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COVID-19 Delta Variant: FG declares Lagos, Akwa Ibom, five others Red Alert States

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COVID 19

 

The Federal Government has declared Lagos, Akwa Ibom and five other states COVID-19 Delta Variant Red Alert States.

Other States on the list are: Rivers, Oyo, Ogun, Ekiti, and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

Nigeria’s Health Minister, Dr Osagie Ehanire, stated this on Thursday in Abuja at the weekly ministerial briefing organized by the Presidential Communications Team, led by Mr Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity.

He said “Currently, the states that have the highest contribution to the national case load of COVID-19 are Lagos, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Oyo, Ogun, Ekiti, and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

“These are the ones we have called the red alert states because they require extra attention to contain the COVID-19 outbreak in those places.”

Ehanire said Nigeria was concerned about the Delta variant because “it is more transmissible and dangerous’’.

He added: “The country is particularly concerned about the Delta variant because it is much more transmissible and it has been estimated to be 60 per cent more transmissible, which means that where one virus of the previous variants would infect 100 people, this particular variant will infect 160 people and that is a lot.

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“Secondly, this variant is also of concern because it affects even younger people. Before now we did say that younger people might likely get away or escape from the infection,

“We expect the vaccination from 18 years upward but this Delta variant attacks people and we did say that those who suffer most from the other variants are people who have underlying illnesses but this variant seems to care less.

“It does not discriminate too much whether you have underlying illnesses or not,” he said.

Ehanire noted that vigilance at the country’s borders had been fortified to check the importation of the disease to the country.

The Minister said the ravaging third wave Delta variant of COVID-19 could be defeated if all citizens play their part in the fight against the pandemic.

According to him, if everybody plays his/her role, such efforts put in by individuals and organizations will complement the national response by government.

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He said: “If we work together, not only government, it also has to do with citizens, agencies and not the least, the media, we do have a good chance of scaling through this COVID-19 third wave threat.

“I want to thank all Nigerians for the support and participation so far, which has made this battle controllable.

“The successful implementation of the non-pharmaceutical interventions and public health measures since we started this vaccination and since this epidemic came in remains very important.

“Therefore, everyone has a role to play; government, citizens, media, partners, nongovernmental organizations, community based organizations, civil society organizations, traditional rulers, political leaders and community leaders all have a role to play in this collective effort.”

While giving the current status of the disease in the country, he said as at Aug. 11, the number of confirmed cases stood at over 179, 000.

“As at the Aug. 11, 2021, the government of Nigeria has confirmed the following statistics which by now may have changed a little bit; that the total number of confirmed cases is 179, 118, active cases are 10,783.

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“The number of number of discharged cases, 166,144 and sadly the number of fatalities is 2194.

“So we have declared that Nigeria is officially in the 3rd wave of COVID-19 pandemic and as you know, it has already spread in many parts of the world mostly in India where it was first recognized spreading to other parts of the world and also Africa, including West Africa,” he said.

 

 

 

 

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UK local election: Boris Johnson turned away from polling station after forgetting valid ID

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Former prime minister of the UK, Boris Johnson, was turned away from his local polling station after forgetting to bring the required photo identity.

 

Johnson had joined locals in South Oxfordshire on Thursday to vote in the police and crime commissioner election.

Polling officials however told him he would not be allowed to vote without providing his identity.

There are 22 acceptable forms of ID in the UK including passports, driving licences, blue badges, and certain local travel cards.

 

As prime minister in 2022, Johnson introduced the Elections Act which requires photo ID — a development that sparked intense criticisms from Britons.

Last year, the Electoral Commission warned that the new law could exclude hundreds of thousands of people, including minorities and those with disabilities.

A spokesperson for Johnson confirmed he had forgotten the photo ID, but that he was able to cast his ballot after he returned with a valid ID.

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“Mr Johnson voted Conservative,” Sky News quoted the spokesperson as saying.

Downing Street said it would “look into” changing the controversial rules which require photo ID in order to vote, so that ID cards of veterans can be added to the list of valid identification.

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Governors can pay N615k minimum wage if they get priorities right – NLC

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President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, says state governors can afford to pay the proposed N615,000 minimum wage if they get their priorities right.

Ajaero spoke on Thursday during an interview with Channels Television.

 

Recently, organised labour announced that the new minimum wage should be pegged at N615,000.

The proposal came amid ongoing minimum wage negotiations between federal and state governments on one hand, and organised labour on the other.

 

In 2019, the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari pegged the national minimum wage at N30,000.

After the new minimum wage was announced at the time, it took some states forever to implement the increment.

 

Asked during the interview if organised labour’s proposal of N615,000 is realistic, Ajaero said the amount is the “most realistic” given the galloping inflation in the country.

 

The NLC president said organised labour considered factors like transportation, housing, and feeding before arriving at the sum.

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“If you are talking about being realistic, the N615,000 demand is the most realistic. Being realistic is not about slave wage,” Ajaero said.

 

“However, N30,000 is big money if inflation is brought down, and at a single digit.

“Look at the indices that create inflation. If you check them, you can talk about being realistic. All other factors in the country are going high and wages remain constant.”

 

Asked if states can afford the N615,000 proposal, the NLC president averred that it is not about ability to pay but the priorities of states.

“I think we need to understand the issues of ability to pay and not getting the priority right,” he added.

 

“Most of the states that have shown willingness to pay the current minimum wage are not among those getting the highest revenue.

“During the time of Muhammadu Buhari, some states were declared not having enough money to pay and he released funds for them to pay.

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“Those states still refused to pay. It is not the question of either the quantum of money that they have or not, it is what they decide to do with such money.

 

“If they get their priorities right, then a lot can happen.”

 

Organised labour has also threatened to embark on a strike if a new minimum wage is not announced before May 31, 2024.

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15-yr-old Kwara public school student scores 362 in UTME

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A student of a public secondary school, Government Secondary School, Omu Aran, Kwara State, Olukayode Victor Olusola, scored 362 marks in this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, to be among the contenders for the highest scorers in the examination.

Though the Registrar of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB, Prof. Isaq Oloyede, organisers of the exam, had said the Board would not announce the highest scorer to avoid last year’s experience of confusing claims, Olukayode’s score is celebratory, as it is among the highest in recent years.

He scored 95 marks each in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry and 77 in English Language.

 

His exploit is coming against the backdrop of the poor performance of candidates in the exam in which 1.4 million scored less than 200 marks out of 400. The exam was taken by over 1.8 million candidates

Also, Olukayode’s excellent performance is coming at a time when confidence is greatly eroding in what public schools have to offer and some private schools are boasting of being the most expensive in the country.

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Olukayode was born in 2009 and hopes to study Electrical Electronic at the University of Ilorin, Kwara State.

 

His mother, Beatrice Tosin, while giving all the honour to God, also praised the studious and hard working nature of her child.

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