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Thousands Of Schools resume In France As Isolation Eases
Thousands of schools resumed throughout France on Tuesday as the government eases its coronavirus isolation rules in spite of some fears of a second waves of infections.
As seen by the official figures there were 348 new COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday, bringing the national toll to 26,991.
Primary and nursery schools resumed nevertheless, with teachers wearing face masks and the children’s chairs in great distances to avoid spreading the disease.
For Gregory Bouvier, headmaster of a nursery school in Rennes, northwest France, it was all a bit “surreal”.
“It’s not part of a nursery school’s DNA to have the children spaced apart from each other remaining at their desks and not able to share things,” he told AFP.
To calm the fears of parents distressed that the virus remains just a step away, the government has given them the choice to allow their children to go back to school or remain under isolation at home.
Unions have lambasted the decision to resume the schools calling it “premature”.
Some scientists and parliamentary deputies have also debriefed the decision as well.
Source___Channels TV
FIFA Adjourns Women’s Under-17 World Cup To 2021
The women’s Under-17 World Cup, which is due to be taken place in India in November, has been adjourned for three month, FIFA said Tuesday, adding to a growing list of sporting events hit by the Corona Virus escalation.
*The tournament, to be played in five cities across the country, will now start February 17, football’s governing body said.*
India is looking to uplifet its international status as a host of top sporting events after holding the men’s Under-17 World Cup in 2017.
“All the host cities have put in a lot of effort and commitment so far, and we are happy that the new dates will allow them to make up for the lost time and provide momentum going forward,” the local organising committee said after the FIFA declaration.
FIFA also disclosed new dates for this year’s U-20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica and Panama. It will now take place from January 20 to February 6, 2021.
Source___Channels TV
Gambia gov’t dissipates fears that airport might reinstate in June
There are growing worries among Gambians as to whether the Gambia Government will check out reopening the airport in June after reports that a top tour operator is selling tickets to Banjul from UK for June 23.
Gambians, who asserted that they have got emails about the ticket sales, strongly notified government never to open the airport to Coivd-19 focal point like the UK.
“I think it will be a disaster if the airport is opened anytime soon. One of the reasons we have low count of Covid-19 in The Gambia is because the volume of traffic between us and hard-hit areas is low. The closure of the airport significantly cuts any further importation of the virus to the country. So,government should tell us whether they intend to open the airport which would be a terrible disaster,” one commentator in the UK wrote.
The Standard contacted Tourism Minister Hamat Bah, who is a member of the Cabinet emergency committee on Covid-19 pandemic.
He said: “The Gambia’s airport will remain closed and there is no time frame for re-opening, depending on the situation of the coronavirus pandemic in the country. Any plan to wind down coronavirus restrictions including reopening of the airport will hinge on the Covid-19 situational analysis and how it unfolds on the ground by the Ministry of Health before any action is taken.
“I cannot predict when the airport will re-open depending on how we perform on Covid-19 and what it would inflict on us. Let us pray to Allah that there will be no more Covid-19 cases in The Gambia; then we will be happy to open the airport but for now unless we get the advice from the Ministry of Health, I cannot comment on when the airport will reopen”.
Source___Standard Newspaper
Gambian scientists to try-out Covid-19 vaccine
Amidst the medical race to discover an helpful vaccine for the coronavirus that is currently escalating across the world, The Gambia Scientists’ Association, a group of nine home-based scientists, have asserted they are about to test some vaccines for the Covid-19.
Suwaebou Jammeh, the president of the association told The Standard yesterday that three different vaccines are now ready to be try-out
“Just like our fellow scientists around the world, when the coronavirus outbreak was reported we decided to mobilise our efforts to see how best we could secure a vaccine. As we speak, we have discovered three different vaccines which are set for testing and we hope one of them will be effective for Covid-19,” he said.
Nonetheless, Mr Jammeh added: “We want to make it very clear that these vaccines have not been tested yet. We cannot confirm that they will be effective but we are very confident that one of them will be. We just did what scientists around the world are doing. We know we are not certified to make medicine but we are trying to engage the Ministry of Health to see whether they are interested to test the vaccine and see whether it is effective or not.”
For the moment, Senegalese scientific committee has affirmed the effectiveness of the Malagasy remedy and gives the green light for its use in Senegal.
*After receiving a sample of the COVID-19 organics of a Malagasy remedy for the coronavirus, Senegalese scientists said that clinical trials have approved the effectiveness of the remedy.*
Professor Daouda Ndiaye talking to Radio Futurs Medias (RFM) said the Professor Epidemiologist and Head of the Parasitology-Mycology Service of the University Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar made known the effectiveness of the Malagasy remedy.
“We are moving towards the use of artemisia (Covid-19 Organics). On our side on the scientific level, our light is green […]. We are going to organize ourselves to see how we can reproduce the same formula or order the remedy to give it to the Senegalese,”said Daouda Ndiaye.
Source___Standard Newspaper
Nigeria Confirms 242 New COVID-19 Cases, Toll of infections Now 4,641
Nigeria has confirmed 242 new cases of the novel coronavirus, bringing the country’s total infections to 4,641.
In a tweet late Monday, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) reported 88 new cases in Lagos, 64 in Kano, 49 in Katsina and 13 in Kaduna.
As said by the health agency, Ogun state had nine cases, Gombe six, Adamawa four, and the FCT three.
Six other states – Ondo, Oyo, Rivers, Zamfara, Borno, and Bauchi – reported one case each.
Source___Channels TV
Gambia Minority Leader retaliates to GDC’s call for NRP’s deregistration
The Minority Leader of the National Assembly and member of the National Reconciliation Party has retaliated to the opposition GDC youth leader MC Cham, who wanted the IEC to unregister parties such as the NRP for not meeting requirements.
In his response, Samba Jallow said he would not sit by and watch the NRP outrage the laws of the country to a point where it would be deregistered.
Jallow further marked out he GDC’s allegations against his party as a serious indictment, arguing that the GDC don’t have a glue about electoral laws.
“NRP survived for 22 years and it is one of the most participatory parties when it comes to elections in this country. For the 22 years, all political parties boycotted elections but the NRP never gave up with Jammeh. We contested elections every where against Jammeh even we were going to lose. So, I think the information from the GDC can only be their lack of understanding of the laws that establish a political party,” he said.
When told to counter to talks in town that NRP has been acutely compromised to the point that its leader has been publicizing the party’s surrender to President Adama Barrow, Jallow stated: “You see, those are people’s opinions. They have right to their opinions but I’m a member of parliament representing the NRP. You have another four members also. We are actively in governance. We have our five National Assembly Members, we have our chairmen, we went to congress and selected our chairmen and all our structures are in place.So, for anyone to say NRP is compromised is just their opinion,” he finishes.
Source___Standard News
We Are Trying out Sample Of Madagascar Cure To See How It Works – Nigeria Health Minister
Nigeria Health Minister Osagie Ehanire has disclosed plans by the Federal Government and the Federal Ministry of Health to get the Madagascar herbal cure for COVID-19.
The Minister make this known on Monday while orienting journalists at the Presidential Task Force briefing on COVID-19.
He made known that the plan is to get the herbal product and subject it to analysis to see how it works and how it is used.
“Concerning the question on the cure from Madagascar, this has been making the news and we have the promise of being able to get a sample of the herb/botanical product for analysis and also probably use that opportunity to speak with the health authorities particularly the scientific community on how they use it.
“We will also give that to the research community with us here (in Nigeria) to examine and do what they can do with it.
” We will like to compare the sample with the strain here in our country whether they are identical or similar and see what properties it has. Things like that are normally subjected to analysis to find out how it works,” Ehanire said.
The Minister outstretched that all countries are interested in finding a cure to the deadly COVID-19 and Nigeria is also looking at all available options.
He add on that before the Madagascar cure can be used in Nigeria, it will be examined, “to make sure they are safe and they work.”
Source___Channels TV
Avianca, one of Latin America’s Substantial airlines, files for bankruptcy
Colombian airline Avianca (AVH) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US Southern District of New York on Sunday, laying blame on its collapse on the “unforeseeable impact of the Covid-19 pandemic,” according to a company statement.
Avianca, which was initiated in 1919, professes to be the world’s second-oldest continuously running airline. As of the end of last year, it was the third-largest airline in Latin America based on market share, after Chile’s LATAM Airlines (LTM) and Brazil’s GOL Linhas Aéreas (GOL), according to Euromonitor.
*The carrier is also part of the Star Alliance, the industry group that includes other big players such as Lufthansa (DLAKY) and Singapore Airlines. Last year, a holding company affiliated with United Airlines (UAL) bought a majority stake in Avianca.*
Avianca is the latest major airline to surrender to the loss of business from the pandemic, which has caused bearers to rip up their flight schedules, ground planes and put staff on non payable leave.
The attempt to file for bankruptcy was made with the intention to “protect and preserve operations” as the escalation continues, it said. Avianca directly employs 21,000 people throughout Latin America, including more than 14,000 in Colombia, where it serves as the country’s national carrier.
In insertion to gaining bankruptcy protection, the company plans to shut down its business in Peru to cut costs and “renew its focus on core markets.”
Source___CNN
Detest crime charges contemplated over US jogger killing
The US justice department is contemplating federal detest crimes charges over the death of weaponless black jogger Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia in February.
Gregory McMichael and his son Travis, who are white, are fronting assissination and assault charges over the shooting.
The case provoked national fury when video of the death come into view last week.
Mr Arbery’s advocators have been using the hashtag #IRunWithMaud, sharing photos and running 2.23 miles (3.6km) for the day he died, 23 February.
Some confine demonstration gathering outside courthouses in Georgia and neighbouring Florida.
*Questions have been raised about why the police failed to charge the McMichaels for more than two months. The pair were detained on Thursday by the state bureau of investigation (GBI), two days after the video came to light.*
Gregory, 64, and Travis, 34, are in the imprisonment of the Glynn County Sheriff’s Department, officials said on Friday.
Justice officials in Georgia have promised to investigate why it took so long to take into custody the McMichaels.
GBI Director Vic Reynolds told reporters on Friday that “every stone will be turned over, I promise you”.
Source___BBC News
White House staff intructs to wear masks
White House staff have been instructed to wear masks when going in the West Wing after two aides confirmed Conoravirus positive
The instruction comes after an aide for Vice-President Mike Pence and a valet for President Trump fell ill.
Entering into the white house without a mask in the Rose Garden for a press orientation on Monday, however, the president said he did not need to follow the directive because he kept “far away from everyone”, and played down the White House infections.
“We have hundreds of people a day pouring into the White House” each day, he said. “I think we’re doing a good job containing it.”
Three members of the White House coronavirus task force went into self-isolation for two weeks after possible exposure to the illness.
They include Dr Anthony Fauci, who has become the public face of the fight against the pandemic in the US.
Mr Pence’s press secretary Katie Miller, the wife of Trump aide Stephen Miller, confirmed positive for the virus on Friday.
Mr Trump make note of the White House spread, saying it was “basically one person” who had the virus and that people who were in contact had since tested negative.
Source___BBC News
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