By Johnbosco Agbakwuru
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday lauded the efforts of the operators and managers of the nation’s healthcare sector, noting that much development had been recorded in the sector since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
Professor Osinbajo stated this at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Reference Laboratory, Gaduwa, Abuja, where he underwent a facility tour, of the facilities.
Osinbajo, who was accompanied by the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire; Minister of State for Health, Dr. Adeleke Olorunnimbe Mamora; and the Director-General, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, observed that the recent increasing cases of the infection, he warned that the country is in a critical situation.
Image
On February 27, 2020, Sub-Saharan Africa reported its first case of the coronavirus (COVID-19). The patient was an Italian man living in Nigeria, who had just returned from Milan in Italy, which was then a cluster for the disease in Europe. Shortly after the patient was identified, a sample of the virus was sent to a small town called Ede, located in Osun State, southwestern Nigeria, over 200 kilometers away from Lagos. There, a team led by Professor Christian Happi, analyzed the sample and was able within 48 hours to share the very first genome sequence of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from Africa with the global science community faster than what was being done in some developed countries and, more importantly, much faster than sending it to a laboratory overseas.
Bola A. Akinterinwa
The importance of COVID-19 pandemic is growing as a global question and noisome problem. The growing importance is best explained by factors of international politics, racism and increasing fear of anti-COVID-19 vaccines, especially as a strategic attempt to de-populate developing countries, on the one hand, unending daily media reports on the pandemic and emergence of a second wave of COVID-19 in many countries of the world, on the other.
For instance, in a graphic analysis of media coverage of wars, in comparison to the COVID-19 saga, by The Economist, on December 19, 2020, it was made clear that COVID-19 pandemic has dominated news coverage more than any other topics since the Second World War. Before World War I, in 1914-1918, there were the 1840 Crimean War, the American Civil War of 1861-1865, the 19 July 1870-10 May 1871 Franco-Prussian War, the 1899-1902 Anglo-Boer War, and the Spanish-American War of 21 April 1898 to 10 December, 1898. By then, news cov
COVID-19 new variant in Nigeria not UK type - The Nation Newspaper thenationonlineng.net - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thenationonlineng.net Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.