Riot Breaks Out In SA Over Lack Of Enough Food During Lockdown
By: Monica M.f
South African police on Tuesday fired rubber bullets and teargas in clashes with Cape Town township residents protesting over access to food aid during a coronavirus lockdown.
Hundreds of angry men and women fought running battles with the police, hurling rocks and setting up barricades on the streets with burning tyres in Mitchells Plain over undelivered food parcels.
“We have small children. We want to eat. They must also eat,” said a mother Nazile Bobbs. “They said we are going to get parcels, where (are) the parcels? How long are we (going to be) in the lockdown?”
South Africa is currently in the middle of a five-week lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus which has so far infected more than 2,400 people.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has promised to provide basics such as water and food supplies to the poorest South Africans.
Many people, especially those working in the informal economy, are unable to ply their trade and have lost income due to the lockdown which came into effect on March 27.
Community leader Liezl Manual said people came out of their homes “frustrated wanting to know” where the food parcels were.
Another resident Denise Martin, said they would “rather die of coronavirus than to die in our homes of hunger”.
Akin Abayomi, commissioner for health in Lagos state, says a total of 118,000 households have been reached in the active case search of possible COVID-19 cases in communities.
At a media briefing on Tuesday, the commissioner said community search was activated to limit the spread of the disease in the state which has the highest number of patients in the country.
In the course of the search, 119 persons were found with symptoms of Coronavirus.
Tests are noe being conducted to determine their status.
“We’ve embarked on an active case search in communities. The idea is to go to hot spots and go from door to door with our health personnel. So far, in the last two days, we’ve visited 118,000 households and we’re looking for the typical symptoms of COVID-19. We’ve identified about 119 people who have the symptoms that are suggestive of COVID-19,” he said.
“But let me remind you that COVID is one of the viruses that can cause respiratory symptoms. There are many viruses. So, the idea is to take samples from these 119 and analyse them and that would give us an idea of how much COVID-19 activity is happening in the communities.”
The exercise tagged “Community Active Case Search” was announced by the commissioner last week, and it is expected to run for an initial period of two weeks.
He said those identified to have COVID-19 will be taken to the isolation centres, in order to reduce the opportunities for transmission.
A file photo of Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa. Photo
The Delta State Government has announced another two-week stay-at-home order as part of measures to contain the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the state.
The earlier declared lockdown which started on April 1, expires today, by 11:59 pm but the new directive takes effect immediately.
According to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, in addition to that, a dusk to dawn curfew will also be enforced by security agencies in the state.
Residents have therefore, been advised to adhere strictly to the guidelines and directives given by government and health authorities which is geared towards containing the spread of this deadly virus
Meanwhile, the governor also noted that modalities are being worked out to ensure that health workers engaged in the isolation centers are adequately compensated even as they carry out their daily operations.
China has approved clinical trials for two more experimental vaccines to combat the novel coronavirus, officials said Tuesday, as the world’s scientists race to beat the pandemic.
The vaccines use inactivated coronavirus pathogens, and the approvals pave the way for early-stage human trials, Wu Yuanbin, an official from China’s Ministry of Science and Technology told a regular press briefing.
China’s state food and drug administration on Monday approved one vaccine developed by a Beijing-based unit of Nasdaq-listed Sinovac Biotech, Wu said.
Another vaccine, being developed by the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products and the Wuhan Institute of Virology, was approved on Sunday, he added.
China now has three different clinical trials for three possible coronavirus vaccines in the works.
Beijing approved the first trial for a vaccine developed by the military-backed Academy of Military Medical Sciences and Hong Kong-listed biotech firm CanSino Bio on March 16.
That day the US drug developer Moderna said it had begun human tests for their vaccine with the US National Institutes of Health.
“Vaccination of subjects during the first phase of clinical trials and the recruitment of volunteers for the second phase of clinical trials began on April 9,” Wu said.
“It’s the world’s first novel coronavirus vaccine to initiate Phase II clinical studies.”
There are currently no approved vaccines or medication for the COVID-19 disease, which has killed more than 120,000 people worldwide and infected nearly two million.
Chinese teams were also racing to develop vaccines using other methods including using attenuated influenza virus vectors or injecting specific nucleic acid.
Several of these projects are currently undergoing animal testing and quality inspections, Wu said.
“The vaccines using the above technical methods are expected to be submitted for clinical trials in April and May,” he added.
Experts have raised hopes that a vaccine could be ready within 18 months.
On Monday evening, President Muhammadu Buhari, in his televised nationwide address to Nigerians, shared that the lockdown has been extended to 14 more days and there is a high possibility that the lockdown might get extended again.
Nigerians are questioning the federal and state government on the necessary measures that have been put in place for the sustenance of citizens during this period. In some neighbourhoods in Lagos, Ogun, Oyo and other states in the country, reports of theft, unrest, and chaos by people who have been left jobless since the lockdown commenced, has been making the rounds on social media.
People are scared, people are hungry, people are angry.
Recently, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC)started the distribution of text messages to phone numbers, reminding Nigerians on how to stay safe and providing necessary updates on the current situation of COVID-19 in the country, but Nigerians don’t want that.
What Nigerians are asking is for the government to commence the disbursement of funds through Bank Verification Number (BVN) to every individual in the country.
What’s your take on this? Do share with us in the comment section.
Here’s what Nigerians are saying on the streets of Twitter:
An idle hand is the devil’s workshop. Hunger is capable of creating criminals #PayUsOurPalliativesViaBvn
I repeat, all the donations announced by Nigerian billionaires are fake, at best they are government patronage.
UBA & First Bank for instance could have easily paid their customers via BVN. The only reason Buhari, the APC has refused to#payusviaBVN is because they are LOOTERS!!
— ๐ณ๐ฌ NEFERTITI ๐บ๐ธ (@firstladyship) April 14, 2020
38.5 million bank accounts has Bank Verification Number according to the Nigerian Interbank Settlement Scheme.
Refusing to #PayUsOurPalliativesViaBVN only indicate the interest of the government and those in charge in smuggling and misusing the Palliative.#payusviaBVN
— LONDON used HUSBAND MATERIAL (@Horpheiyhemei) April 14, 2020
About 40% of Nigerians are banked while the remaining are unbanked… taking one route it will take time or unreach to some vulnerable, but i thought the FG to use both route in order to extend palliatives. But there are selfishness among us#PayUsOurPalliativesViaBVN
President Muhammadu Buhari Presidential Address, April 13, 2020.
By Dirisu Yakubu
ABUJA- The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has described Monday’s COVID-19 pandemic broadcast by President Muhammadu Buhari as very disappointing.
This is as the party said the speech, just like “pre-recorded broadcast of March 29, 2020, failed to address salient issues of urgent concerns to Nigerians in their daily struggle against the spread of the plague in our country.”
The party’s reaction was contained in a statement late on Monday night by its spokesman, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan.
The statement read: “The party expresses sadness that Mr. President again failed to show leadership and displayed total lack of touch with reality as he failed to give any hope on palliatives to the ordinary Nigerians as they face hunger and economic pangs of the lockdown.
“It is more painful that President Buhari could not address the immediate needs of the people or provide a trajectory that will take care of their future.
“Instead, Mr. President bored our nation with a rehash of global data already known to Nigerians in addition to promises that are far-flung departures from the harsh realities on the ground.
“Nigerians expected Mr. President to directly address the established failures of his palliatives distribution, particularly the provision of funds to the poorest of the poor, which has been marred by allegations of corruption and diversion of funds. This is in addition to allegations of diversion of rice and other food items meant for the poor masses.
“Can Mr. President claim not to be aware that not a handful of Nigerians have received any palliatives and that huge majority of our citizens are complaining that they have not been reached with any panacea despite his administration’s claim of having reached 2.6 million household?
“Announcing the expansion of the palliative scope to 3.6 million households without addressing the failure of the scheme and with no parameter to showcase the declared expansion is an encouragement of the corrupt system that has been depriving Nigerians.
“The PDP challenges Mr. President to disprove Nigerians by publishing documents showing the beneficiaries of the claimed 2.6 million household social intervention, the benefiting communities as well as the parameters that will be deployed for the additional one million household.
“Our party holds that what has been witnessed in the last two weeks is a total incapacity and fraud by those he has currently charged with the responsibility of taking palliatives to the people.
“Already, there are serious agitations and unrests in Lagos, Ogun and some parts of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT where Nigerians, who earn their means of livelihood on daily basis and who have been locked out from their means of subsistence and can no longer withstand the pangs of hunger, are becoming restless.
“Our party still believes that Mr. President needs to quickly retool his approach and adopt an all-encompassing model that will take care of the hunger and deprivations, which this lockdown has imposed on Nigerians
“President Buhari should be forthcoming on what palliatives are accruable, in the immediate, to each state of the federation in this national fight against the pandemic.
“This is because, given our peculiar federal system, we still insist that the fastest approach to reach the people is through the state and local governments using methods like traditional institutions, community leadership and faith based organizations.
“The PDP therefore charges President Buhari to reorder his approach to cover the incentives his administration will provide to save the lives and jobs of Nigerians and then address the nation again accordingly.
“PDP invites compatriots to continue to provide help for one another as we continue to stay safe and obey World Health Organizations guidelines.”
Co-founder of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and a global philanthropist, Melinda Gates has raised concerns over the possible fatality rate in Africa and other developing countries from the coronavirus pandemic.
In an interview with CNN, Melinda warned that if the world does not act fast enough, then there will be dead bodies “out on the streets“ of Africa.
She said:
It’s going to be horrible in the developing world. Part of the reasons you are seeing the case numbers still do not look very bad is because they don’t have access to many tests. Look at what is happening in Ecuador, they are putting bodies out on the streets, you are going to see that in countries in Africa.
She added, “what China had to do to isolate an enormous part of its population. My first thought was Africa. How in the world are they going to deal with this? I have been in townships all over Africa and slums. When we talk in country physical distancing and hand-washing, if you live in slums who can’t physical distance, you have to go out and get your meals. You don’t have clean water to wash your hands”.
Well, this statement didn’t go down well with Nigerians, with many ‘casting and binding’, and rejecting ‘evil forces and powers’.
Melinda Gates, who has visited several African countries, and has donated her time and money in ensuring the wellbeing of children suffering from malnourishment, malaria and other health issues, pointed out that slums in Africa will be more vulnerable to the COVID-19.
Well, Nigerians are still very upset with the statement.
See the video here:
I listened to that interview and Melinda Gates was implying that if necessary measures are not put in place to prevent the Covid-19 outbreak in Africa, then we will be done for it. pic.twitter.com/subTDIThCx
My heart goes out to Bill & Melinda Gates. The kinds of propaganda I have received, making them look like mass murderers, would turn even some reasonable folks with limited reasoning. Harder to take when you’ve dedicated your life to the upliftment of the human race.
"I see dead bodies all over the streets of Africa Melinda Gates Horrendous vision from a horrendous lady with a horrendous husband. We reject it and we return it to sender! The agenda of satan for Africa shall not stand.Those that have dug a pit for us shall fall into that pit. pic.twitter.com/PxfWJrH8cH
America hve more coronavirus cases than all of Africa combined, Melinda Gates did not see any dead body on their street yet.. Bt is Africa She's seeing dead body?
Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
— Gร LรฌLรฉo๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ญ (@Lucasscot_101) April 13, 2020
Melinda Gates, wife of Bill Gates, says she's afraid Africa will soon have dead bodies on its streets. I'm not surprised, her husband Bill Gates said that a long time ago. Africa, even though our leaders are worst, we'll come out of this. Stay home, and let's fight this together.
— Kumasi King Kong–3Ks๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ค๐ (@Meek_AA) April 13, 2020
I've watched this interview that Melinda Gates had on CNN a couple of times and nowhere did I hear her say "Africa streets will be littered with bodies" where did all these bloggers, journalists, influencers get their info from…..#threadpic.twitter.com/D0Qzq7UAfu
Melinda Gates says the lack of testing kits in Africa is the reason our numbers are low but soon we’ll have bodies out in the streets. I’m sure Bill and his wife have rituals every night hoping Africa gets affected the most ๐๐ถ#MelindaGates back to sender!!! pic.twitter.com/FaVrcCe0bc
