday at 11.59 pm and would exclude the UK. Trump’s announcement comes on a day U.S Hollywood heavyweight Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson tested positive for the Novel Coronavirus.
Cases of coronavirus infection related deaths reached 38 in the U.S. So far there have been 1,135 confirmed COVID-19 cases across the country.
WHO declared the disease a ‘pandemic’ Wednesday on the alarming rate of spread worldwide.
4,284 people have died in just three months since the outbreak. Nearly 120,00 cases have been confirmed as at 11 March 2020 and 65, 757 are known to have recovered. Outside China, death toll have spiked past 1,000.
Nearly 30 countries in Europe have confirmed cases and the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel warned that as many as 60 to 70 percent of Germans will be infected with the deadly disease. She said 58 million Germans could contract the disease if it spiralled out of control, as the contagion engulfs Europe.
In Nigeria, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning Mrs Zainab Ahmed, called on Nigerians to see the killer disease as the headwinds that could reinforce the ‘’wake-up call to a life without oil, rather than spreading panic and speculation in the economy.’’
‘’We need to put our hands together to weather the storm. We need to work together to take the opportunities provided by this very harsh reality,” Zainab said while speaking at the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Consultative Roundtable with the CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele in Abuja Wednesday.
Ahmed, pointing to the multipronged consequences of the issue on the economy said, ‘’there is no doubt that the combination of crude oil price crash and coronavirus will put severe strain on our budget revenue, forex and many sectors, we are drastically reviewing the budget as well as redoubling our effort to raise revenue and plug the leakages and intensifying engagement and support of sub-national entities and the private sector in our economic recovery and growth programs.’’
The latest COVID-19 situation report published by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) indicates no new confirmed case in Nigeria as at Wednesday 11 March 2020. Cumulatively, there are two confirmed cases only. Apart from the index case, a total of 40 people have been screened including 7 new potential patients in 5 states (Edo, Lagos, Ogun, FCT and Kano) out which 39 tested negative and have been ruled out, while one confirmed positive which is a contact of the index case with no death.
According to the NCDC, a cumulative total of 217 contacts were linked to the index case comprising of four contacts at the airport, four at the hotel, 40 at the workplace and 169 from the airline.
‘’The two confirmed cases are clinically stable at the designated treatment facility for COVID-19 at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba, Lagos.
So far, 11 countries in Africa have reported
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