Fear, Confusion In Katsina Over Rising Deaths Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

Fear and anxiety have gripped residents of Katsina State over increasing deaths in the city amid the Coronavirus pandemic.
As of Sunday, Kastina State has recorded over 150 cases of COVID-19 while awaiting test results of many more samples from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control testing laboratory in Abuja.

A source told Reporters that Katsina, the state capital, and Daura were mostly affected.

He said the development was causing people to panic as no one knew what was going on.

“People are dying, the graveyard is already filled to capacity. Most of those dying are elderly and a lot of them are said to be having one underlying disease or the other. We now bury up to 12 bodies a day here, against the two or three we used to bury before,” a worker at Danmarna Cemetery graveyard said.

Some residents of Daura also expressed concerns over the increasing rate of deaths in the community in the last two weeks.

They disclosed that most of the persons buried within the period were aged individuals cutting across both sexes.

Recall that the state index case, Dr Aminu Yakubu, who died few weeks ago, was a Daura-based private medical practitioner.

Also, emir of the town, Alhaji Umar Farouk Umar, was recently discharged after recovering from the virus.

It was gathered that the late Yakubu was the personal physician of the emir and had met with him and his first wife, Hajiya Binta Umar, who also died from COVID-19 complications.

“Don’t Start A New Cold War” – China Warns US As Trump Threatens To Withhold Funds To WHO

Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi has told the U.S to “give up on its wishful thinking of changing China” and avoid bringing the two countries to a “new Cold War.” “China has no intention to change, still replace, the United States,” he said, according to the Washington Post. “It is time for the United States to give up it’s wishful thinking of changing China and stopping 1.4 billion people in their historic march toward modernization.” The relationship between the U.S. and China has been strained for some time. President Trump has criticized Beijing over a trade imbalance and the outbreak of the coronavirus lead both to accuse the other of an improper response. Trump recently said that he may completely end U.S. funding for the World Health Organization over its cozy ties with Beijing. The White House has insisted that Beijing downplayed the virus’ threat in December, which led to the subsequent outbreak. China has denied the charge and accused Trump of shirking responsibility to the organization, according to the AFP. The Post pointed out that a spokesman for Wang implied that American troops planted the virus in Wuhan. Stuart Varney, an anchor on FOX Business, said last week that he believes that the Cold War between the two countries has already started. He pointed to China’s move to impose national security legislation on Hong Kong. Chris Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong prior to its handover to China, lamented what he called “a new Chinese dictatorship.” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has called the proposal “a death knell for the high degree of autonomy” that Beijing promised the former British colony when it was returned to China in 1997.

Human Trial Of Vaccine In China Found To Be Safe & Able To Response Against COVID-19

An experimental vaccine developed in China has been found to be safe and able to generate an immune response against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
According to a new research published in The Lancet, the early-stage trial was conducted by researchers at several laboratories and included 108 participants aged 18 to 60.

A report on The New York Times, indicates that those who received a single dose of the vaccine produced certain immune cells, called T cells, within two weeks. Antibodies needed for immunity peaked at 28 days after the inoculation.

The trial is the first step in testing the vaccine and was intended mainly to verify its safety.

Proof of its effectiveness will, however, require trials in thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, more people.

A vaccine for COVID-19 is considered to be the best long-term solution for allowing countries to reopen their economies and return to normalcy.

American business magnate, Bill Gates, had said it could take as long as two years or at least nine months before a vaccine can be found to tackle the deadly coronavirus pandemic that has claimed thousands of lives across the globe.

Mr Gates said as of April 9, 115 different COVID-19 potential vaccines were being developed globally.

VACCINE TRIAL
The vaccine reported on Friday was made with a virus, called Ad5, modified to carry genetic instructions into a human cell.

The cell begins making a COVID-19 protein; the immune system learns to recognise the protein and attack it, in theory preventing the virus from ever gaining a foothold.

But Ad5 is a cold virus that many people probably have already been exposed to. About half of the participants in the trial had powerful antibodies to Ad5 before they got the vaccine.

In these people, “their immune systems will essentially rear up and blunt the effect of the vaccine,” said Kirsten Lyke, a vaccinologist at the University of Maryland who is leading another COVID-19 vaccine trial.

The researchers in China did find that people who had Ad5 antibodies were less likely to develop a strong immune response to the vaccine.

Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, said

That may limit the use of this vaccine.

“If you are comparing vaccines, the adenovirus ones so far seem to be on the lower end of the spectrum.”

Other teams have turned to adenoviruses to develop COVID-19 vaccines, but they are using less common strains, or even animal strains, to circumvent this problem.

Dan Barouch, who is working on an Ad26 vaccine, said his team has data from Africa and Southeast Asia showing that people generally do not have high levels of antibodies to that strain.

Only a subset of people in the new trial produced neutralizing antibodies to th. virus, the kinds of molecules needed for immunity. Other vaccine candidates have reported better results in the levels of neutralising antibodies.

WEAKER IMMUNITY
People between 45 and 60 years of age are said to have produced weaker immune responses following vaccination than younger participants.

Ms Lyke said the responses may turn out to be even weaker among people older than 60.

“That’s a very important target population that they would have to examine,” she said.

Ms Lyke suggested that this vaccine might be best suited to younger populations and children.

The results are based on data from a short period, and it is unclear how long the vaccine’s protection might last.

The researchers tested three doses and said the highest dose seemed to be the most effective.

Experts said this dose-response is encouraging. Unfortunately, people who got the highest dose also experienced the most side effects.

CORON
About 80 per cent of the participants reported at least one side effect, all expected with a viral vaccine, experts said.

Apart from pain at the injection site, close to half of the participants reported fever, fatigue and headaches, and about one in five had muscle pain.

Experts praised the researchers for publishing all of their data for others to review and said the results were promising overall.

“What we hope is that there will be not one vaccine but several vaccines that will be approved,” Mr Barouch said.

He said the world needs multiple vaccines.

OMG!! Man Stabs Elder Brother To Death While Fighting Over Money For Their Mother’s Burial

A commercial motorcyclist has lost his fight while fighting his brother over money for their mother’s burial.
A 55-year-old commercial motorcyclist identified as Remigus Obiesheike was on Sunday allegedly killed by his own younger brother, Patrick.

TheNation reported that Patrick stabbed his brother to death during an argument over some funds realised for the burial of their 75-year-old deceased mother, Angelina Obiesheikwe.

The incident happened at Umulowoshie Umuoahochie autonomous Community in the Obowo Local Government Area of Imo state.

The suspect was said to have fled the scene and currently on the run while Remigus’ corpse has been deposited at a morgue in the area.

Remigus wife was said to have reported the incident at the Obowo Divisional Police Headquarters.

A community source said that the corpse of the victim had been deposited at a morgue in Achingali in the area.

The Police Spokesperson in the state, Orlando Ikeokwu, confirmed the murder incident on Monday.

He said a manhunt has been launched for the fleeing suspect.

Landlord Shoots Tenant Dead For Refusing To Vacate Apartment (Photos)

A landlord has shot and killed his tenant who refused to vacate his apartment.
A tenant has been shot dead by his landlord on Sunday after he refused to vacate his apartment after he was given quit notice some months ago.

Ghanaweb reported that the police said that the landlord, Victor Stephen Nana Kankam, shot budding musician, Spark Benjamin, at the residence in Spot M, Ofankor, Accra and was rushed to the police station with multiple injuries. He was subsequently taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.


DSP George Asare, the district police commander and his team who went to the crime scene said they saw a pool of blood and four spent shells at the entrance of the deceased apartment.

“We got report that about 1:33 pm, the victim’s landlord, Victor Stephen Nana Kankam, shot the victim for refusing to vacate a room he rented from him. Police rushed the victim to Police Hospital, but he was pronounced dead on arrival,” the police said in a statement.

“The district commander DSP George Asare and his team proceeded to the scene of the crime at Spot M and saw a pool of blood at the entrance of the main gate of the deceased’s rented apartment. Four spent shells were retrieved at the scene,” the police added.

Meanwhile, police have arrested the landlord and two pump-action guns loaded with ammunition were said to have been retrieved from his house while the body of the victim has been deposited in the hospital mortuary.

Landlord

Kaduna To Jail Parents Who Enrol Children Into Almajiri – El-Rufai

Governor Nasiru El-Rufa’i of Kaduna State has warned that parents who enrol their children into the Almajiri education system stand the risk of prosecution and possible two years in jail.

He stated this in Kaduna when he visited some 200 Almajiri children repatriated from Nasarawa State and undergoing rehabilitation and optical screening at Government College, Kurmin Mashi.

The governor also said that any Islamic cleric who enrols any child into the Almajiri system would be prosecuted and jailed as well as fined N100,000 or N200,000 per child.

He said that all the Almajiri pupils relocated from other states of the country were indigenes of the state, adding that the government would give them the opportunity they deserve to grow and develop.

He expressed satisfaction with the ongoing transformation of the Almajiri pupils from hopelessness to hope and confidence.

According to him, the state has a responsibility to do whatever it can to give them hope and a better future.

“We will, therefore, continue to take delivery of every Almajiri pupil indigenous to Kaduna State for rehabilitation, treatment and enrollment into formal school nearest to where their parents live.

“We will continue to do this until we clear Kaduna State of the menace of Almajiri system, which is not education but the abuse of the privilege and future of a child.

“Our ultimate goal is for them to acquire formal education without depriving them of the opportunity to acquire Quranic education.

“They will continue their Quranic education but under the care of their parents and not under someone who does not know them or paid to look after them.”

He explained that the Ministry of Human Services and Social Development (MHSSD), along with UNICEF would closely monitor them and ensure that no child would leave his locality until he finished primary and junior secondary school.

The governor stressed that every child in Kaduna state must get 12-year free and compulsory primary and secondary school education. “Those that cannot proceed to senior secondary school will have the opportunity to go to vocational school, also free.

“As such, no parent has any excuse for his child not to go to school,” El-Rufa’i said.

He equally thanked AMA foundation and other NGOs and civil societies for supporting the government to provide the Almajiri pupils with the needed medical care, food, and clothing, among others.

The governor particularly appreciated UNICEF for supporting the state government in ensuring that all the repatriated children were well documented.

El-Rufa’i said that the care and support provided had restored the sense of dignity of the children. Also speaking, Hajiya Hafsat Baba, Commissioner, MHSSD, said that the state had so far received more than 900 Almajiri pupils from Kano, Bauchi, Plateau and Nasarawa states.

Baba said that no fewer than 500 of them were rehabilitated, treated (those who tested positive to COVID-19) and reunited with their families.

She added some 400 others were still undergoing rehabilitation and would soon be reunited with their families. On his part, Dr Zakari Adam, Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Kaduna, commended Kaduna state government for the efforts to ensure that all children go to school as against begging in the streets.

Adam reiterated UNICEF’s continued support to the state in all children-related issues such as child protection, education, and health among other areas, for uninterrupted growth and development of every child.

He stressed the need for all stakeholders, the government, civil society, parents, communities, religious and traditional leaders and the media to work together in ensuring that children acquired quality education.

Almajiri are children enrolled to be taught Islamic knowledge under Islamic Clerics, but who loiter on the streets with bowls begging for alms and food.

Photo Of Grave Diggers Apprehended With Five Severed Human Heads In Ondo

The Ondo state police command has arrested four grave diggers working at a public cemetery owned by Akure South Local Government after five severed human heads were found in their possession.

The suspects whose names were given as Kunle Olomofe 45; Adewale Abiodun 40; Akinola Sunday 69 and Oluwadare Idowu, 67, were arrested while trying to severe the head of a tipper driver just buried at the cemetery.

Family members of the deceased tipper driver had come to make arrangements on how to permanently secure the gravesite when they saw that his remain had been exhumed.

“It was when we caught them in the act which led to their beating that we discovered that they were in possession of other human heads. We immediately contacted men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) who came to pick them up” the family member said.

Confirming the incident, the spokesperson for the Ondo State Police Command, ASP Tee-Leo Ikoro said an investigation into the matter has commenced. The suspects have been remanded in police custody.