A Nigerian neuroscientist and start-up founder has created a device that can be used to detect Covid-19, the smell of explosives and even cancer cells.
Oshi Agabi, a former roadside food vendor in Lagos, raised $30m to create Koniku Kore, the first device to fuse live neurons from mice stem cells into a silicon chip. It is being tested by aerospace corporation Airbus, and mass production and deliveries will begin in December.
Koniku, which means ‘immortal’ in the Nigerian Yoruba language, started in 2015.
A year after, it landed customers in the aviation and pharmaceuticals industries, like AstraZeneca, the UK-based pharma company, and Boeing, who both signed on with a letter of intent to use the tech in chemical-detecting drones.
At its unveiling, Agabi said it could one day revolutionize airport security, enabling travelers “to walk from their car to the aircraft”.
“We merged synthetic neurobiology with traditional silicon technology with the goal of fixing urgent real world problems,” Agabi said.
“Explosives have particles and smells coming off the individual and with our device you can tell, without requiring line of sight or contact, you can scan them at the time at a place of your own choosing and you can get into an aircraft and go about your business.”
A self-described “scrawny, nerdy kid,” Agabi grew up in the suburb of Surulere in Lagos, Nigeria and obtained a Bachelors degree in Physics from University of Lagos.
He went on to do further studies in physics and neuroscience in Sweden and Switzerland.
“One of the things growing up in Lagos imparts in you is grit,” he says. “Lagos is a place that demands grit. Growing up there gave me an unconventional way of always looking at problems.”

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday said the COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in sexual and gender-based violence in the country due to the lockdown measures introduced to check the disease.
He said this in a goodwill message to commemorate the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, which holds on November 25 every year.
He said sexual and gender-based violence in all its forms had been recurrent especially considering the alarming statistics of violence against vulnerable persons recorded in Nigeria, particularly women and girls.
Buhari, who said he was aware of the unfortunate situation from records and reports of incidences in the country, highlighted actions taken by the government to address violence the trend.
He expressed the commitment of his administration to continue to tackle sexual and gender based violence in the country.

The nation’s health experts on Sunday pleaded with Americans to stay home over the Thanksgiving holiday and forgo any plans to travel or celebrate at large family gatherings, even as airports have recorded a significant rise in passengers.

Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease specialist, and other health experts relayed a clear message on Sunday morning news shows: with coronavirus cases surging to record levels across the country, turning nearly every state into a hot zone of transmission, the risk of getting infected, whether in transit or in even small indoor gatherings, is high.

Up to 50 million people could be traveling on roads and through airports in the United States over Thanksgiving this year, according to AAA, the biggest travel surge since the pandemic began, despite strong cautions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health authorities. A video of a packed airport in Phoenix has been circulating widely on social media. As of Sunday, 47 states — all but Vermont, Maine and Hawaii — were considered high-risk zones for viral transmission, and nationwide hospitalizations were at a record 83,227.

The spread of novel Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) in Nigeria continues to record significant increases as the latest statistics provided by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control reveal Nigeria now has 65,982 confirmed cases.
On the 20th of November 2020, 143 new confirmed cases were recorded in Nigeria, having carried out a total daily test of 3,334 samples across the country.
To date, 65,982 cases have been confirmed, 61,782 cases have been discharged and 1,165 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. A total of 728,128 tests have been carried out as of November 20th, 2020 compared to 724,794  tests a day earlier.
COVID-19 Case Updates- 20th November 2020,
Total Number of Cases – 65,982
Total Number Discharged – 61,782
Total Deaths – 1,165
Total Tests Carried out – 728,128
According to the NCDC, the 143 new cases were reported from 10 states- Lagos (70), Kaduna (25), FCT (22), Ogun (11), Plateau (4), Oyo (4), Ekiti (3), Osun (2), Edo (1), Kano (1).
Meanwhile, the latest numbers bring Lagos state total confirmed cases to 22,836, followed by Abuja (6,444), Plateau (3,737), Oyo (3,702), Rivers (2,942), Kaduna (2,839), Edo (2,691), Ogun (2,145), Delta (1,823), Kano (1,771), Ondo (1,727), Enugu (1,332),  Kwara (1,088), Ebonyi (1,055), Katsina (970), Osun (944), Gombe (938). Abia (926), Bauchi (752), and Borno (745).
Imo State has recorded 662  cases, Benue (493), Nasarawa (485), Bayelsa (426),  Ekiti (351), Jigawa (327), Akwa Ibom (319), Niger (286), Anambra (285), Adamawa (261), Sokoto (165), Taraba (156), Kebbi (93), Yobe (92), Cross River (90), Zamfara (79), while Kogi state has recorded 5 cases only.
Lock Down and Curfew
In a move to combat the spread of the pandemic disease, President Muhammadu Buhari directed the cessation of all movements in Lagos and the FCT for an initial period of 14 days, which took effect from 11 pm on Monday, 30th March 2020.
The movement restriction, which was extended by another two-weeks period, has been partially put on hold with some businesses commencing operations from May 4. On April 27th, 2020, Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari declared an overnight curfew from 8 pm to 6 am across the country, as part of new measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19. This comes along with the phased and gradual easing of lockdown measures in FCT, Lagos, and Ogun States, which took effect from Saturday, 2nd May 2020, at 9 am.
On Monday, 29th June 2020 the federal government extended the second phase of the eased lockdown by 4 weeks and approved interstate movement outside curfew hours with effect from July 1, 2020. Also, on Monday 27th July 2020, the federal government extended the second phase of eased lockdown by an additional one week.
On Thursday, 6th August 2020 the federal government through the secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 announced the extension of the second phase of eased lockdown by another four (4) weeks.

KOTA KINABALU: Authorities are tracking down a man who tested positive for Covid-19, but escaped from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital 1 (QEH1) before he could be warded for treatment.
Kota Kinabalu police chief Habibi Majinji said the suspect was told by a healthcare worker at the hospital to wait in the lift for his turn to be checked into a ward while another patient was being brought in.
“But when the healthcare worker returned to the lift, the suspect had disappeared,” Habibi told FMT, when contacted.
Habibi added that the suspect had been warded at the Quarantine and Low Risk Covid-19 Treatment Centre on Nov 13 before he tested positive for the virus.
Police are now investigating the case under Section 270 of the Penal Code and Section 22(b) of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act.

Governor Abubakar Bello of Niger has tested negative for COVID-19 following repeat tests of the viral disease.
This was contained in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mrs Mary Noel-Berje, in Minna on Monday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the governor had on Nov. 9, announced that he tested positive to COVID-19 via his official Twitter handle and immediately went into isolation.
She said that the governor was pronounced free of the virus and confirmed fit to resume his official duties having gone through repeat tests which turned negative.
"I am happy to announce to you that I have been confirmed negative and declared fully recovered. I can now resume my official work. I thank you all for your prayers and good wishes," she quoted the governor as saying.
NAN reports that Governors Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna, Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo, and Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti had tested positive for the virus earlier.
Other Nigerian governors that tested positive for COVID-19 include Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta, and Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia.

Scientists across the world are racing to develop vaccines and effective treatments against the novel coronavirus, which has infected millions of people across the world since it first surfaced in China last December.
Drug giant, Pfizer, announced the development of a vaccine that prevented more than 90 per cent of infections in a study of tens of thousands of volunteers.
Amid the pandemic, Nigeria has continued to report new cases of yellow fever. Three states have already reported a total of 76 deaths from the outbreak.
Here are some of the health stories which made headlines last week
Nigeria records 112 new coronavirus infections, no new case in Lagos
Nigeria recorded 112 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, raising the total number of infections in the nation to 64,996.
As Nigeria did not record a single death from the virus on Saturday, the total fatalities in the country remain 1,163.
This is according to an update by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Saturday night.
ANALYSIS: Nigeria faces possible COVID-19 second wave but has let guard down
With the yuletide fast approaching, Nigerians now reckon it is safe to let their guards down – hands are no longer washed often, facemasks are almost forgotten, mass gatherings are no longer a problem, parties, weddings and even protests are back on the cards.

The Federal Government through the Ministry of Power has launched the Central Data Management System (CDMS). CDMS is an online platform of the Nigerian Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) that monitors power networks across the country.
This is according to a report by the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).
The Central Data Management System aims to offer authentic data and the newest tools that can sustain the data-driven electrification plan under the domain nigeriase4all.gov.ng.
Commenting on the development, the Minister of Power, Engr. Sale Mamman, said, “This initiative is part of our efforts to digitize the Nigerian power sector using new innovative digital technologies and processes that will help address many of the key challenges that our power sector is facing today. . . It is very remarkable to note that within just one year of starting the Central Data Management System project, the following primary data has been gathered, classified and stored on the Nigeria SE4All web portal being launched today.”
The Head of Cooperation, European Union Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Mr. Kurt Cornelis, said, “This CDMS will provide the government, investors and project developers with accurate data for market intelligence and planning needed to achieve Nigeria’s SDG7 goal.”
The German Ambassador to Nigeria, Birgitt Ory, opined that data for the power sector is vital for overall national development, she said, “Building on a solid database of these concepts can help to develop economic and ecological opportunities, and thus become an engine for sustainable growth.”
The platform’s launch is in line with the present regime’s commitment to Electricity Vision 30:30:30, a target to deliver 30,000 Megawatts (MW) of electricity by 2030 with at least 30% coming from renewable energy.

Two Latino physicians and researchers are among the medical and science professionals President-elect Joe Biden has named to his Covid-19 task force.
Dr. Robert Rodriguez is a California emergency room doctor who responded to a Covid-19 surge in his native Texas, and Dr. Luciana Borio is an expert in biodefense and emerging infectious diseases who left the Trump administration and warned the public in January of the coming Covid-19 crisis.
Rodriguez is a professor of emergency medicine at the University of California San Francisco. He has had a front-line view of the ravages of Covid-19 in Texas.
Borio, an infectious disease physician, served on President Donald Trump's National Security Council as a member of its pandemic response team until Trump disbanded it in 2018. She is vice president of technical staff at In-Q-Tel, a nonprofit venture capital company that develops new technologies for national security agencies.
The board represents the first steps taken by Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to begin the transition to a new administration and begin their approach to controlling the pandemic. The Biden-Harris team laid out Biden's plans to tackle the pandemic on its transition webpage.
Rodriguez volunteered to return to his hometown, Brownsville, Texas, to help during a Covid-19 surge in Texas' Rio Grande Valley. Rodriguez also has been dealing with Covid-19 cases in two hospitals in the San Francisco Bay area.
In an online panel held by the League of United Latin American Citizens in mid-August, Rodriguez said he had "seen firsthand how the pandemic has devastated Latino communities."
Cases in San Francisco were steady, but he said the work he did in Brownsville was "the hardest experience of my life, the hardest work as an emergency physician, as an intensive care physician."
"I flew down there, and the next day I was in the ICU treating the sickest patients that I had ever seen in my career. The doctors and nurses, respiratory therapists were working extremely hard, but they were simply overwhelmed with the number of cases," he said. "At the time, we had about five times the number of cases in the ICU there as compared to my hospital [in San Francisco], which was a much bigger hospital and a much better resourced hospital."
Biden's victory in the presidential election is a correction for the United States. The question is how he resolves the mess left by President Trump, such as defending against the Covid-19 epidemic. Regrettably, before Biden was sworn in as the new president, Americans had to continue to face President Trump's last days, possibly crazy performances. Pray for those who died of Covid-19!

The Ministry of Women Affairs, in collaboration with the National Agency for the Control of AIDS and other international partners have launched a relief project to cushion the effects of COVID-19 on vulnerable women.
The other partners include the United Nations and the European Union.
A statement from the NACA yesterday said the project called 'Risk Communication and Community Engagement Project' was championed via the UN Basket Fund support to the National COVID 19 Multi-sectoral Pandemic Response in Nigeria and set up to help mitigate the negative impact of COVID-19 on vulnerable household and women living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has no doubt had its toll on the world's economy and here in Nigeria, the situation has hugely disrupted economic activities causing loss of jobs among citizens most especially the vulnerable community in Nigeria," the statement said.
Flagging-off the project, NACA Director-General Dr Gambo Aliyu said the pandemic was impacting all aspects of human life including social, economic, religious and psychological wellbeing.
He with the effects of COVID-19, Nigeria had identified preventive interventions to limit the spread of the virus by involving the community in the fight against the spread of the virus through improving risk communication, social mobilization and community engagement.
The preventive interventions seek to protect the most vulnerable women, including those living with HIV/AIDS from the effects of COVID-19 such as loss of income due to loss of jobs and livelihood, increasing gender based violence, insecurity, among others.
The Minister of Women Affairs and co-chair of the project, Pauline Tallen said key stakeholders had been working towards a common goal of reaching the down trodden vulnerable women and households in 15 selected high burden COVID-19 states. They are Lagos, Federal Capital Territory, Kano, Sokoto, Oyo, Edo, Rivers, Ogun, Kaduna, Borno, Gombe, Bauchi, Akwa-ibom, Delta and Ebonyi States.
Head, Gender and Human Right Unit of NACA, Yinka Falola-Anoemwah, said the project would provide relief assistance - cash and hygiene materials (face masks, sanitizers, soaps) to 18,000 women, girls and young people worst affected by the knock-on effects of the COVID 19 crisis.

Atotal of 180 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease infection in Nigeria has been found by the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) on November 5, according to a news report by Naija News.
Nigeria Center for Disease Control has confirmed this via a statement on the official Twitter handle of the health agency.
The development brings the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Nigeria to 63,508 which includes 59,748 discharged cases and 1,155 deaths.
Below is the breakdown of the latest cases according to states with Lagos State recording the highest number of new confirmed cases, followed by Oyo and FCT.
The Director-General of the NCDC, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, who spoke on Wednesday in Abuja while giving an update on COVID-19 infections in Nigeria, said four deaths had been recorded in the past 24 hours.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) has reported that the country has tested 668,729 people since the first confirmed case was reported on February 27, 2020.
The NCDC boss said that his agency had activated a multi-sectoral national Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) at Level III to coordinate the national response.

Nigeria: Covid-19 - Let Science Lead Response, Says New WMA Boss

[left]A student wearing a mask walks in the compound at Luyanzi Institute of Technology (LIT) in Bweyogerere, Wakiso District, Uganda, Oct. 20, 2020. (Xinhua/Nicholas Kajoba)

The number of confirmed cases in the African continent neared 1.8 million with a death toll of 43,176, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Monday.

ADDIS ABABA, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed cases in the African continent has reached 1,794,507, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said on Monday.

The continental disease control and prevention agency said in a statement that the death toll related to the pandemic stood at 43,176 as of Monday afternoon.

A total of 1,466,766 people infected with COVID-19 have recovered across the continent so far, the Africa CDC said.

The most COVID-19 affected African countries in terms of the number of positive cases include South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, Ethiopia and Nigeria.

Passengers are seen at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa, Oct. 1, 2020. (Xinhua/Yeshiel)

The Southern Africa region is the most COVID-19 affected region both in terms of the number of confirmed positive cases as well as the number of deaths.

The Northern Africa region is the second most COVID-19-affected African region, according to the Africa CDC.

South Africa currently has the most COVID-19 cases, which hit 726,823. The country also has the highest number of deaths related to COVID-19, at 19,411.

Morocco came next with 222,544 confirmed cases and 3,762 deaths, followed by Egypt with 107,736 confirmed cases and 6,278 deaths, the Africa CDC said.

As Covid-19 cases continue to jump during the fall surge, Dr. Anthony Fauci says there's little chance of normalcy on the horizon.
The US will have a vaccine in the next few months, but there's a chance a "substantial proportion of the people" won't be vaccinated until the second or third quarter of 2021, Fauci said.
The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases reiterated caution on the nation's outlook.
"I think it will be easily by the end of 2021, and perhaps even into the next year, before we start having some semblances of normality," Fauci said during a University of Melbourne panel discussion Tuesday.
Things aren't looking too good for the US as the winter approaches, he said Wednesday.
Twenty-nine states set new records this month for the most new daily cases since the pandemic began, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
"We're not in a good place," Fauci during a virtual Q&A session on Wednesday. "Now we're averaging about 70,000 a (day). That's a bad position to be in."
And it's not just due to more testing. The average number of daily new cases this past week is up 21% compared to the previous week, according to JHU. But testing has increased only 6.63% over the same time frame, according to the Covid Tracking Project.
"We're rising quickly. If we just go back about six, seven weeks ago to Labor Day, we were at about 35,000 cases a day," said Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University School of Public Health.
"I would not be surprised if we end up getting to 100,000" new cases a day, Jha said.
At least 73,240 new US cases and 985 deaths were reported Tuesday, according to JHU.
The surge is hitting all regions of the country. As of Wednesday, 40 states were trending in the wrong direction, with at least 10% more new cases this past week compared to the previous week, according to JHU.
Missouri is the only state with at least 10% fewer cases, and the remaining nine states are relatively steady.
The number of COVID-19 is still on the rise, and the situation may become more serious as winter approaches. Now we can only hope that the vaccine will "save" the country.

Covid-19 infections are spreading across the United States at the fastest rate since the start of the pandemic, the latest NBC News figures showed Tuesday.
The 71,000 new cases per day that the U.S. averaged over the past week was the most in any seven-day stretch since the crisis started and stood in stark contrast to President Donald Trump’s repeated claims that “we are rounding the turn” on the pandemic.
And no part of the country has gone untouched by this latest surge in new coronavirus cases.
Wyoming, which had relatively few cases until recently, reported a 475 percent spike in Covid-19 deaths in the last 14 days, the numbers showed. Nine deaths were reported Monday in Wyoming, boosting the state’s total number of coronavirus fatalities to 77, the NBC numbers showed. Of those, five were elderly residents of a long-term care facility in Big Horn County, the Wyoming Department of Health reported. Also on Monday, the state set a single day record for new cases for the second time in less than a week, with 436.
Those numbers are tiny compared to Texas and California, which have the most cases in the country, but Wyoming with 579,000 residents is the nation’s least populated state.
Dr. J.J. Bleicher, the interim head of the Wyoming Medical Center, told The Casper Star-Tribune that they were bracing for an “exponential” growth in the number of critically ill Covid-19 patients
With the presidential election now just a week away and Trump’s re-election chances imperiled by his administration’s much-criticized performance during the pandemic, the U.S. led the world in the number of Covid-19 cases with 8.8 million and nearly 227,000 deaths from the virus, according to the Johns Hopkins University Covid-19 dashboard.
Pennsylvania, a must-win state for Trump where polls show Democratic challenger Joe Biden in the lead, reported a record daily high of 2,751 new cases on Monday along with 23 deaths from Covid-19.
Wisconsin, another key state that Trump needs to win, also set a new daily record for both infections (5,262) and deaths (64), state health officials reported. And it reported a 25.7 percent Covid-19 testing positivity rate, one of the highest in the country.
The World Health Organization advises governments to maintain a testing positivity rate of 5 percent or lower for 14 days before reopening.
Trump dismissed any criticism of his administration's pandemic performance.
"Voters are judging me on a lot of things, and one of the things we’ve done a really good job on is Covid," the president said before taking off from a campaign event.
An average of 671 people died in the U.S. per day during the seven day period ending Monday, NBC News figures showed.
Trump has always claimed that he has done a good job dealing with COVID-19, but the data is before our eyes. Now the infection has reached more than 8 million, as if COVID-19 has begun to get out of control. There are even news reports that White House officials Said that it does not intend to control COVID-19 and will focus on vaccines. It seems that it is out of control and can only rely on vaccines.

Confirmed coronavirus infections continued to soar Saturday in many parts of the U.S. and Europe. In some cases, so did anger over the restrictions governments put in place to try to stem the tide.
Oklahoma, Illinois, New Mexico and Michigan were among states announcing new record highs in daily confirmed cases Saturday, a day after a nationwide daily record of more than 83,000 reported infections, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, Michigan’s chief medical executive, said it’s “now more important than ever that people take this seriously.” The 3,338 new COVID-19 cases in her state topped the old record by more than 1,300.
German authorities reported a record one-day total of new coronavirus cases this weekend while leaders in Spain and Italy debated how to control the resurgent virus amid public pushback to curfews despite a global death toll topping 1.1 million people.
In Italy, officials huddled with regional authorities on Saturday to determine what new restrictions could be imposed as confirmed cases surpassed half a million.
Premier Giuseppe Conte has said he doesn’t want to put Italy under severe lockdown again, as he did at the pandemic’s start. In past days, several governors ordered overnight curfews in their regions to stop people from congregating at night outside bars and other venues.
One such curfew fueled anger in Naples, triggering a violent clash by protesters with police. Italian media said protesters hurled rocks, pieces of broken ceramic tiles and smoke bombs at police while they battled back with tear gas. Elsewhere in Europe, police in Warsaw, Poland, used tear gas and pepper spray to disperse protesters angry over new virus restrictions, and anti-lockdown demonstrators gathered in London's Trafalgar Square.
Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese on Saturday branded the Naples protests “unacceptable” and said prosecutors were investigating.
According to Health Ministry figures, Italy’s one-day new caseload of confirmed infections crept closer to 20,000 on Saturday, a slightly bigger daily increase than Friday. The nation’s confirmed death toll, second-highest in Europe after Britain’s, rose to 37,210 after 151 more deaths.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez plans to meet with his Cabinet Sunday morning in Madrid to prepare a new state of emergency, a strategy used twice since the start of the pandemic.
The first in March ordered strict home confinement across the nation, closed stores, and recruited private industry for the national public health fight. The second went into effect two weeks ago, focused on transit limits in the Madrid area.
At present, the situation of covid-19 in all countries is facing a crisis. Governments of all countries should seriously consider formulating some new measures to deal with covid-19. The number of infected people is on the rise, and the previous measures have not been effective. We should reconsider what the problem is. Instead of focusing on the general election, not on the prevention and control of covid-19, as American leaders do.

For the second day in a row, the United States set a daily record for coronavirus cases when nearly 78,000 infections were reported.
Friday's 77,993 cases, as tallied by NBC News, topped Thursday's 77,640. The previous high of 75,723 was set July 29.
The new benchmarks were hit as the pandemic has accelerated at a pace not seen since the summer and as many local governments have reimposed restrictions to stop the spread of a virus that has killed 225,108 people in the U.S., according to the latest tally.
President Donald Trump, during his final debate with Joe Biden on Thursday, declared yet again that the pandemic "will soon be gone."
"We’ve been hearing essentially the same words from the president since February, that it was going to go away, that it’s going to disappear, whether that’s in February, March, April, May, and that’s what he’s saying now," Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, told MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle on Friday. "That’s not what the data says, unfortunately. I wish he was right."
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert and a frequent Trump target, warned that with the weather turning colder and more people congregating inside the U.S. is in a "precarious" place. He said there's no chance a Covid-19 vaccine will be ready before Election Day as Trump has predicted.
"Most likely the end of November, the beginning of December, we will know that a vaccine is safe and effective," Fauci told MSBNC's Chuck Todd. "And I'm cautiously optimistic that it will be. There will be doses that are already made and ready to go at the end of the year. But, if you talk logistically about getting it to the major proportion of the population, that will be, obviously, several months into 2021."
Earlier, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said on NBC's "Morning Joe" that she was incensed by Trump's claim that he's done more for African-Americans than any president since Abraham Lincoln, and noted that the Black community has been hit especially hard by the coronavirus.
“Well, he's put us on the receiving end of Covid-19 and he's given us the highest death rates in the nation," Bottoms said. "That's what he's doing for the Black community right now and I can tell you as an African American sitting in that audience, I was incensed that he would have the gall to even compare himself to Abraham Lincoln.”
The U.S. leads the world with 8.5 million confirmed cases of Covid-19, and this week Dr. Jay Butler, deputy director for infectious diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reported what he called a "distressing trend" in which coronavirus case numbers are "increasing in nearly 75 percent of the country."
“The American public is understandably frustrated, and asking how long this pandemic will continue, how many more will become infected, and how many more will die," Dr. Thomas Kenyon, chief medical officer at the international health care organization Project HOPE, said in an email to NBC News.
“It is not too late for us to change the course of the pandemic," Kenyon added. "Simple things will make a huge difference — wear a mask, keep your distance from others, avoid crowded situations, wash your hands, seek testing if you are sick or think you have been exposed to someone with Covid-19.”In the U.S., much of the increase in new cases have been driven by surges in Midwestern states like Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, Wisconsin, North and South Dakota that have recorded rises in case numbers in the last two weeks.
The United States has set a record of more than 70000 new cases per day for two consecutive days. What I can't understand is why it doesn't pay attention to it! Looking at the daily growth of data, but also can say " covid-19 will soon disappear" words.. it can be seen that covid-19 is still not taken seriously.

The number of coronavirus deaths reported in the United States on Wednesday reached its highest in two months, offering more evidence that the pandemic was gaining fresh momentum across the country as cooler weather sets in.
COVID-19 deaths nationwide had averaged about 700 a day for much of October before rising to 1,237 on Wednesday, according to a Reuters analysis, the most since Aug. 19.
The number of new infections began trending higher five weeks ago, and health experts have warned that a rise in fatalities would follow.
In Wisconsin, a pivotal battleground state that could help decide the Nov. 3 presidential election, Governor Tony Evers pleaded with residents to “please stay home” after his state, along with five others, reported a record day-over-day increase in COVID-19 deaths.
Since the pandemic reached the United States earlier this year, the nation has lost more than 222,000 lives, the world's higher total as well as one of the highest per capita death rates, especially among developed nations. (Graphic: tmsnrt.rs/35hBCSa)
For a third consecutive day, the country reported over 60,000 new cases, bringing the total to more than 8.3 million. The rise partly reflects stepped-up testing in many states, although higher hospitalizations and deaths are not linked to more testing.
At a drive-through testing site in a Milwaukee parking lot, residents waited to get tested in a long line of vehicles.
The autumn resurgence and dire predictions that the spread would further accelerate in the cold winter months have once again cast a harsh spotlight on President Donald Trump’s handling of the pandemic.
He will debate Democratic challenger Joe Biden for the last time before the election on Thursday night. But with less than two weeks before the election, Trump’s dismissive approach to the coronavirus has taken a toll on his re-election prospects, with polls showing Americans losing confidence of his ability to handle the pandemic.
A report released on Wednesday by Columbia University estimated that between 130,000 and 210,000 COVID-19 deaths could have been avoided in the United States, calling the federal government’s response to the pandemic an “enormous failure”.
“The weight of this enormous failure ultimately falls to the leadership at the White House – and among a number of state governments – which consistently undercut the efforts of top officials at the CDC and HHS,” the report said, referring to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Health and Human Services.
The White House was not immediately available to comment. Last month Trump told Fox he would give himself an “A+” on his coronavirus response.
This terrible virus has caused more than 1 million deaths worldwide, and the number of infections in the United States and other countries is still on the rise. If Trump continues to do so, the death toll will increase. This is an irresponsible behavior.

Addis Ababa, Oct 21 (Prensa Latina) The death toll from Covid-19 recorded in the countries of this continent rose to 39,925, the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention reported today, an agency of the African Union.

Until Tuesday, the report of the Center adds, the infections detected totaled 1,654,412, while 1,363,106 patients could recover from the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.

Some of the most affected nations, in terms of number of diagnosed infections, are South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, Ethiopia and Nigeria, which together accumulate 68 percent of all identified infections of the region.

Other agencies and websites reporting about the pandemic are revealing different counts, such as Worldometer, a website to which the number of infections and deaths has reached 1,674,836 and 40,289, respectively.

Africa could have higher numbers, but, based on the statistics by the Center or other sources, they are much lower than estimates of experts, who feared an apocalypse in the region where healthcare systems are fragile and there are all kinds of diseases.

The impact of COVID-19 on our country is really great. At present, more than 60,000 people have been infected. This is not a small number. We really need to pay special attention to it. Can not be taken lightly. The number of infected people in some major Western countries is as high as 8 million. After so long, they have not found effective measures to deal with it. It is really worrying. If this continues, the situation may become more uncontrollable.

Nigeria’s tally of people infected with the COVID-19 COVID-19 pandemic has hit 61,558, with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), confirming 118 new cases on Monday.
Thec infections were recorded in nine states and the Federal Capital Territory.
The NCDC, which disclosed this via its official Twitter handle, also announced the discharge of 86 patients from isolation centres in the country.
According to the data obtained from NCDC website, Lagos recorded the highest number of cases with 55, while Rivers had 26 cases. Imo reported 12 cases and Osun confirmed 8 cases.
Other states with new infections are Plateau, 6, FCT, 5, Kaduna, 4, Ogun, 3, Edo, 2, and Niger, 1.
The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) reports that since the pandemic broke out in Lagos in February, more than 590,635 samples have been tested by NCDC, out of which 61,558 were positive.
NCDC records indicate that 56,697 cases have been discharged and 1,125 deaths recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
Meanwhile, the agency has said that a facemask was a tangible way Nigerians could show others they want to stop the spread of COVID-19 in the country.
It warned that the COVID-19 pandemic was not over, urging Nigerians to wear face masks.
“A properly worn facemask prevents droplets from landing on surfaces when you cough or sneeze,” NCDC said.
What worries me now is that there are still many countries where the situation is not optimistic. This may have a lot to do with their leaders. Their leaders don’t care. Perhaps this is why their COVID-19 is out of control.

Medical experts have warned that Nigeria is very likely to experience explosion of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases and deaths as more schools re-open.
The experts led by the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) were reacting to the confirmation, on Friday, of 181 cases among students and staff of a private school in Lekki, Lagos State, by the Commissioner of Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi.
According to them, the country is not prepared for school-targeted response to COVID-19 and does not have the capacity to manage larger scale cases.
President of NMA and immediate past Director General of the Nigerian Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) Yaba, Lagos, Prof. Innocent Ujah, told The Guardian: “NMA had predicted this long before. What we advised was that before the schools re-opened, there was need to be prepared for a school-targeted response by governments at all levels, so that possible cases in schools could be easily traced and taken to isolation centres for treatment.”
Chairman, Expert Review Committee on COVID-19, Prof. Oyewale Tomori, said: “With the typical Nigerian laissez-faire attitude to issues, we will shrug this off and the Presidential Task Force (PTF) and NCDC will cook up some stories lately and weakly accept their powerlessness.”
Joint pioneer of In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) in Nigeria and Director of Medical Art Centre (MART), Maryland, Lagos, Prof. Oladapo Ashiru, told The Guardian that the country was not testing as much as other countries.
But the Director General of NCDC, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, said the number of cases in Lagos was evidence of the surveillance systems in the state.
HOWEVER, Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has alleged that some of the private schools were not fully prepared for resumption, but just after monetary gains.
Lagos NUT Chairman, Mr. Adesina Adedoyin, described the development as sympathetic and disappointing, saying the issue was of great concern to the union.
On his part, National President, Association For Formidable Educational Development (AFED), Orji Kanu, described the situation as unfortunate, saying it had strengthened their resolve to enforce strict adherence to COVID-19 protocols.
He disagreed that private school owners were not prepared for resumption. Former chairman, Association of Private School Owners in Lagos, Alhaji Akande Kamal, sympathised with those affected and assured of efforts to protect other staff and students.
But parents have expressed fears over the development and appealed to government to monitor the schools and ensure that only those that meet the safety guidelines were given the nod to re-open.
With the reopening of the school, parents will worry about the health of their children. Indeed, children are easily infected, so we must pay more attention to the safety of the school. The school is a closed place and must be disinfected. Keep children at a distance and wear masks. The second wave of COVID-19 is about to strike. We also remind those countries with a large number of infections to wear masks and not gather together. This may reduce the spread of COVID-19.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has seen an increase in malnutrition rates among children in nutrition centres it supports in Nigeria. The number of children treated by the outpatient nutrition program grew by 20%, while the number of severe malnutrition cases rose by 10%, compared to the same period last year.
The rise in the number of patients was registered despite the ICRC putting on hold its community outreach program due to the pandemic. The outreach program, implemented in collaboration with the Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS), is its most efficient tool to identify malnourished children. "What we are seeing now is just the tip of an iceberg, and we are very concerned by the trend, especially in Maiduguri," says Thomas Ndambu, ICRC nutritionist. "I am certain that when Nigerian Red Cross volunteers resume their community outreach, the numbers will surge."
The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic put additional strain on the vulnerable communities in the North-East of Nigeria, where the decade-long armed conflict is severely hampering agricultural production and self-sufficiency of local farmers. "Everywhere we work the food prices have gone up, in some places they doubled. It means that millions of people in the North-East of Nigeria do not have enough to eat," said Ruth Mwakiuna Muriungi, economic security programs coordinator for the ICRC. Almost two million people in the North-East are currently displaced and do not have access to their agricultural land and production tools. In many areas of the Lake Chad region, insecurity and movement restrictions have limited farmers ability to plant crops.
Kano, Nigeria''s major seeds producer, was among the areas hit the hardest by the pandemic during the planting season, which affected seed processing and transportation. As a result, many farmers could not obtain seeds or received them too late. The ICRC, one of the major contributors to the agricultural sector in the North-East, managed to obtain less than 60% of the seeds it was originally planning to distribute to vulnerable communities.
With Nigeria depending on food import for a tenth of its food needs, border closures and restrictions on movement during spring and summer months have also affected the availability of food in the markets. Extreme weather is another factor influencing food production in Nigeria. For example, Adamawa state has experienced dry spells at the beginning of the agricultural season, which is expected to have a negative impact on the production of maize in the area.
Operational notes:

Between January and September 2020, one million people received food and livelihood assistance from the ICRC. The activities were carried out in close collaboration with the NRCS.
Since the outbreak of covid-19, food and economic problems have brought us a lot of trouble. Many people don’t have enough food because of the rising food prices. However, up to now, one million people have received food and livelihood assistance from the International Committee of the Red Cross, which has enabled them to temporarily improve their living conditions. We are also very grateful to the International Committee of the Red Cross for its assistance. Some western countries also have serious problems. They add 50000 to 60000 new cases every day, and they will experience problems like ours. I hope that they can attach importance to covid-19 and formulate effective measures to solve them as soon as possible, which may be much better than now.

U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci says Americans may want to reconsider their traditional Thanksgiving celebrations due to the conronavirus pandemic.  
In televised interviews Wednesday and Thursday, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director suggested that spending the traditional holiday with extended family this year may not be the best idea, especially if they must travel long distances.  
Fauci told the CBS Evening News, “When you're talking about relatives that are getting on a plane, being exposed in an airport, being exposed in a plane, then walk in the door and say 'Happy Thanksgiving' — that, you have to be careful about.”
Fauci says if you have a family with older, vulnerable members, or people with underlying conditions, you may want to consider putting off that family gathering.  
The 79-year-old Fauci said he, himself will not have his own children home for Thanksgiving. He said they live in three different states and would have to each come through separate airports and decided it was not worth the risk.
Fauci’s caution comes a day after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control said small gatherings are increasingly becoming a source for spread of COVID-19. The CDC also suggested that people celebrating with members of their own immediate household is the lowest risk holiday observance.
The annual U.S. Thanksgiving Day, celebration is believed to have been modeled after on a 1621 harvest feast shared by British colonists in Plymouth, Massachusetts and their indigenous neighbors.
Small-scale gatherings may lead to the spread of COVID-19 or even cause the risk of transmission. Now the number of infections in the United States has almost reached 8 million. This is a terrible number, but for them, it’s just a "number". No wonder so many people are infected.

The United States is “facing a whole lot of trouble” as coronavirus cases continue to surge across the country heading into the cold winter months, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, told CNBC on Monday. 
The U.S. reported more than 44,600 new cases on Sunday and the seven-day average rose to over 49,200 new cases per day, up more than 14% compared with a week ago, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Average daily cases were up by more than 5% in 36 states and the District of Columbia, CNBC’s analysis shows.
Similarly, the number of people currently hospitalized with Covid-19 rose by at least 5% in 36 states, according to CNBC’s analysis of data from the Covid Tracking Project, a volunteer project founded by journalists at The Atlantic magazine.
“That’s a bad place to be when you’re going into the cooler weather of the fall and the colder weather of the winter,” Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in an interview on The News with Shepard Smith. “We’re in a bad place. Now we’ve got to turn this around.”
Fauci, who also serves on the White House Coronavirus Task Force, added that the percent of tests coming back positive, or the test-positivity rate, is on the rise across states in the Midwest and Northwest. That figure is seen as an early indicator of a growing outbreak that will lead to “more cases, and ultimately more hospitalizations, and ultimately more death,” Fauci said.
Adjusted for population, many of the states with the most new infections are in the Midwest and Northwest. The Dakotas, Montana and Wisconsin reported the most new cases per capita in the country, according to CNBC’s analysis of Hopkins data.
The rising cases and the indications of growing outbreaks across much of the country are particularly troubling as the weather turns colder in the northern parts of the U.S. During the colder months, people are expected to spend more time indoors and it could be the “perfect setup for an acceleration of respiratory borne diseases,” Fauci added.
Fauci said there are five basic public health protocols that “could certainly turn around the spikes that we see and can prevent new spikes from occurring.” He said universal mask use, maintaining of physical distance, avoiding crowds, doing more things outdoors and frequently washing hands would help stop the spread of the virus.
“I have a great deal of faith in the American people and their ability to realize what we’re facing is a significant problem,” Fauci said. “We’re talking about using public health measures as a vehicle or a gateway to keeping the country open, to keeping the economy going. It is not an obstacle.”
Fauci, who recently said he did not agree to be featured in an advertisement for the Trump campaign in which he appears to be touting the president’s handling of the pandemic, added that he intends to remain in his position to see the pandemic through, regardless of who wins the Nov. 3 U.S. presidential election.
“This is too important a problem. I’ve devoted my entire professional life to fighting infectious diseases. This is an outbreak of historic proportions, the likes of which we have not seen in 102 years,” Fauci said. “I’m not going to walk away from this outbreak no matter who’s the president.”
The number of infections in the United States is worthy of the title of "superpower."

The United States reported 57,420 new cases of the coronavirus on Friday, the highest daily totals since mid-August, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
New cases are rising in 33 states across the South, East and Midwest. Cases continue to surge in the nation’s Great Plains region, with Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming reaching record highs for average new cases, among other states.
Coronavirus outbreaks have been on the rise in the nation’s Great Plains after they were largely concentrated first on the East Coast and then in America’s Sun Belt states. Earlier this week, North Dakota and South Dakota reported more new Covid-19 cases per capita than any other state across the nation, while Wisconsin’s outbreak showed signs of taking a “dire” turn. On Friday, the state’s hospitalizations hit record highs, according to Hopkins data.
Officials have grown increasingly concerned about rising coronavirus cases across the country as the nation enters its fall and winter seasons. Health experts have also warned that the coming flu season could further challenge the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic.
On Thursday, White House coronavirus advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said he’s “not comfortable” with the level of U.S. coronavirus cases, noting that it could become more difficult to deal with the virus as people increasingly move indoors during the colder months.
More than 7.6 million people in the U.S. have contracted coronavirus during the pandemic, according to Hopkins data. The virus has now killed more than 213,000 people in the U.S.
According to reports, the United States has added more than 50,000 new confirmed cases for 4 consecutive days, and the cumulative number of confirmed cases will soon exceed 8 million. In autumn and winter, the situation may become more serious. This is a result that many people don’t pay attention to. I don’t understand. Is this a "good mentality" or a belief in "herd immunity"?

All schools across Nigeria will reopen from Oct. 12, the government announced on Friday.
At a news conference in the capital Abuja, Malam Adamu Adamu, the country’s education minister, said students of all classes will be returning to schools nationwide, local daily Nigerian Tribune reported.
He said the decision to reopen schools, which have been closed since March, has been taken after consultations with all stakeholders and the country’s COVID-19 task force.
Nigeria’s coronavirus case count stands at 59,001, including 1,112 deaths and 50,452 recoveries, according to latest official figures.
It is among the 10 worst-hit countries in Africa, where the total case count is now over 1.48 million, including more than 36,300 deaths.
However, on Thursday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said there has been a 13% decrease in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa over the past week.
In its latest report, WHO Africa said 84% of all patients on the continent have recovered.
“The African Region has continued to observe a levelling in both COVID-19 cases and deaths. We registered a 13% decrease in case incidence during the past seven days, with, however, a 7% increase in deaths for the same period,” read the report.
Across the world, COVID-19 has claimed more than 1.02 million lives in 188 countries and regions since last December.
Over 34.34 million cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries exceeding 23.89 million, according to latest figures from the US’ Johns Hopkins University.
Starting from October 12th, all schools will reopen. Although the number of confirmed cases in my country has declined so far, the immunity of students is still much worse than that of adults. In addition to self-protection, schools must also Disinfect public places such as classrooms on time, teach students that it is best to use disposable bowls and chopsticks outside, and maintain social distance. Considering that the virus hasn’t completely disappeared, and the number of infections in some countries is about to exceed 8 million, it seems to them that this is just a number that changes every day. We can't do this. We must pay attention to the source of each infection.

The United States is “not in a good place” as colder months loom and the number of newly reported coronavirus cases continues to swell beyond 40,000 people every day, White House coronavirus advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said Monday. 
Covid-19 cases were growing by 5% or more, based on a weekly average to smooth out daily reporting, in 26 states as of Sunday, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Montana, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming reached record-high averages. 
Cases grew by nearly 9% nationwide compared with a week ago, moving just above 44,300 new cases on average as of Sunday, according to Johns Hopkins data. 
Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has said for weeks that the U.S. is reporting an “unacceptably high” number of new coronavirus cases every day. The country should aim for daily new cases below 10,000, not around 40,000 as it currently stands, he said. 
“There are states that are starting to show an uptick in cases and even some increase in hospitalizations in some states,” Fauci told the ABC program “Good Morning America” in an interview aired Monday. 
“And I hope not, but we very might well start seeing increases in deaths,” Fauci said. He added that he’s concerned about being in “a position like that as the weather starts getting cold.”
The coronavirus has killed nearly 1 million people worldwide, a grisly milestone in the pandemic that arose late last year. The U.S. accounts for roughly 20% of the world’s Covid-19 deaths but less than 5% of the global population, according to Johns Hopkins data. 
“The numbers globally are very serious,” Fauci said. 
According to reports, the United States is currently facing a serious "crisis" with regard to COVID-19, with more than 40,000 new infections every day, and the death toll may continue to increase. This isn’t good news, and I am also very worried. The performance of a country may affect all regions of the world, and infection can also cause mobility. We must first control COVID-19 and close public places.