COVID-19 WRAP | Zimbabwe receives PPE from India and S.Korea
Image: REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane
October 21 2020 - 21:50
'Terrible situation': Spain first European nation to top 1 million Covid-19 cases
Spain became the first Western European country to exceed 1 million Covid-19 infections on Wednesday, doubling its tally in just six weeks despite a series of increasingly stringent measures to control the second wave of the virus.
Health ministry data showed total cases had reached 1,005,295, rising by 16,973 from the previous day.
The death toll increased by 156 to 34,366. After slowing to a trickle in the wake of Spain's strict March-to-June lockdown, the infection rate accelerated to frequently exceed 10,000 cases a day from late August, hitting a new peak of more than 16,000 last week.
—Reuters
October 21 2020 - 19:13
Ramaphosa admits recovery plan may not be new but asks: 'Why the grandstanding?'
Cyril Ramaphosa has conceded that the economic reconstruction and recovery plan he presented to parliament last week “may not sound new”, but “political grandstanding” on it was unwarranted.
In a spirited defence of his widely criticised plan, Ramaphosa said opposition party leaders and MPs needed to decide if they wanted to see the country remaining in a “state of paralysis” or to rally behind his efforts to pull the economy out of the ravages of Covid-19.
Ramaphosa was addressing a hybrid sitting of parliament on Wednesday as he closed a debate by MPs from the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces after his presentation of the economic recovery plan.
October 21 2020 - 18:01
School sports are back — kind of, and with 'lots of conditions'
Soccer, rugby and other contact sports may resume at SA's schools with immediate effect — but only for training and with various Covid-19 controls in place.
The basic education department gazetted new regulations on Wednesday, paving the way for school sports to resume in earnest. However, department spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said there were “lots of conditions”.
Other extra-murals, including choir, moot court, debates and speech contests are also allowed to resume.
October 21 2020 - 17:23
Italy's daily coronavirus cases soar to new daily record above 15,000
Italy has registered 15,199 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours, the health ministry said on Wednesday, the highest daily tally since the start of the country's outbreak and up from a previous record of 11,705 posted on Sunday.
Tuesday saw 10,874 new cases of the highly contagious virus. The ministry also reported 127 Covid-related deaths on Wednesday, up from 89 the day before but still far fewer than at the height of the pandemic in Italy in March and April, when a daily peak of more than 900 fatalities was reached.
After declining over the summer, infections have steadily accelerated in the last few months.
—Reuters
October 21 2020 - 16:36
'We don't want to scare you': Mkhize warns of Covid 'resurgence'
Health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize is worried about SA’s Covid-19 trajectory, particularly regarding a spread in the Western Cape.
In a statement shared on his official Twitter account, Mkhize - who is in isolation after he and his wife, Dr May Mkhize, tested positive for Covid-19 at the weekend - said his fears come after reading and analysing epidemiological reports.
He said the rate of infections and deaths would “inform the recommendations” that his department took to the National Coronavirus Council.
October 21 2020 - 16:00
Poll: Most people would get Covid-19 vaccine if offered by govt or employer
Most people would get a Covid-19 vaccine if their government or employer recommended it, results of a global poll showed on Tuesday, amid growing concerns about public distrust of the shots being developed at speed to end the pandemic.
Some 71.5% of participants said they would be very or somewhat likely to take a Covid-19 vaccine and 61.4% reported they would accept their employer's recommendation to do so, according to the survey in June of more than 13,000 people in 19 countries.
The poll was overseen by the Vaccine Confidence Project (VCP), a global surveillance programme on vaccine trust funded by the European Commission and pharmaceutical companies among others, as well as Business Partners to CONVINCE, a US/British initiative that is partly government funded.
—Reuters
October 21 2020 - 15:39
Risk of Covid-19 resurgence in SA as cases spike in Western Cape
SA faces a high risk of resurging coronavirus infections that may force the country back into a stricter lockdown, after new cases rose by 42% in Western Cape province in the last two weeks, the health minister said on Wednesday.
Zweli Mkhize said in a statement that the increase in infections and deaths "will inform the recommendations that the health department makes to the National Coronavirus Council", the body that decides lockdown levels.
—Reuters
October 21 2020 - 12:10
Four Lions players removed from the squad after returning positive Covid-19 tests
The Lions' Super Rugby Unlocked campaign has suffered another huge setback with four players having to be removed from the squad after returning positive Covid-19 tests.
The team said in a short statement: “Four positive cases of Covid-19 have been detected among the Emirates Lions squad this week. The team gets tested every week as required by protocol.
"These players‚ all of whom are A-symptomatic‚ have been removed from the squad. All protocols have been kept and the relevant parties have been informed.”
October 21 2020 - 11:43
South Korea will press on with flu vaccinations, sees no link to deaths
South Korean health authorities said on Wednesday they would press on with a flu vaccine programme as there was no reason to believe the scheme was linked to a number of reported deaths.
October 21 2020 - 10:40
Robot connects isolated Covid patients with loved ones at Tygerberg ICU
Technology, in the form of a robot named Quintin, is helping families get in touch virtually with their loved ones who have been isolated at Tygerberg Hospital’s Covid-19 intensive care unit (ICU).
In some cases, the robot has helped families say their last goodbyes to their loved ones.
Quintin, according to the hospital in Cape Town, is a Double Robotics robot that looks like a computer tablet on wheels. It is equipped to do video and voice calls using the WhatsApp service, or regular phone calls, allowing family members to dial in to “visit” patients in the ICU.
October 21 2020 - 10:02
Philippines reports 1,509 new coronavirus cases, 60 more deaths
The Philippine health ministry on Wednesday confirmed 1,509 new coronavirus infections, its lowest daily increase in cases in more than six weeks.
In a bulletin, the ministry said there were 60 additional Covid-19 deaths confirmed. Total cases have risen to 362,243 while deaths have reached 6,747.
- Reuters
October 21 2020 - 09:30
Russia records 15,700 new coronavirus cases, hits daily record high of 317 deaths
Russia recorded 15,700 new coronavirus infections on Wednesday, as well as a daily record high of 317 deaths from the highly-contagious virus.
Since the start of the pandemic, the country of about 145 million people has recorded 1,447,335 infections and 24,952 deaths, the authorities said.
- Reuters