The Global Spread of the Coronavirus: Where Is It?

Published

6 years ago

January 28, 2020

Eric

A virus similar to the SARS pathogen has claimed 106 lives since emerging in a market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, and spread around the world.

Here are the places that have confirmed cases of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus:

CHINA
As of Tuesday, more than 4,000 people have been infected across China, the bulk of them in and around Wuhan.

Most of the 106 who have died were in that region, but officials have confirmed multiple deaths elsewhere, including the first in the capital Beijing.

Macau, a gambling hub hugely popular with mainland tourists, has confirmed seven cases as of Tuesday.

In Hong Kong, eight people are known to have the disease. Of those, six arrived via a newly built high-speed train terminal that connects the city to the mainland.

ASIA-PACIFIC REGION
Australia
Five cases have been confirmed in Australia — all of whom arrived in the country from Wuhan. The patients are being treated in hospitals in Sydney and Melbourne.

Cambodia
Cambodia’s health ministry reported the country’s first case of the virus on Monday: a 60-year-old man who arrived from Wuhan and is now stable in an isolation room.

Japan
Japan’s health authorities confirmed the country’s fourth case on Saturday: a man in his 40s, visiting Japan from Wuhan, who is in hospital in a stable condition.

Two other men and a woman have been treated after returning to Japan from the Chinese city.

Malaysia
Malaysia confirmed its fourth case on Sunday. All are Chinese nationals on holiday from Wuhan who arrived in the country from Singapore.

Nepal
Nepal said a 32-year-old man arriving from Wuhan had the disease. The patient, who was initially quarantined, recovered and was discharged.

Singapore
Singapore has so far confirmed five cases of the coronavirus — all of them arrived in the city-state from Wuhan.

South Korea
South Korean media reported the country’s fourth case on Monday, citing the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The three men and a woman all travelled from Wuhan.

Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka confirmed its first case of the virus on Monday — a 43-year-old Chinese woman who entered the country as a tourist last week from Hubei province.

She is being treated in hospital, a spokesman at the Infectious Diseases Hospital near Colombo told AFP.

Taiwan
Taiwan has uncovered seven cases so far, the latest two female Chinese nationals in their seventies, who arrived in the country as part of a tour group on January 22.

Thailand
Thailand announced 14 confirmed infections Tuesday — the highest outside of China.

Health officials said that of the six new cases — all Chinese passengers from Wuhan — five of them were in the same family, ranging in ages six to 70.

Vietnam
Vietnam has so far confirmed two cases of the virus. An infected man from Wuhan travelled to Ho Chi Minh City earlier this month and passed the virus on to his son.

NORTH AMERICA
Canada
Canada confirmed its first case of the virus on Monday, a man who travelled to Wuhan, and has reported a second suspected case — his wife, who made the trip with him.

United States
The US has confirmed five cases of the virus in patients who had recently entered the country from Wuhan — two in California and one each in Arizona, Chicago and Washington state.

EUROPE
France
There are three known cases of the coronavirus in France, the first European country to be affected by the outbreak.

One person is sick in Bordeaux and another is ill in Paris. A third person, a close relative of one of the other two, has also been confirmed to have the virus.

All three had recently travelled to China and have been placed in isolation.

Germany
The country’s first case was confirmed on Tuesday in the southern Bavarian region and was being treated in an isolation ward. The patient was said to be in a “medically good state”.

Tinubu Nominates Oyedele As Minister of State for Finance, Moves Anite-Uzoka to Budget Ministry

Published

1 day ago

March 3, 2026

Eric

A statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy Bayo Onanuga, has announced that “President Bola Tinubu has nominated Taiwo Oyedele as the minister of state for finance, replacing Doris Anite-Uzoka.

“Mrs Anite-Uzoka will now move to the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, as the Minister of State, her third portfolio in the administration.

“President Tinubu has today conveyed the nomination of Mr Oyedele to the Senate for confirmation in a letter to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.

“Until President Tinubu nominated him as a minister, Mr Oyedele from Ikaram, Akoko, Ondo State, was the chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, which overhauled Nigeria’s tax system.

“Mr Oyedele, 50, is an economist, accountant and public policy expert.

“He attended Yaba College of Technology, where he obtained a Higher National Diploma (HND) in accountancy and finance. He attended Oxford Brookes University and earned a BSc in applied accounting.

“He also completed executive education programmes at the London School of Economics, Yale University, the Gordon Institute of Business Science, and the Harvard Kennedy School.

“Mr Oyedele spent 22 years of his working career at PwC, joining in 2001 and rising to become the Fiscal Policy Partner and Africa Tax Leader.

“Mr Oyedele is also a professor at Babcock University in Ogun State and a visiting scholar at the Lagos Business School.”

Featured

Defection: Atiku’s Son, Adamu, Resigns As Adamawa Commissioner

Published

1 day ago

March 3, 2026

Eric

Adamu Abubakar, the first son of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, has resigned as Adamawa State’s commissioner for works and energy development, days after Governor Ahmadu Fintiri defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress.

Abubakar’s resignation letter, dated 2 March 2026, was addressed to the governor through the Secretary to the State Government. He gave no reason for his departure.

The timing is pointed. Fintiri announced his defection to the APC in a statewide broadcast last Friday, saying his cabinet and the PDP’s state structure had moved with him. Within 24 hours, 22 commissioners and special advisers publicly announced they were following suit. Abubakar, whose father remains one of the PDP’s most prominent national figures, was not among them.

In a statement issued Monday night, Abubakar’s media aide Abdulaziz Jauro said the former commissioner thanked the governor for the opportunity to serve and pledged continued loyalty to the administration’s developmental agenda. He also expressed gratitude to his father “for granting him the moral support and blessing to serve the people of Adamawa State” — a line that, read in context, suggests Atiku was consulted on the decision.

Abubakar said his resignation was not a withdrawal from public life. “This does not mark the end of his commitment to public service,” the statement read, “but rather the beginning of new avenues for developmental collaboration.”

The resignation leaves unresolved the question of whether it reflects a political break with the governor over his defection or a personal decision unconnected to the broader party realignment now reshaping Adamawa’s political landscape.

Featured

DSS Nabs Man over Assassination Attempt on Peter Obi

Published

1 day ago

March 3, 2026

Eric

Nigeria’s Department of State Services (DSS) has detained a man in connection with the recent attack and alleged assassination threats targeting Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

According to AIT, the shooting incident took place on February 24, 2026, in Benin City, Edo State, during a political gathering attended by Obi and several figures from the African Democratic Congress (ADC). The meeting was hosted by former APC National Chairman, John Oyegun. Gunmen reportedly opened fire at the venue, causing panic and forcing attendees to disperse for safety.

According to security sources, shortly after the attack, an individual identified as Udeme Monday Stephen allegedly took to social media claiming responsibility and issuing additional threats against Obi, warning of further violence.

Intelligence officials reportedly initiated swift investigations, employing digital tracing and forensic tools that led to the arrest of the 26-year-old suspect in Rivers State. He is said to be a teacher at a private secondary school in the Eliozu area of Obio-Akpor Local Government Area.

The suspect remains in DSS custody and is expected to face prosecution. The agency reiterated its commitment to responding to credible threats and safeguarding lives and national interests without bias.