N697.5m now in COVID-19 accounts — Presidency

The Presidency on Friday said N697, 538, 108.00 from 111 individuals and organisations had been lodged into the FGN COVID-19 Eradication Support Accounts in the five designated banks between April 1 and 30, 2020.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity Garba Shehu, in a statement on Friday, said the amount was compiled based on records obtained from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

Shehu said the funds consisted of small payments of N5, N10, N14, N20 by individuals to huge deposits of N200 million by Dantata Property Development; N100 million by Ocean Trust Ltd; N25 million by NSITF; N20 million by Ebele and Anyichuks Foundation; N15 million by Nizamiya Hospital Abuja; and N10 million each by Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship and Association of Bureau De Change (BDC) respectively, among others.

In this regard, President Muhammadu Buhari commended public-spirited Nigerians and organisations for their financial and material support as the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 continues to roll out measures on how to contain the spread of the pandemic in the country and manage its health and economic implications.

Buhari, who cited the provision of isolation, treatment and laboratory centres/facilities by individuals and companies such as Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Alhaji Abdulsamad Rabiu, Guaranty Trust Bank and Thisday Newspapers and Partners among others in several states and Federal Capital Territory, called on other privileged Nigerians and bodies to emulate the gesture.

“We are facing a national challenge and all hands must be on deck to navigate this difficult course. In this respect, all types of assistance are welcome, big or small. The spirit behind the contributions is salutary,” the president said.

Many on the run in Lagos after testing positive – Commissioner

The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Akin Abayomi, said yesterday that many people who tested positive for coronavirus were running away from being taken to isolation centres for treatment.

Abayomi said this was one of the reasons the state still has unoccupied beds at the isolation centres despite recording more cases than its bed-capacity.

He spoke at the state secretariat yesterday when responding to the question on the discrepancy between the occupancy of the isolation centres and the number of active cases in the state.

“There is also a situation that we experience, when we test people, sometimes they find it difficult to find them. The ambulances will go into community, people will flee their homes, and they make it difficult for us to find them,” he said. (Daily Trust)