An estimate of 43,000 people may have been given wrong negative PCR COVID-19 test results in Britain, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said. The Agency said testing operations provided by Immensa Health Clinic at its laboratory in Wolverhampton have been suspended. “It has been suspended following an investigation into reports of people receiving negative PCR test results after they have previously tested positive on a lateral flow. “The errors relate to test results given to people between Sept. 8 and Oct.12, mainly in the South West of England but with some cases in the South East and Wales. “There…
Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe
Dr Akintunde Ogunfeyimi, Chief Medical Director, Ondo State Specialist Hospital, Okitipupa, on Friday advised Nigerians to maintain hygienic living at all times. Speaking in Okitipupa, Ondo state, he said it was the only way to prevent outbreak of killer diseases other than COVID-19. He noted that Nigerians currently focus solely on the COVID-19, forgetting to guard against other killer diseases which had been around before the pandemic. The chief medical director highlighted such diseases as Lassa fever, malaria, cholera, dysentery, diarrhoea and tuberculosis among others. “We must ensure we kill rats in our houses, cover our foods, clean our environment,…
Nigeria recorded six COVID-19-related deaths with 226 fresh cases confirmed across 14 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The NCDC made this known via its website on Friday morning. This, the NCDC said, brings the total number of infections to 20,8630. The 226 fresh cases reported on Thursday showed a decline from the 251 cases reported on Wednesday in the country. The centre said the FCT reported 73 cases while Plateau reported 34. Others are Lagos (25), Gombe (22), Abia (16), Osun (13), Kano (7), Rivers (7), Ekiti (6), Kaduna (6), Oyo (6), Delta (5), Edo…
Former Senate President, Sen. Iyorchia Ayu has emerged consensus candidate for the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the forthcoming national convention, scheduled to hold on October 30. He was endorsed at the party’s northern stakeholders’ meeting which held at Bauchi Governor’s Lodge, Asokoro, Abuja on Thursday. The meeting, attended by the party’s leaders from the Northern region, was convened to produce a consensus candidate to be ratified at the party national convention. According to Adamawa state and Chairman, PDP National Convention Organising Committee, Ahmadu Fintiri while speaking with newsmen, Ayu emerged from the three aspirants presented…
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved N2.5 billion as take-off grant for the National Senior Citizens Centre (NSCC), Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Sadiya Farouq, says. She made this known at a one-day Southern Zone Stakeholders Consultation on Development of NSCC Strategic Plan on Thursday in Lagos. The NSCC Act 2018 was signed by the president to allow the establishment of the centre by institutions and the three tiers of government to cater for the needs of senior citizens. Farouq, who was represented by the ministry’s acting Director, Social Services, Mr Mansur Kuliya, said that the grant was presently…
The Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, BRIG.-Gen. Shuaibu Ibrahim has been conferred with the Fellowship of the Historical Society of Nigeria (HSN). He was conferred with the award at the 66th Annual conference of the Society which held in Enugu on Wednesday. In his welcome address, President of the Historical Society of Nigeria, Prof Okpeh Okpeh Jr, said Ibrahim and other awardees of the prestigious fellowship, were selected for the honour in recognition of their contributions and dedication towards promoting the activities of the Society as well as the exemplary leadership qualities they have exhibited in the…
A 21 year-old internet fraudster, Jatto Sheriff Umar, who posed as the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, in order to defraud unsuspecting victims via online relationship, was on Wednesday, convicted and sentenced to prison for offences bordering on personation and cybercrime. A statement by the spokesperson of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren made available to ASHENEWS, said the Ilorin Zonal Command of the commission, also secured the conviction of four other persons for similar offences. “They are a fake US military officer, Oguntoyinbo Oluwatobi Damilola; Taiwo Akinyemi Kayode from Ekiti West local government area of Ekiti…
The World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, on Wednesday recognised Henrietta Lacks, a Black American woman, for her world-changing legacy with a special award. For the past seven decades, the cells of Lacks, who died of cervical cancer, have saved countless lives, and made numerous scientific breakthroughs possible, such as the human papillomavirus and polio vaccines, drugs for HIV treatment, together with cancer and COVID-19 research. In 1951, while Lacks sought treatment, researchers took biopsies from her body without her knowledge or consent, and her cells became the first “immortal” cell line, now known as the “HeLa cells”. Shockingly,…
The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday launched an expert group that will examine the origins of new pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. The proposed members of the WHO Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO) were selected for their expertise in areas such as epidemiology, animal health, clinical medicine, virology and genomics. WHO chief, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, announced this during his regular briefing from Geneva, Switzerland. “SAGO will advise WHO on the development of a global framework to define and guide studies into the origins of emerging and re-emerging pathogens with epidemic and…
The African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW) has appointed Dr Rashid Mbaziira, a Ugandan national, as its Executive Secretary. Mr Carl Schlettwein, President of the AMCOW Council of Ministers, announced Mbaziira’s appointment at the end of an extra-ordinary session of the AMCOW executive committee on Thursday. The appointment takes effect from 8th November 2021. Mbaziira has a PhD degree from the University of Oxford, St Catherine’s College conferred in 2007. His research was in the field of Water Sciences, Policy and Management. He holds a BSc in Agricultural Engineering degree (First Class) from Makerere University, Kampala; and a Stage 1…