European governments should not cut healthcare spending during the current economic crisis sparked by the coronavirus pandemic and associated lockdowns, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned on Thursday. “We are concerned that countries will respond to this crisis in the same way they did to the recession 10 years ago… by cutting public spending on […]

Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche said Thursday that it is planning to test whether a mix of its arthritis drug tocilizumab and Gilead’s antiviral drug remdesivir could treat severe cases of COVID-19 effectively. Roche said in a statement that it had joined forces with Gilead for a global phase III clinical trial evaluating the safety and […]

Nigeria on Wednesday recorded 389 new cases of the novel coronavirus, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on its official twitter handle, said that as of May 27, fatalities recorded in Nigeria have reached 254. It explained that most of the fatalities recorded from COVID-19 were […]

Unthinkable just a few months ago, the United States on Wednesday surpassed the grim milestone of 100,000 coronavirus deaths, as the pandemic tightened its grip on Latin America. With the European Union unveiling a massive recovery plan to step up its emergence from the crisis, the US figure was a sobering reminder of the devastation […]

As the novel coronavirus wreaks global havoc, Bill Gates is the new bete noire for conspiracy theorists worldwide including in Africa where a Kenyan politician’s false online post has added major fuel to the spread of misinformation. While Gates’s vaccine programmes on the continent have long provided ample fodder for speculation, the bogus claims have […]

Spain has begun an official 10-day mourning period for the tens of thousands of victims of the coronavirus pandemic in the country. Starting from Wednesday, all flags on public buildings across the nation and on Spanish naval vessels will be lowered to half-mast until June 5 to pay tribute to the more than 27,000 people that […]

The US capital is relaxing lockdown restrictions following a sustained period of decreased coronavirus infections, Washington’s mayor said Wednesday, announcing that restaurants and other businesses can reopen under social distancing guidelines. All US states have taken some steps to ease the lockdowns aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus, and the capital is joining […]

The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has expressed worry over the effects of the Coronavirus on Nigeria’s existing railway projects, saying all ongoing works have been slowed down due to the ravaging pandemic.

By Femi Bolaji – Jalingo Taraba state technical committee on COVID-19 has said the last active case of the Coronavirus which was confirmed by Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, on May 20 has recovered and has been discharged. Chairman of the committee and state Commissioner for Health, Dr Innocent Vakkai disclosed this at a […]

Senegal will continue treating COVID-19 patients with hydroxychloroquine, a senior health official said on Wednesday, despite recent evidence that the anti-malarial drug is harmful. Authorities in the West African state opted to provide consenting patients with the drug early on during its coronavirus outbreak, citing promising clinical results. Chloroquine and its derivative hydroxychloroquine have been […]

The French government said Wednesday that doctors should no longer prescribe hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 patients, an unproven and potentially harmful treatment for the disease nonetheless promoted by US President Donald Trump. The move came after two French advisory bodies and the World Health Organization (WHO) warned this week that the drug, a treatment for rheumatoid […]

Nearly 160 Sri Lankans repatriated from Kuwait last week have tested positive for coronavirus and one returnee has died, officials said Wednesday, with concern mounting about imported infections just as the nation eases its lockdown. A total of 460 men and women — who were mostly working illegally in the Gulf state as domestic helpers […]

Poland will allow public gatherings of up to 150 people and no longer require residents to cover their mouth and nose in open spaces, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced on Wednesday. Face masks will still be required in enclosed spaces as well as during gatherings if a required 2-metre distance between participants cannot be kept. […]

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused surging unemployment worldwide, but has hit young workers especially hard, forcing more than one in six people aged under 29 to stop working, the UN said Wednesday. In a fresh study, the International Labour Organization warned that the novel coronavirus crisis has disproportionately affected young people, and could impact upon […]

Twitter issued a fact check of some of Donald Trump’s tweets on Tuesday, marking the first time the U.S. president’s favoured social media platform has pushed back against him spreading falsehoods. The move, which almost immediately heightened tensions between Trump and the social media giant, came in the form of a label under two of […]