“I’m fit as a butcher’s dog it feels great,” Johnson tweeted, adding that he is “bursting with antibodies.”

“Plenty more to say via Zoom of course and other means of electronic communication,” Johnson said.

The British prime minister needs to cope with Europe’s COVID-19 outbreak and secure a UK-EU trade deal in the weeks ahead.

Johnson, 56, has been self-isolating after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, a Downing Street spokesman said in a statement on Sunday.

“The PM is well and does not have any symptoms of COVID-19,” the statement added.

Johnson had a meeting with some MPs in 10 Downing Street on Thursday morning, including Lee Anderson, MP for Ashfield, who later developed coronavirus symptoms and tested positive, Sky News reported.

He has recovered from COVID-19 after contracting the virus in late March and spending three days in intensive care in early April.

England is currently under a month-long national lockdown until Dec. 2, the second since the COVID-19 outbreak in Britain, in a bid to stem the resurgence of the virus.

The post UK PM says he is well after COVID-19 contact appeared first on NEWSVERGE.

Coronavirus tests conducted at the team have proven positive for Salah, although he does not display any symptoms for the virus, EFA said on its twitter account.

The other players of the team have tested negative for the virus, EFA added.

The 28-year-old striker is currently in Egypt originally to participate in the national squad’s 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier against Togo scheduled for Saturday.

Earlier this week, Egyptian media showed Salah attending his brother’s wedding party.

The post Liverpool’s Salah tests positive for coronavirus appeared first on NEWSVERGE.

The measures, which are similar but not as comprehensive as those in place in the first lockdown earlier in the year, are to last until Dec. 2.

Restaurants, cultural facilities, sports centres and leisure facilities have to close, but schools and universities remain open.

Retailers will also stay closed for a month – apart from supermarkets and other stores considered necessary.

People may only leave their homes for good reason – for work, sports, recreation or to care for relatives.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are making their own rules to combat the virus.

England’s National Health Service was placed on its highest alert level on Wednesday as bosses said they were seriously concerned about the added pressure on health systems in particular overcrowded hospitals.

The number of daily deaths in connection with the virus rose to 492 on Wednesday, the highest toll since the start of the pandemic.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson had introduced a three-tier system of restrictions for England in mid-October, but the move was criticised as insufficient.

Parliament had approved the current lockdown on Wednesday.

The post England returns to partial lockdown for 4 weeks appeared first on NEWSVERGE.

The global death toll rose to 1,200,471, while there were more than 46.5 million cases worldwide as of 3:24 p.m. (0724 GMT), the CSSE data showed.

The United States remains the worst-hit nation, with 9,207,362 cases and 230,996 deaths.

Brazil has recorded 160,074 deaths, a death toll second only to the U.S.

India has the world’s third largest death toll at 122,607 and the second largest caseload of more than 8.2 million.

Countries with over 33,000 fatalities also include Mexico, Britain, Italy, France Spain, Iran, and Peru.

The global COVID-19 death toll reached the grim milestone of 1 million on Sept. 28.

The post Global COVID-19 deaths surpass 1.2m – Johns Hopkins University appeared first on NEWSVERGE.

FIFA said that Infantino has mild symptoms and is already isolated.

He should now remain in quarantine for at least 10 days.

According to FIFA everyone who has been in contact with Infantino has been informed about his test result.

As the coronavirus infection rates are increasing again in Europe, football has been also affected with fan bans and game cancellations.

The post FIFA president Infantino tests positive for coronavirus appeared first on NEWSVERGE.

Adewole made the call on Tuesday in Lagos, while speaking as a Guest Speaker at the Seventh Annual Public Lecture organised by the Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria.

Our correspondent reports that the public lecture entitled: “Health & Wealth – The Global Impact” was organised to mark the 65th Convention of the Church in Nigeria.

Adewole said: “I am not a prophet of doom, but there will be another pandemic.

“We cannot continue to rely on luck, just like what happened during the Ebola outbreak.

“This present pandemic was predicted some years back, and we failed when the World Health Organisation (WHO) came to examine our readiness for any pandemic; we actually scored 42 per cent.

“So, funding of the healthcare must be total and the states must also be funded, because most of our states are very poor.”

Adewole, while commending the church for coming up with a topic that was relevant to the country, said Nigeria needed to have a resilient healthcare system in place.

“I am an unrepentant advocate of good healthcare system and proper funding, and what is unique about this topic is the relevance to Nigeria.

“The relationship between health and wealth is complex, interconnected and intimately related.

“That is why policy makers all over the world are under pressure to increase spending on health, and that is why we need to have a resilient healthcare system in place.

“What happened in the developed countries shows that they are vulnerable, and if they are vulnerable, that means we are more vulnerable.

“But, as regard COVID-19, God has been kind to us in this country.

“This is because we would not have been able to cope with the severity of what were experienced in some other countries, so there is an unseen hand,” he said.

The former minister, however, called for the reversal of the roles of healthcare institutions in the country.

According to him, most Nigerians don’t have any business going to a teaching hospital to seek for medical care, because 80 per cent of ailments can be handled in our primary healthcare centres.

“The pyramid needs to change, 10 per cent should go to the secondary healthcare facilities, while only those referred to the teaching institutions should go there for care,” he said.

Also, Mazi Sam Ohuabuwa, President, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Chairman at the programme, said that the wealth of any nation could not be determined without the health of the people.

Ohuabuwa said that the country over the years failed to pay adequate attention to the health sector.

He explained that the nation’s economy would witness growth, if the health sector was given the due attention it needed to thrive.

“Any country that takes health seriously is ready to develop; if this country’s economy must grow, health must be given its primary place.

“Health is our individual right; the government’s job is to motivate us, get health insurance working and make it compulsory for all citizen.

“Health contributes to only two per cent of Nigeria GDP, while in countries like America and UK, it is 24 per cent and 10 per cent respectively,” he said.

According to him, nobody can provide explanation for the mild impact of COVID-19 compare to what is being experienced in America and Europe.

“God came to our rescue and the rescue of Africa as a whole; it is only the grace of God that exempted us as a nation and continent from the devastating deaths we are seeing in other climes.

“I am a scientist, but I strongly believe that God should be given His due honour; because He has exempted us from picking dead bodies from the streets because of what was predicted about Africa,” he said.

In his remarks, Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, restated the state government’s commitment to increase investment in the health sector.

Sanwo-Olu, represented by Prof. Akin Abayomi, the state Commissioner for Health, noted that human capital was the major wealth of any nation.

He thanked the Churches for their roles and prayers in the ongoing pandemic, pointing out that the impact was greatly felt.

“The current Government in Lagos State is committed to improve healthcare delivery across all strata of the society, and we are reassuring our people on this.

“Gone are those days when people see natural resources as the only wealth of a nation, the attention has also shifted to human capacity.

“Building human capacity starts from where a woman conceived, after birth and the mental development of children as they grow; so, the growth of an economy is not only based on natural resources.

“COVID-19 has taught us that a good healthcare system is the prowess of any nation, and it is also a critical component of any nation’s economy,” the governor said.

He said that the state government would continue to increase its budgetary allocation to the sector to further improve its healthcare delivery.

Earlier, Rev. Sam Aboyeji, the General Overseer of the church, noted that the lecture was germane to everyone owing to the advent of COVID-19 pandemic.

Aboyeji said that churches had contributed immensely, as a body of Christ, toward ending the current pandemic.

He urged Christians not to relent in their prayers for the growth and development of the country.

According to him, there is a closer link between health and the wealth of any nation as a whole.

“This lecture is the seventh in the series of lectures we started some years back to discuss and address certain issues that are germaine to our everyday life and as a member of the body of Christ.

“Nigeria is blessed with immense human capacity, and we seek a country that is strong, vibrant and good for all.

“As an organisation in the body of Christ, we will continue to pray and contribute our parts to ensure the health and wellbeing of Nigerians, because we have seen the impact of prayers in this pandemic,” he said.

The post Ex-Health Minister urges FG to adequately prepare for second wave of COVID-19 appeared first on NEWSVERGE.

The continental disease control and prevention agency said in a statement that the death toll due to illnesses related to COVID-19 in Africa has reached 36,614 as of Sunday.

The agency also said that the number of people, who have recovered from the infectious virus across the continent, reached 1,243,259 so far.

Amid the uneven impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on African countries, the Africa CDC said that the most COVID-19 affected African countries in terms of the number of positive cases include South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, Ethiopia and Nigeria respectively.

The Southern Africa region is the most COVID-19 affected region both in terms of the number of confirmed positive cases and the number of deaths, it was noted.

The Northern Africa region is the second most COVID-19-affected African region.

So far, only three African countries have confirmed COVID-19 cases in excess of 100,000.

South Africa currently has the most COVID-19 cases, which hit 679,716.

The country also has the highest number of deaths related to COVID-19 at 16,938, according to the Africa CDC.

Morocco comes next in terms of the number of confirmed cases, with 131,228 confirmed cases.

The Northern African country has 2,293 deaths, it was noted.

Egypt is the third-most affected African country in terms of the number of cases, with 103,575 confirmed cases.

The country has 5,970 deaths, it was noted.

The continent’s total COVID-19 cases represent about 4.4 per cent of the global tally, according to the Africa CDC.

The Africa CDC also said 12 African countries are reporting COVID-19 related fatality rates higher than the global case fatality rate of three per cent.

These African countries include Chad, Liberia, Niger, Egypt, Mali, Angola, Algeria and Sudan.

The average continental fatality rate is currently around 2.4 per cent.

The African continent also accounts for about 3.6 per cent of the total COVID-19 related deaths reported globally, according to the Africa CDC.

Amid the increasing number of COVID-19 cases across the African continent, the adverse impacts of the pandemic are affecting the continent across various sectors in addition to the healthcare and socio-economic sectors.

The post Africa’s confirmed COVID-19 cases pass 1.5m mark appeared first on NEWSVERGE.

AC Milan said Ibrahimovic, who will miss the Europa League match at home to Bodo/Glimt later on Thursday, was placed in quarantine at home and the health authorities had been informed.

The announcement came one day after his teammate Leo Duarte returned a positive test.

However, AC Milan said the rest of the squad, who were also tested, were negative.

The Swede, who has played for FC Barcelona, Juventus, Ajax and Inter Milan, who will be 39 in October.

He is the highest-profile Serie A player to test positive since play resumed in June following a three-month stoppage.

One of Europe’s most charismatic players, Ibrahimovic has scored 14 goals in 22 matches since returning for a second stint at Milan in January, helping to revive his team.

He began the new Serie A season in style on Monday by scoring twice in the 2-0 win over Bologna.(

The post Ibrahimovic tests positive for COVID-19 appeared first on NEWSVERGE.

“From Monday onwards, a night-time curfew will be enforced between 9 pm and 4 am, while face masks will be compulsory in public places and a ban on the sale of alcohol will be reintroduced.

“The national “state of disaster” is also to be extended until Aug. 12.

“We are now recording well over 12,000 cases every day,” Ramaphosa said in a televised Sunday evening address to the nation.

He noted that too many South Africans were now relaxing their behaviour after restrictions were eased.

South Africa has confirmed 276,242 coronavirus cases to date, the president said.

The government imposed a nationwide lockdown at the end of March to stem the spread of the virus and give the country time to build up its health infrastructure.

However, the measures were then gradually eased again in May and June, although the sale of tobacco products has remained banned ever since.

The restrictions have had a devastating effect on the country’s economy, with millions struggling to survive, and levels of poverty and food insecurity dramatically worsening in just a few weeks.

Even before the pandemic, Africa’s second-largest economy was already in a difficult situation.

With high unemployment rates and brutal social inequality, the country has been struggling for years with structural economic problems and an unreliable electricity supply.

The post S/Africa issues night-time curfew as coronavirus cases rise appeared first on NEWSVERGE.

Akeredolu made the disclosure on Tuesday on his verified twitter account, @RotimiAkeredolu.

The governor, who said he had malaria a few days ago, explained that he was treated and “got over it.”

“And as at the time we had our party NEC, my colleagues called on me and spoke with one of them who felt that malaria should not be treated lightly, I should go ahead and have a test for COVID -19.

“The result came out today, June 30, 2020 and I tested positive but asymptomatic.

“But my trust in God to get through this is unshakable. So, my people, if you have malaria, get tested,” Akeredolu said.

He explained that he was neither feeling sick nor feeling hot in anyway, “but my doctors have advised that I should take the normal treatment and self isolate.”

“I believe that supervised home management will be ideal for me now.”

“So, for now, I will be isolated. Let me assure our people that as you can see me, there are many of us that don’t have the symptoms, it is there and you cannot see it.”

“This time, we will conduct another test and we will know the result. Let me assure our people that the work is going on,” he said.

He pleaded with his political associates to “continue with the project because we are sure to win.”

It was reported that Ondo State currently had recorded 276 cases of COVID-19.

It was also reported that while 89 patients had recovered, 19 deaths had also been recorded.

The post COVID-19: Akeredolu tests positive appeared first on NEWSVERGE.