Some 41% of adults report gaining weight since March 2020
NHS offering apps and support to help lose the extra kilos
The U.K. government is encouraging people to eat healthier and become more active after waistlines expanded for many during extended coronavirus lockdowns.
Some 41% of U.K. adults say they’ve gained weight since the initial March 2020 lockdown, according to a nationwide survey of 5,000 people conducted by pollster Opinium between July 2 and July 8. In response, the National Health Service is offering various apps and weight loss plans.
The Federal Government has received 470,000 doses of COVID vaccine donated by the Chinese government.
CUI Jianchun, Chinese ambassador to Nigeria, made the donation to Osagie Ehanire, minister of health, in Abuja on Friday.
Jianchun said the gesture was as a result of the good relationship between Nigeria and China.
He noted that the efforts to eliminate the COVID-19 pandemic required the collaboration of all countries.
The ambassador, however, warned against politicising issues surrounding COVID-19 or blaming China for the outbreak.
Jianchun said there should be a collaborative effort to eliminate the disease.
“Nigeria is a very important country to China due to its population and size,” Jianchun said.
“COVID-19 is a health issue. We need cooperation. We need unity to overcome COVID-19.”
He added that China would support Nigeria in vaccine production in the long run.
While responding, Ehanire, commended the Chinese government for the gesture, adding that the donation was timely.
The minister said that Nigeria stopped vaccination on July 8 due to lack of vaccines but with the donation, vaccination of citizens would resume in earnest.
Ehanire called for collaborations and exchange of information on ways to eliminate COVID-19.
Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has registered 59 suspected cases of monkeypox with 15 confirmed, its director-general, Dr Chikwe `, said yesterday in Abuja.
Ihekweazu was reacting to the Dallas, Texas resident who recently returned from Nigeria and tested positive to the disease.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that it was the first confirmed case of the virus in the U.S. since 2003, with health officials saying that the public should not be concerned.
Laboratory tests confirmed that the patient was infected with a strain of the virus mainly seen in West Africa, which included Nigeria.
“While rare, this case is not a reason for alarm and we do not expect any threat to the general public,” Dallas County Judge, Clay Jenkins, said in a statement by Dallas County’s health department.
With passengers wearing masks on the flight and in the airport, the health department said that the risk of spreading monkeypox via respiratory droplets to others on the planes and in the airports was low.
Ihekweazu said just as the agency responded to other epidemic prone diseases in the country, an outbreak would be declared when there was a large cluster of monkeypox cases that constituted an emergency.
“The federal government was notified of the situation in Texas, through the International Health Regulations (IHR), who reported a case of monkeypox disease diagnosed in a patient who had recently visited Nigeria.
“Since the re-emergence of monkeypox in the country in September 2017, the agency has continued to receive reports and responses to sporadic cases of the disease from states across the country.
“We have been working closely with state health ministries to strengthen monkeypox disease surveillance and response in the country.
“We work with the Enhanced Monkeypox Surveillance Project where we have been training health workers across states to rapidly detect and manage cases.
“Our initial focus is on the states with the highest number of cases – Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers and Lagos.
“We will continue working with all states to strengthen monkeypox prevention, detection and control in Nigeria,” he explained.
He urged Nigerians to continue adhering to precautions that protected them from monkeypox and other infectious diseases.
“If you feel ill or have a sudden rash, please visit a hospital for diagnosis and management,” he advised.
NAN recalls that monkeypox, which is in the same family of viruses as smallpox, is a rare but potentially deadly viral infection that begins with flu-like symptoms and progresses to a rash on the face and body.
It tends to last two to four weeks. People who do not have symptoms are not capable of transmitting the virus.
Monkeypox infections of that strain are fatal in about one in 100 people, affecting those with weakened immune systems more strongly.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed on July 15 a case of human monkeypox in a U.S. resident who recently traveled from Nigeria to the United States. The person is currently hospitalized in Dallas. CDC is working with the airline and state and local health officials to contact airline passengers and others who may have been in contact with the patient during two flights: Lagos, Nigeria, to Atlanta on July 8, with arrival on July 9; and Atlanta to Dallas on July 9.
Travelers on these flights were required to wear masks as well as in the U.S. airports due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, it’s believed the risk of spread of monkeypox via respiratory droplets to others on the planes and in the airports is low. Working with airline and state and local health partners, CDC is assessing potential risks to those who may have had close contact with the traveler on the plane and specific settings.
Monkeypox is a rare but potentially serious viral illness that typically begins with flu-like illness and swelling of the lymph nodes and progresses to a widespread rash on the face and body. Most infections last 2-4 weeks. Monkeypox is in the same family of viruses as smallpox but causes a milder infection. In this case, laboratory testing at CDC showed the patient is infected with a strain of monkeypox most commonly seen in parts of West Africa, including Nigeria. Infections with this strain of monkeypox are fatal in about 1 in 100 people. However, rates can be higher in people who have weakened immune systems.
Prior to the current case, there have been at least six reported monkeypox cases in travelers returning from Nigeria (including cases in the United Kingdom, Israel, and Singapore). This case is not related to any of these previous cases. In the United Kingdom, several additional monkeypox cases occurred in people who had contact with cases.
Background on monkeypox in Africa
Experts have yet to identify where monkeypox hides in nature, but it’s thought that African rodents and small mammals play a part in spreading the virus to people and other forest animals like monkeys. People can get monkeypox when they are bitten or scratched by an animal, prepare wild game, or have contact with an infected animal or possibly animal products. Monkeypox can also spread between people through respiratory droplets, or through contact with body fluids, monkeypox sores, or items that have been contaminated with fluids or sores (clothing, bedding, etc.) Human-to-human transmission is thought to occur primarily through large respiratory droplets. Respiratory droplets generally cannot travel more than a few feet, so prolonged face-to-face contact is required. Most monkeypox outbreaks have occurred in Africa. In addition to Nigeria, outbreaks have also been reported in nine other countries in central and western Africa since 1970. Monkeypox also caused a large outbreak in people in the United States in 2003 after the virus spread from imported African rodents to pet prairie dogs.
CDC poxvirus experts have been supporting the investigation and response to Nigeria’s monkeypox flare-ups since 2017 when the disease re-emerged in Nigeria after a nearly 40-year stint with no reported cases. During 2017, CDC sent investigators to assist the Nigerian CDC and the National Veterinary Research Institute with tracing contacts of ill patients, providing diagnostic tests, training lab staff in country to safely test samples from suspect monkeypox cases, providing diagnostic tests and capturing small mammals to test for monkeypox (which would help identify which animals carry the disease in nature).
Scientists at CDC labs in Atlanta have also provided laboratory testing, including specialized tests to identify people who may have had monkeypox and recovered, sequencing to trace outbreaks and phylogenetics to determine if clusters of cases were related. CDC continues to train Nigerian partners in how to collect wildlife to test for which animals carry the virus in nature, helping to improve the country’s ability to track monkeypox cases in people and interview community members about their interactions with local wildlife. CDC is also running trials in Democratic Republic of Congo to assess whether the smallpox vaccine Jynneos may help protect healthcare workers from contracting undiagnosed monkeypox infections from their patients.
The Management of the University of Lagos, UNILAG, has announced the indefinite closure of campus from Thursday, 15th July due to the spread of COVID-19.
This is as the institution directed that students should leave the hall of residence, noting that henceforth, lectures will be conducted online.
A statement by the Dean Students Affairs, Mr. Ademola Adeleke titled” Immediate closure of hostels to check the spread of Covid-19 on campus, “the school management said the step was to check the spread of the disease.
“To check the spread of Covid-19 on campus, the University Senate has directed that all students vacate the halls of residence latest by 12.00 noon on Thursday 15 July 2021. No access will be granted to any student after 12.00 noon on 15 July.
“The hostels will be locked indefinitely therefore students are advised to move all their personal effects at once. Lectures for the rest of the semester will be delivered virtually with effect from 26th July 2021.”
Oxygen tank explosion causes another deadly fire at an Iraqi Covid-19 hospital
At least 92 people were killed and more than 100 injured in a fire at a Covid-19 hospital the city of Nasiriyah in southern Iraq on Monday night, the Dhi Qar health directorate reported.
The blaze at Al-Hussein Hospital was caused by an oxygen tank explosion, health officials said, the second such incident in months. In April, at least 82 people were killed and 110 people injured after a similar accident at a coronavirus clinic in Baghdad.
"Sixty-four (bodies) were retrieved and 39 identified and handed over to their families," a source at the Forensic Science Department in Dhi Qar, where Nasiriyah is located, told AFP, adding: "Medical teams and relatives of victims are finding it difficult to identify the rest of the corpses."
The death toll might rise further with more bodies feared buried under the rubble.
With the search ongoing, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi held urgent meetings with senior ministers and ordered the suspension and arrest of health and civil defence managers in the city, his office said in a statement, Reuters reported.
The manager of the hospital was also suspended and ordered to be arrested, the statement added.
Outside the hospital, dozens of young demonstrators protested.
"The perpetrators must be deterred... The state must take the necessary measures... to confront the corrupt," a young protester told AFP early Tuesday.
He said those responsible must be held "accountable... in transparent investigations that show people that it (the state) is serious about putting an end to these tragedies."
In a tweet on Tuesday, Iraqi President Barham Salih blamed the "catastrophe" at Al-Hussein Hospital on "persistent corruption and mismanagement that undervalues the lives of Iraqis".
Salih recalled that the April fire in Baghdad was also sparked by the explosion of badly stored oxygen cylinders.
The April fire triggered widespread anger, resulting in the suspension and subsequent resignation of then health minister Hassan al-Tamimi.
Already decimated by war and sanctions, Iraq's healthcare system has struggled to cope with the coronavirus crisis, which has killed 17,592 people and infected more than 1.4 million according to official data.
The mayor of Johannesburg, South Africa’s economic hub and largest city, has died after contracting the coronavirus.
Geoff Makhubo took office in December 2019 after the ruling party wrested control of the city from an opposition coalition. He was hospitalized after becoming infected with Covid-19 and he succumbed to the disease on Friday, the city said in a statement. Eunice Mgcina was named the acting mayor.
South Africa is currently in the throes of a third wave of coronavirus infections, with Johannesburg and the surrounding Gauteng province bearing the brunt of new cases.
Indonesia said Tuesday it was importing emergency oxygen from neighbouring Singapore as hospitals crumbled under the weight of Covid-19, with the Delta variant continuing to wreak havoc around the globe.
Faced with the threat of this highly infectious strain which continues to exact a heavy toll in human tragedies and to disrupt sports events worldwide, the global vaccination drive is heating up.
On Tuesday, the United States began sending Vietnam two million doses, part of a first batch of 80 million doses that President Joe Biden has pledged to allocate to countries struggling to tame the pandemic.
Vaccines are seen as the main hope of breaking a cycle of economy-busting lockdowns in a pandemic that has killed close to four million people, according to an AFP compilation of official data.
But concerns have emerged that jabs initially seen as providing high protection against the virus may not be so effective against the Delta strain.
Israel, whose vaccine rollout is one of the world's fastest, warned on Monday that rising cases suggested the Pfizer/BioNTech jab they are using may not guard so well against mild illness, although it still appeared highly effective in reducing severe disease and hospitalisations.
- Vaccinated medical workers dead -
In Indonesia, a nightmarish Covid-19 wave has brought hospitals to their knees, with desperate families hunting for oxygen tanks to treat the sick and dying at home.
Nearly 1,000 Indonesian medical workers have died of Covid-19, including more than a dozen who were already fully inoculated.
On Tuesday, Jakarta said about 10,000 concentrators -- devices that generate oxygen -- were to be shipped from nearby Singapore with some arriving by a Hercules cargo plane earlier.
The government was also in talks with other countries including China for help, it said.
Senior minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said the country was bracing "for a scenario of up to 50,000 cases a day, maybe even 60,000 to 70,000 per day at worst."
"But we hope that won't happen."
Russia is also battling a surge in cases, reporting a new national record of 737 deaths over the past 24 hours.
And Spain's Catalonia region is reimposing virus restrictions such as closing nightclubs to try and tame a spike in infections, particularly among unvaccinated young people.
- 100,000 daily UK cases? -
Britain too is seeing a spike in new cases, warning that infections could more than treble to 100,000 a day.
It has nevertheless announced it will drop most of its virus restrictions.
From July 19, people will no longer need to wear masks or maintain social distance indoors, and from mid-August, those who have received both doses of the vaccine won't even need to self isolate if they come into contact with a positive case.
The Delta variant now accounts for nearly all new Covid-19 cases in Britain, but mass vaccinations have stopped a resultant surge in hospital admissions or deaths.
London is preparing to host the Euro 2020 football semi-finals and final this week, with 60,000 fans allowed in at Wembley stadium -- two-thirds of its capacity.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel last week told her British counterpart Boris Johnson that he was risking too much by permitting so many fans.
Highlighting fears over the variant, England was forced to name an entirely new cricket squad on Tuesday for their one-day international series against Pakistan, after a coronavirus outbreak in the English camp.
Other major sporting events are also feeling the pinch, and none so much as organisers of the Tokyo Olympics, who are desperate to contain the virus when the Games kick off later this month.
On Tuesday, organisers said fans would be urged not to line the route of the marathon over fears that crowds could spread Covid-19.
Games president Seiko Hashimoto recently warned that a closed-door Olympics remained an option if infections got out of hand.
✔️ Face masks will be voluntary ✔️ WFH government guidance will end ✔️ All businesses will be allowed to open, even nightclubs ✔️ Capacity limits in theaters, arenas and concert halls will get lifted ✔️ People will be able to queue at the pub once more
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced plans to end social distancing and capacity limits at venues in England from July 19, saying that people must learn to live with coronavirus.
Face masks will be made voluntary in all settings and the government will no longer instruct people to work from home, in a decisive shift from legal requirements to personal responsibility.
All remaining businesses will be allowed to open, including nightclubs, and none will be required to demand any proof of vaccination or testing before entry. The final decision will be still need to be confirmed on July 12.
Ministers believe the link between virus cases and hospital admissions has been severely weakened, but not broken, by the vaccination program. Cases will continue to rise as people are allowed to mix more freely and these will lead to more hospitalizations and deaths, the government case goes, but at a much lower level than before vaccines were rolled out.
“If we can’t open our society in the next few weeks, we must ask ourselves when will be able to return to normal,” Johnson said at a news conference.
Vaccination race
The U.K. is racing to vaccinate the population against the fast-spreading delta variant of the virus; 64% of adults have had two doses so far. That figure is not high enough for some scientists who warn that lifting virtually all restrictions now -- when millions are still not fully immunized -- could prove devastating.
Johnson announced the vaccine program would be accelerated for people aged under 40, reducing the interval between doses from 12 weeks to eight. People will still be legally required to self-isolate if they test positive for Covid-19 or are asked to do so by the Test-and-Trace program.
But Johnson signaled his intention to allow double-vaccinated people who are identified as contacts of Covid cases to be exempt from self-isolation rules. Further details are expected to be announced later this week.
The government is also working with the travel industry to remove the need for people who had two shots to quarantine on return from an amber-listed country. Plans to remove the school “bubble” system in England are also likely to be set out in the coming days.
The final stage of the government’s road map was delayed by four weeks last month to allow more people to be vaccinated, a decision that ministers believe has saved thousands more lives.
No more limits
The new rules mean there will no longer be any limits on social contact; currently only six people can gather indoors and 30 can meet outdoors.
There will be no more limits on the number of guests at life events such as weddings and funerals, and the “one meter plus” social distancing rule will be lifted everywhere except in a few limited settings including ports of entry.
All capacity limits in theaters, sporting arenas and concert halls will be lifted. People will be able to queue at the bar once more, with no legal requirement for face coverings, and QR code sign-ins will no longer be legally enforced.
No proof of vaccination or negative test will be required for entry into any venue, after officials warned that the overall impact of a Covid status certification scheme would be disproportionate to the public health benefit at this stage of the pandemic.
It will be up to individual employers to decide the pace and level at which they want employees to return to the workplace.
France is doubling paternity leave to 28 days from 14 starting on Thursday, making it one of the most generous policies in Europe aimed at fostering more involvement by fathers in their children’s first days of life.
At least one week of paternity leave will be mandatory under legislation adopted by parliament late last year, which takes effect Thursday.
France introduced paid leave for new fathers in 2002 but only seven in 10 dads take advantage of it, despite numerous studies showing a raft of positive impacts from having both parents present after birth.
President Emmanuel Macron announced the plan for extended leave last September, calling it “above all a measure to encourage equality between women and men.”
The bulk of the cost will be borne by France’s social security system, to the tune of about 500 million euros ($593 million) a year, with employers covering just three days of leave.
Twenty-three of the 27 EU member states offer paternity leave, which an EU directive from 2019 sets at a minimum of 10 days, to be implemented by August 2022.
But the disparities are stark, with Germany, Slovakia and Croatia offering no guaranteed leave for new fathers, while as of this year Spain grants up to 16 weeks.
Some countries such as Iceland and Sweden offer “shared” leave in which parents can split an overall number of days between them.
In the US, federal laws do not provide for any paternity leave but it is offered in some states such as California and New York.
“If you can be near your child on a daily basis, you become more sensitive and attentive and develop your parenting skills,” said Isabelle Filliozat, a psychotherapist and vice president of the “1,000 First Days Commission,” which pushed for an even longer paternal leave of up to nine weeks.
But she welcomed the change as a first step in inducing more fathers to take time off, in particular the mandatory one-week leave, “which will help them in their negotiations with bosses.”
The Lagos judicial panel has awarded the sum of N10 million to the family of late Kolade Johnson.
Johnson was shot during a raid by police officers at Onipetesi area in Lagos, while watching an English premiership match between Tottenham and Manchester United on March 31, 2019.
The incident sparked outrage on social media, after which the police authorities identified Ogunyemi Olalekan, a police inspector, and Godwin Orji, a sergeant, as the officers involved in the shooting
Doris Okuwobi, chairman of the Lagos panel, announced the compensation at the sitting on Friday.
The award sum was received by the mother of the deceased.
I have accepted a request from religious leaders to dedicate the nation in prayer amidst our fight against COVID-19. I call upon all of you to pray for our health experts and for the different families that have been affected. Therefore, I declare Friday (25th) a public holiday.
Brazil’s health ministry has documented 41 cases of COVID-19 related to the Copa America, including 31 players or staffers and 10 workers who were hired for the event.
The ministry said in a statement that all workers who tested positive were in Brasilia, where Brazil kicked off the tournament on Sunday with a 3-0 win over Venezuela. The visiting Venezuela squad was depleted after nearly a dozen cases of COVID-19 involving players or staff.
Brazil stepped in late as emergency host of the 10-team continental championship despite the country having the second-highest number of recorded deaths from the coronavirus in the world, almost 490,000.
President Jair Bolsonaro offered to hold the tournament in Brazil only two weeks ago after Argentina and Colombia were dropped as co-hosts. He is a critic of social distancing policies and argues the economic impact of shutdown measures kills more than the virus.
Brazil’s health ministry said 2,927 COVID-19 tests related to Copa America have been conducted so far.
Earlier Monday, one of the Peru squad’s fitness coaches tested positive COVID-19 in Lima. Nestor Bonillo will not travel to Brazil. It was not clear whether he was counted by Brazil’s health ministry as one of the confirmed cases related to the tournament.
On the weekend, there was a series of COVID-19 cases related to teams here for the tournament.
Colombia said its technical assistant Pablo Román and physiotherapist Carlos Entrena have the virus. Hours earlier, Venezuela announced it had summoned 15 new players for the squad at short notice after eight tested positive upon arrival in Brazil. Another three members of the Venezuelan coaching staff were also infected.
The Bolivian Football Federation said three players and one coach also had the virus.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was fined $100 Saturday for violating Covid-19 containment measures in Sao Paulo state by failing to wear a face mask and provoking huge crowds at a motorcycle rally for supporters.
Thousands of roaring motorcycles took part in the "Accelerate for Christ" rally in Sao Paulo, led by the far-right president, who wore an open-faced helmet and no mask, in violation of state health regulations.
Bolsonaro, who has been holding such rallies across Brazil as he gears up to seek re-election next year, defied a prior warning from Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria, a political rival, who had said the president would be fined if he failed to observe state regulations.
Bolsonaro has repeatedly clashed with Doria and other governors over measures against Covid-19, which has claimed nearly 485,000 lives in Brazil, second only to the United States.
The president regularly criticizes stay-at-home measures and face masks, instead touting medications such as chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine despite studies showing they are ineffective against Covid-19.
Addressing a giant crowd of flag-waving supporters, Bolsonaro renewed his comments against face masks, saying he planned to order mask requirements be lifted for people who have been vaccinated against Covid-19.
"Anyone who's against that doesn't believe in science. There's no way a vaccinated person can transmit the virus," he said.
In fact, there is little scientific consensus yet on whether vaccinated individuals risk spreading the coronavirus. Public health officials have generally urged them to continue wearing masks in risky situations.
State officials said they had fined Bolsonaro, his congressman son, Eduardo, and Infrastructure Minister Tarcisio Gomes for failing to wear masks and observe social distancing measures at the rally.
Each was fined 552.71 reais, or about $108.
The president's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Health › Re: COVID-19 Update For July 26 2021 In Nigeria by References: 11:55pm On Jul 26, 2021
