ONE WORD

Governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa, and his wife have tested positive for COVID-19. The governor announced this on his Twitter handle today, saying he and his wife are well and remain in isolation. This development comes on the heels of tests conducted on the governor’s family after a few days of self-isolation. The governor and his family went into isolation on Friday after one of their daughters tested positive for the virus. The two heads of the First Family in the state, according to a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Olisa Ifeajika, are stable and have commenced necessary treatment, and further isolation. The governor thanked Deltans for their prayers for his family and called for continued supplications for all patients undergoing treatment for the pandemic. He assured that his administration would not relent in its efforts at combating the virus in the state, and urged the public to support the government in that regard by complying with prescribed

The Federal Government has increased the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol from N140.80 to N143.80 per litre. The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) announced the increment in a statement issued by its Executive Secretary, Abdulkadir Saidu on Wednesday. “After a review of the prevailing market fundamentals in the month of June and considering marketers’ realistic operating costs, as much as practicable, we wish to advise a new PMS pump price band of N140.80 – N143.80 per litre for the month of July 2020,” the statement read. “All marketers are advised to operate within the indicative prices as advised by the PPPRA.” In April, the Federal Government had announced a reduction of the petrol pump to N123.50 per litre.  Channels 

The President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof Abiodun Ogunyemi, has faulted the move to reopen schools amid the COVID-19 pandemic. On Monday, the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, had said President Muhammadu Buhari has  approved the reopening of schools  nationwide. But Prof Ogunyemi is not in support of the move, saying the Federal Government has not put in place safety measures to curtail the spread of COVID-19 in schools. According to him, every strata of government has to be carried along in the move to reopen the learning centres. “The ministry (Federal), state ministries, have responsibilities; state education boards have responsibilities, local education boards have responsibilities; the thing has to trickle down,” he said on Wednesday during Channels Television’s  Sunrise Daily . “You don’t put something on nothing, and that is what we have been saying. “The b

A file photo of President Muhammadu Buhari.   President Muhammadu Buhari has requested the approval of the Senate for the confirmation of 42 ambassadorial nominees. This was contained in a letter sent out on Wednesday. In another letter, the President urged the upper chamber to confirm the appointment of three nominees as commissioners in the Federal Civil Service Commission. He also sent out another letter seeking the approval of the Senate for the appointment of a federal commissioner for the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission. Channels 

I TALY-HEALTH-VIRUS At a May 30 birthday party in Texas, one man reportedly infected 18 friends and family with the coronavirus. Reading reports like these, you might think of the virus as a wildfire, instantly setting off epidemics wherever it goes. But other reports tell another story altogether. In Italy, for example, scientists looked at stored samples of wastewater for the earliest trace of the virus. Last week they reported that the virus was in Turin and Milan as early as Dec. 18. But two months would pass before northern Italy’s hospitals began filling with victims of COVID-19. So those December viruses seem to have petered out. As strange as it may seem, these reports don’t contradict each other. Most infected people don’t pass on the coronavirus to someone else. But a small number pass it on to many others in so-called superspreading events. “You can think about throwing a match at kindling,” said Ben Althouse, principal research scientist at the Institute for Disease Modelin

If the latest national and state polls are correct, President Trump’s bid for a second term faces serious headwinds in the four months until the election. Nineteen different polls of voters in swing states released this week show Trump trailing former Vice President Joe Biden, including in places Republicans are unaccustomed to losing in a general election. Polls released Thursday by the New York Times/Siena College showed Joe Biden leading Trump by 11 percentage points in Michigan and Wisconsin, by 10 points in Pennsylvania, 9 points in North Carolina, up 7 points in Arizona, and ahead by 6 in Florida. The pollster Hodas & Associates Strategic Communications had similarly bleak news for the president in polls released the same day. In  Michigan , the pollster found, Trump trails Biden by 18 points. He’s behind by 16 points in  Wisconsin  and down 12 points in  Pennsylvania . Redfield & Wilton Strategies also  surveyed voters  in the swing states of Michigan, where they found B

Vice President Mike Pence hailed “remarkable progress” toward returning the nation to normalcy at the first public briefing of the coronavirus task force in nearly two months on Friday, a day the U.S. saw a new high for coronavirus cases recorded. “We have made truly remarkable progress in moving our nation forward,” Pence told reporters at a briefing held at the Department of Health and Human Services. “We’ve all seen the encouraging news as we open up America again — more than 3 million jobs created in the last jobs report and retail sales are rolling.” Pence said that “all 50 states are opening up safely and responsibly,” but “with cases rising, particularly over the past week throughout the South,” President Trump had asked him to brief the nation on the ongoing emergency. In some of the states where cases are rising fastest, notably Texas and Florida, governors have slowed or reversed measures to reopen businesses and relax social distancing rules. On Friday, the country reported