POLAND PRESIDENT TESTS POSITIVE

Covid-19: Poland President Duda tests positive for virus

Polish President Andrzej Duda

Polish President Andrzej Duda has contracted Covid-19 but is feeling “good”, he says.

Mr Duda, 48, was tested on Friday and found to be positive, but it is not clear when he contracted the virus.

He joins a handful of world leaders who have been ill with Covid-19, among them US President Donald Trump and UK PM Boris Johnson.

Poland faces a surge in the coronavirus pandemic, with a daily record of more than 13,600 new cases on Friday.

The country has now entered a nationwide “red zone” lockdown that includes the partial closure of primary schools and restaurants.

Mr Duda attended an event in the Estonian capital, Tallinn, on Monday where he met Bulgarian President Rumen Radev who later went into quarantine. He also met Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid, who has since tested negative.

“I didn’t have and I don’t have any symptoms, especially the serious ones like lack of taste or lack of smell, but the result of the test is absolutely clear,” Mr Duda said in a video message posted on Twitter.

“I feel good right now. I will spend the upcoming days in self-isolation along with my wife and I will be working remotely; it’s not a problem at all.”

Mr Duda visited a field hospital under construction to Poland on Friday
Mr Duda visited a field hospital under construction to Poland on Friday

Presidential minister Blazej Spychalski, who first gave details of the president’s positive test, has himself tested positive and is going into quarantine.

On Friday, Mr Duda visited a field hospital under construction at the National Stadium in the Polish capital, Warsaw. Pictures show the president wearing a face mask while meeting workers at the site.

He also met 19-year-old tennis star Iga Swiatek, winner of the French Open this year, to award her the Gold Cross of Merit for achievements in sport.

“Neither I nor members of my team have symptoms of coronavirus. We carry out tests regularly. We will quarantine ourselves in accordance with current procedures,” Ms Swiatek said in a Twitter post (tweet in Polish).

The second wave of infections is hitting Poland hard, with the number of new cases 22 times higher than the highest number of cases in the spring, although testing is now more prevalent.

The number of hospital beds in use by coronavirus patients rose by 6.5% on Friday to 11,496, which means 60% of the total available are now filled.

Under the new restrictions, gatherings of more than five are banned, and children must be accompanied by an adult when outdoors. People aged over 70 are being urged to stay at home.

IS ANYONE SAFE AT THE WHITE HOUSE ?

Trump’s press secretary tests positive

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany has become the latest Republican to test positive for the coronavirus.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany has tested positive for coronavirus, she disclosed on Twitter Monday, the latest high-profile official in President Donald Trump’s administration to do so. 

In a Twitter post she wrote: “After testing negatively consistently, including every day since Thursday, I tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday morning while experiencing no symptoms.”

“As an essential worker, I have worked diligently to provide needed information to the American People at this time.”

McEnany added that she will quarantine and will “continue to work on the behalf of the American people”.

McEnany said she tested positive on Monday. 

“As an essential worker, I have worked diligently to provide needed information to the American People at this time,” she wrote. “With my recent positive test, I will begin the quarantine process and will continue working on behalf of the American People remotely.”

She attended a ceremony in the Rose Garden at the White House late last month when  Trump introduced Judge Amy Coney Barrett as his nominee to the Supreme Court. That was a common event for many of those who tested positive. Very few people were wearing masks that day.

Judge Amy Coney Barrett walks to the microphone after President Donald Trump, right, announced Barrett as his nominee to the Supreme Court, in the Rose Garden at the White House, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020, in Washington.

McEnany last briefed at the White House on Thursday, however she held an informal gaggle with reporters on Sunday after appearing on Fox News. She was not wearing a mask in either instance. 

Judge Amy Coney Barrett walks to the microphone after President Donald Trump, right, announced Barrett as his nominee to the Supreme Court, in the Rose Garden at the White House, Saturday, Sept.26,2020.

When asked, McEnany refused to give an update on the number of White House staff members who have been infected

Reopen schools _ FG

The federal government has ordered the reopening of all schools in Nigeria.

The minister of education, Adamu Adamu, made the announcement during a press briefing in Abuja this Friday.

He advised all institutions to obey and adhere to the guidelines for the reopening of schools, earlier announced by the presidential task force.

He said;

“all unity schools across Nigeria should open by October 12 , while states and private schools will determine their own modalities of reopening.”

Many states including Lagos, Oyo, Kano and Enugu, have since announced dates for the reopening of schools in their states.

President Trump and first lady test positive for COVID-19.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for the coronavirus, the president tweeted.

“Tonight, (at)FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!”

Trump announced late Thursday that he and first lady Melania Trump were beginning a “quarantine process” after Hicks came down with the virus, though it wasn’t clear what that entailed. It can take days for an infection to be detectable by a test. This marks a major blow for a president who has been trying desperately to convince the American public that the worst of the pandemic is behind them even as cases continue to rise with less than four months before Election Day. However, it stands as the most serious known public health scare encountered by any sitting American president in recent history.

Hicks traveled with the president multiple times this week, including aboard Marine One, the presidential helicopter, and on Air Force One to a rally in Minnesota Wednesday, and aboard Air Force One to Tuesday night’s first presidential debate in Cleveland.Trump had consistently played down concerns about being personally vulnerable to contracting COVID-19, even after White House staff and allies were exposed and sickened.

Trump, the vice president and other senior staff have been tested for COVID-19 daily since two people who work at the White House complex tested positive in early May, prompting the White House to step up precautions. Everyone who comes into contact with the president also receives a quick-result test.

The news was sure to rattle an already shaken nation still grappling with how to safely reopen while avoiding further spikes. The White House has access to near-unlimited resources, including a constant supply of quick-result tests, and still failed to keep the president safe, raising questions about how the rest of the country will be able to protect its workers, students and the public as businesses and schools reopen.Yet since the early days of the pandemic, experts have questioned the health and safety protocols at the White House and asked why more wasn’t being done to protect the commander in chief. Trump continued to shake hands with visitors long after public health officials were warning against it and he initially resisted being tested. He has been reluctant to practice his own administration’s social distancing guidelines for fear of looking weak, including refusing under almost all circumstances to wear a mask in public.

Trump is not the only major world leader known to have contracted the virus. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spent a week in the hospital, including three nights in intensive care, where he was given oxygen and watched around the clock by medical workers. German Chancellor Angela Merkel self-isolated after a doctor who gave her a vaccination tested positive for the virus, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau worked from home after his wife fell ill.

The White House got its first COVID-19 scare in early March when at least three people who later tested positive came in close proximity to the president at his private Florida club. That included members of the Brazilian president’s delegation, including the Brazilian charge d’affaires, who sat at Trump’s dinner table.In mid-March, as the virus continued to spread across the country, the White House began taking the temperature of everyone entering the White House complex, and in April, it began administering rapid COVID-19 tests to all those in close proximity to the president, with staffers being tested about once a week.

COVID19 TEST KIT DEVELOPED IN NIGERIA

Nigeria has developed a Covid-19 test kit that can give results in less than 40 minutes and does not need extensive training to use.

Health Minister Olurunimbe Mamora said it was much faster and 10 times cheaper than the PCR testing method currently being used.

The kit is yet to be approved by regulatory bodies but has raised hopes of boosting the country’s low testing rate.

Nigeria has been importing key elements needed for coronavirus testing.

The authorities said the test kit, known as SARS-COV-2 Isothermal Molecular Assay, was developed by Nigeria’s Institute of Medical Research.

The head of Nigeria’s Covid-19 response task force, Boss Mustapha, told a media briefing that the kit was Nigeria’s contribution to the global fight against the pandemic through scientific research.

The health authorities said the test kits will be distributed soon to communities – after a validation process – to boost testing across the country.

Nigeria has so far tested just over 500,000 people out of its population of around 200 million.

It has recorded more than 58,000 coronavirus cases with more than 1,000 deaths. The number of daily confirmed infections is declining