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The Global Spread of the Coronavirus: Where Is It?
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”.
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), on Thursday, published a list of 9, 532 alleged land title debtors in Abuja, giving them a two-week ultimatum to settle their outstanding bills.
The list, which includes prominent individuals and government agencies, was published on November 26, with defaulters expected to pay for their certificate of occupancy (C-of- O) within the stipulated timeframe.
Among those listed as defaulters is former Head of State, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (IBB), who owes N152 million for a plot of land in Asokoro, a highbrow area in the nation’s capital. IBB, who ruled Nigeria from 1985 to 1993, is not the only high-profile individual on the list.
Other notable defaulters include Samuel Ortom, former governor of Benue, who owes N950,000 for a plot of land in Bazango, and Aminu Tambuwal, senator representing Sokoto south, who owes N18 million for a plot of land in Carraway Dallas.
The FCTA has threatened to revoke the land titles of defaulters who fail to settle their bills within the stipulated timeframe. The administration has urged defaulters to settle their bills by e-payment to the “FCT department of land administration” account.
In addition to individual defaulters, some federal agencies, including the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), the navy, and police, were also named as defaulters.
The Lagos governor’s lodge in Asokoro, the Kaduna state government, and ‘State House Abuja’ were also listed as land title debtors.
This development is not the first time the FCTA has taken steps to recover outstanding debts from landowners. In June this year, the administration set up a committee to recover over N29 billion owed by property owners.
The committee has since identified 430 individuals and organisations as defaulters, with plans to prosecute them.
The FCTA has also partnered with anti-graft agencies, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), to check the activities of land grabbers in the territory.
The Senate has granted approval to the ₦1.77 trillion ($2.2b) loan request of President Bola Tinubu after a voice vote in favor of the request.
The Senate presided by Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, approved the loan after the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts chaired by Senator Wammako Magatarkada (APC, Sokoto North) presented the report of the committee.
The request which was submitted by the President on Tuesday is part of a fresh external borrowing plan to partially finance the N9.7 trillion budget deficit for the 2024 fiscal year.
Tinubu had on Tuesday written to the National Assembly, seeking approval of a fresh N1.767 trillion, the equivalent of $2.209 billion as a new external borrowing plan in the 2024 Appropriation Act.
The fresh loan is expected to stretch the amount spent on debt servicing by the Federal Government. The Central Bank of Nigeria recently said that it cost the Federal Government $3.58 billion to service foreign debt in the first nine months of 2024.
The CBN report on international payment statistics showed that the amount represents a 39.77 per cent increase from the $2.56bn spent during the same period in 2023.
According to the report, while the highest monthly debt servicing payment in 2024 occurred in May, amounting to $854.37m, the highest monthly expenditure in 2023 was $641.70m, recorded in July.
The trend in foreign debt servicing by the CBN highlights the rising cost of debt obligations by Nigeria.
Further breakdown of international debt figures showed that in January 2024, debt servicing costs surged by 398.89 per cent, rising to $560.52m from $112.35m in January 2023. February, however, saw a slight decline of 1.84 per cent, with payments reducing from $288.54m in 2023 to $283.22m in 2024.
March recorded a 31.04 per cent drop in payments, falling to $276.17m from $400.47m in the same period last year. April saw a significant rise of 131.77 per cent, with $215.20m paid in 2024 compared to $92.85m in 2023.
The highest debt servicing payment occurred in May 2024, when $854.37m was spent, reflecting a 286.52 per cent increase compared to $221.05m in May 2023. June, on the other hand, saw a 6.51 per cent decline, with $50.82m paid in 2024, down from $54.36m in 2023.
July 2024 recorded a 15.48 per cent reduction, with payments dropping to $542.50m from $641.70m in July 2023. In August, there was another decline of 9.69 per cent, as $279.95m was paid compared to $309.96m in 2023. However, September 2024 saw a 17.49 per cent increase, with payments rising to $515.81m from $439.06m in the same month last year.
Given rising exchange rates, the data raises concerns about the growing pressure of Nigeria’s foreign debt obligations.
Channels TV
Self acclaimed leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Simon Ekpa, has been arrested by law enforcement in Finland.
The BBC reports that Ekpa was subsequently sent to prison by the district court of Päijät-Häme for “spreading terrorist propaganda on social media”.
Ekpa was said to have committed the crime in 2021 in Lahti municipality.
The Finnish National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) also arrested four other men over alleged terrorist offences.
A citizen of Finland and Nigeria, Ekpa has described himself as leader of the separatist IPOB group since Nnamdi Kanu’s incarceration.
Finnish police say Ekpa’s activities and social media rhetoric may have fanned the flames of violence in the south-east of Nigeria.
“He carries out these activities from his social media channels, for example,” said Otto Hiltunen, detective chief inspector of the NBI.
In February 2023, Ekpa was arrested by police at his residence in Lahti but was released after hours of questioning.
Using his social media channels, Ekpa had directed Igbos not to participate in Nigeria’s 2023 general election.
In September 2021, the Biafra agitator and secessionist denounced Nigeria and vowed to return the medal he won for the country at the 2003 African Junior Athletics Championships.
