Health

ABUJA, May 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The authorities in Nigeria are investigating a reported rise in deaths in the northern state of Jigawa.

The state government has sent a five-person team to report back before the end of the week after residents said there had been an increase in deaths in some communities.

Local reports quoting residents of Hadejia town say about 100 people were reported dead in 10 days.

Doctors in Jigawa initially attributed the deaths to illnesses such as asthma, diabetes and high blood pressure.

7 May 2020; MEMO: Saudi has installed “advanced self-sterilisation gates” at the entrances of the grand mosques in Makkah and Madinah in an effort to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

According to Saudi24, the move is part of the government’s “Together Guarded” initiative which has seen precautionary measures put in place since the pandemic hit the kingdom’s shores.

Mumbai, May 7 (PTI) As many as 531 Maharashtra police personnel, including 51 officers, have tested positive for COVID-19 so far, an official said on Thursday.

Among these infected police personnel, 480 are constables, who are being treated at various hospitals in the state, the official said.

United Nations, May 7 (AP) The United Nations announced Thursday it is increasing its appeal to fight the coronavirus pandemic in fragile and vulnerable countries from 2 billion to 6.7 billion.

U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock reiterated that the peak of the pandemic is not expected to hit the world's poorest countries for three to six months.

Beijing, May 7 (PTI) President Xi Jinping has cautioned people against complacency over the declining trend of coronavirus cases in the country as China on Thursday downgraded COVID-19 risk levels in all regions, signalling its successful containment.

All regions in China have seen their risk level downgraded to the lowest level starting Thursday, state-run China Daily reported.

Agartala, May 4 (PTI) Twenty-two people linked to a Border Security Force battalion in Dhalai district tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Wednesday, taking the number of cases in Tripura to 64, Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said.

The total active cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) rose to 62 in the state after 22 people from the 138th battalion at Ambassa tested positive.

KAMPALA, May 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Uganda began to loosen one of Africa’s strictest anti-coronavirus lockdowns after President Yoweri Museveni declared the infection “tamed.”

The country of 42 million reported 97 confirmed cases and no deaths in 45 days of restrictions, and Museveni said it was now better equipped to trace and detect new infections faster.

“We have somehow tamed the virus,” Museveni said in a televised address.

“It is high time we … start slowly and carefully to open up, but without undoing our achievements.”

MADRID, May 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Spain’s parliament voted to extend the country’s state of emergency, allowing stringent coronavirus lockdown measures to remain in place for at least two more weeks.

The government imposed a nation-wide lockdown nearly eight weeks ago to curb the outbreak, which has killed more than 25,000 people and infected over 220,000 in the country — one of the hardest hit in the world.

BERLIN, May 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Chancellor Angela Merkel announced steps to ease the coronavirus lockdown, saying the first phase of the pandemic had passed but there was still a long way to go.

Germany went into lockdown in March to slow the spread of the virus. Its reproduction rate has been falling for several days, and Merkel said it was now consistently below 1 – meaning a person with the virus infects fewer than one other on average.

MOSCOW, May 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — President Vladimir Putin said Russia should not rush to lift coronavirus-related restrictions, warning that any haste in removing preventative measures could undo their work so far.

Putin said governors would have the responsibility of deciding how to proceed in their own regions.

The country’s coronavirus crisis response centre said earlier on Wednesday that the number of cases had risen by more than 10,000 for a fourth consecutive day and now stood at 165,929.

Russia has recorded 1,537 coronavirus-related deaths.