Covid-19: Four out of five people’s jobs hit by pandemic, says ILO

GENEVA, April 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A total of 81% of the global workforce of 3.3 billion people have had their workplace fully or partly closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Restrictions on daily life have led to the closure of many companies and the laying off of staff – either…

Covid-19: France begins clinical trials of coronavirus blood plasma treatment

PARIS, April 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — France begins clinical trials involving transfusions of blood plasma from Coronavirus survivors into patients who have severe symptoms in a bid to treat the illness, the institutions involved said. Drugmakers are racing to develop a vaccine and treatment for the pandemic, which has killed over 60,000 people…

New swarm of locusts invades eastern Uganda

Locusts previously invaded Uganda in February KAMPALA, April 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A new swarm of locusts has invaded parts of the north-eastern and eastern regions of Uganda, putting at risk June’s harvests.Largely made up young locusts, it arrived four days ago in a district bordering western Kenya and has since…

Covid-19: World Bank releases $82m support to strengthen Nigerian public health response

ABUJA, April 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The World Bank Group has released 82 million dollars for immediate support in strengthening the public health response through the Regional Disease Surveillance System Enhancement Project (REDISSE). The bank made this known in a statement released in Abuja on Tuesday. The bank explained that in…

Covid-19: Chad’s ex-ruler Habre granted leave from Senegal prison holding quarantined virus inmates

Hissene Habre ruled Chad from 1982 to 1990 DAKAR, April 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Chad’s former ruler Hissene Habre has been granted two months leave from prison in Senegal, where he is serving life for crimes against humanity.The prison is being used to hold new detainees in coronavirus quarantine.Habre was convicted…

Covid-19: ECOWAS dispatches diagnostic test kits to member states

ABUJA, April 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has procured and made delivery of some 30,500 diagnostic test kits to its 15 member countries. The test kits are part of the various products purchased by the body to deal with the pandemic. This information was…

Al-Shabaab founding member killed in air strike: US Africa Command

Commander of US Africa Command, Gen Stephen Townsend MOGADISHU, April 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States says it has killed a founding member of the militant group al-Shabaab, Yusuf Jiis, in an airstrike in Somalia. There has been no word so far from al-Shabaab. The commander of US Africa Command,…

Covid-19: New York registers record 731 virus deaths in 24 hours

NEW YORK, April 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — New York state has recorded its highest number of COVID-19 deaths in 24 hours, Governor Andrew Cuomo said, adding though that hospitalizations appeared to be “plateauing.” Cuomo said 731 people succumbed to the new coronavirus on Monday, bringing the state’s total death toll to…

US Pres Trump press secretary Stephanie Grisham steps down: White House

WASHINGTON, April 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — President Donald Trump’s chief spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham, who never held a single press briefing in a White House where Trump runs much of the communications himself, stepped down Tuesday. The White House said Grisham would now work solely for Trump’s wife Melania. “First Lady Melania…

Covid-19: Global death toll at 75,542

PARIS, April 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The worldwide number of fatalities from the novel coronavirus rose to 75,542 on Tuesday. More than 1,351,000 declared cases have been registered in 191 countries and territories since the epidemic first emerged in China in December. Of these cases, at least 253,900 are now considered…