Nigeria News

Abuja, 25 April 2020 -  Thirty-five-year old Salihu Umar was diagnosed with COVID-19 after returning from a six-day trip to London in March 2020. Although asymptomatic, he tested positive and underwent treatment. Having recovered and back with his family in the Nigerian capital Abuja, the father of three stresses the importance of getting tested especially after having travelled to an area affected by the virus. 

Abuja, 25 April 2020 - “During public health crisis like the one we currently face with COVID-19, it is easy to forget what a huge threat malaria remains for all of us, especially the poorest and most vulnerable like our children and pregnant women. This is the reason we must not allow the giant strides made in reducing the burden of malaria in our community and nation at large to slide, even in the face of this pandemic”, says Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the national ambassador for the elimination of malaria in Nigeria.

Maiduguri, 22 April, 2020 - Following confirmation of the first COVID-19 case in Borno, the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners are moving rapidly to help health authority in the state to identify, test and treat cases in order to prevent and control further outbreak of the disease.

The first case of COVID-19 was reported 51 days after the country declared an outbreak of COVID-19 disease. As at 20 April 2020, in Nigeria 665 cases have been confirmed in 25 out of 36 States, including Borno, and the Federal capital Territory,

Bauchi, 08 April 2020 - “We are empowered and ready to engage in COVID-19 surveillance and contact tracing,” says Abubakar Suleiman, one of 205 disease surveillance officers originally trained by WHO to identify outbreaks of polio across six states in northeast Nigeria. Across the country, Polio health staff and infrastructure are rapidly being repurposed towards the COVID-19 response, which includes identifying suspect COVID-19 cases, and tracing all potential contacts to contain its rapid spread.  

Abuja, 7 April 2020 – He turned up with flu-like symptoms at a medical centre in Ogun state in the southwest of Nigeria. Dr Amara Allison, who was on duty, examined the patient and ordered that he be isolated immediately. She had just diagnosed Nigeria’s first COVID-19 patient. Along with four health workers and 35 other people who had been in contact with the country’s index case, Dr Allison was placed on a 14-day quarantine. She recounts her experience staying indoors for a fortnight. 

Being quarantined is quite kaleidoscopic.

Lagos, 4 April, 2020 - When the Nigerian Government announced the first confirmed novel coronavirus (COVID-19) case in the country on the morning of February 27th, Dr Rosemary Onyibe was ready to report for duty.

Dr Onyibe, who has worked with the Polio Eradication Initiative for more than 10 years, is the South West Nigeria Zonal Coordinator of the World Health Organization (WHO) Polio eradication programme that also supported response to Ebola Virus Disease outbreak in 2014. 

Maiduguri, 28 March, 2020 - “The pains of the death of my first baby is still fresh in my nerve,” says Malam Shawulu, a 29-year old farmer in Gwoza. “Or can I ever forget the pains that my wife experienced at home even before delivering the baby who died few hours later? Although, it was her first experience, it was terrifying. 

Abuja, March 24 2020 - Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, during a Press briefing to commemorate the World Tuberculosis (TB) Day, also emphasized the need to swiftly contain the spread of COVID-19 virus in the country.

Maiduguri, 21 March 2020 - “The vulnerability of population in Borno state coupled with the confirmation of outbreaks of COVID-19 in other parts of Nigeria, has necessitated the setting up of a special task force to step up and expand the spectrum of prevention and control activities in the state,” says Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, the  Governor of Borno State.