COVID-19 WRAP | SA has recorded 1,501,185 Covid-19 recoveries

April 25 2021 - 21:32

SA has recorded 1,501,185 Covid-19 recoveries 

April 25 2021 - 15:24

KZN premier Sihle Zikalala pleads with citizens to observe Covid-19 protocols amid high level of complacency

The KwaZulu-Natal government is concerned that many citizens have lowered their guard on Covid-19 protocols which could have severe repercussions ahead of a possible third wave.

Speaking on Sunday, premier Sihle Zikalala provided a breakdown on the state of the pandemic in the province.

“They’re no longer wearing their masks in public and many are carrying them for compliance, there’s no social distancing — let alone regular hand sanitising or washing of hands with water and soap,” he said.

April 25 2021 - 13:14

Germany faces lockdown until June as curbs fail to push down cases

Germany's coronavirus infection rate rose at the weekend despite stricter restrictions and Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said he did not expect moves to ease curbs before the end of May.

"We need a timetable how to get back to normal life, but it must be a plan that won't have to be revoked after just a few days," Scholz told Bild am Sonntag.

The federal government should be able to outline "clear and courageous opening steps" for the summer by the end of May, allowing restaurants to adjust reopening plans and citizens to plan holidays, he said.

Reuters

April 25 2021 - 11:36

Italy imposes travel ban from India over Covid variant

 Italy has joined other countries by imposing restrictions on travel from India to avert the spread of a Covid-19 variant as the Asian nation struggles with a surge in infections.

Italy's Health Minister Roberto Speranza said on Twitter he had signed an order barring foreign travellers who have been in India in the past 14 days from entering the country.

India, which is facing a health crisis, is battling a "double mutant" strain of Covid-19.

Reuters

April 25 2021 - 09:16

PM Modi says India shaken by new coronavirus 'storm'

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged all citizens to take Covid-19 vaccines and exercise caution, saying a "storm" of infections had shaken the country.

India has reported more than 300,000 new cases each day for the past four days, more than anywhere else in the world since the pandemic began, piling pressure on the public health system.

"Our spirits were high after successfully dealing with the first wave," Modi said in a radio address. "But this storm has shaken the nation."

Reuters

April 25 2021 - 08:41

Western Australia halfway through snap Covid-19 lockdown with no new local cases

Western Australia reported no new locally acquired coronavirus cases on Sunday with more than 2 million people in the state halfway through a snap three-day lockdown.

The lockdown was ordered after a traveller likely became infected while in quarantine in a hotel and unknowingly passed it on to two other people in the community, according to authorities.

Testing of hundreds of people was still underway and state premier Premier Mark McGowan said it was too early to predict what the government would decide on Tuesday when the lockdown was due to end. While the rest of the country gathered in crowds to honour military personnel on Anzac Day, Western Australians commemorated at home.

Reuters

April 25 2021 - 07:08

US racing to send aid to India as Covid-19 cases soar

The US is deeply concerned by a massive surge in coronavirus cases in India and will race additional support to the Indian government and healthcare workers, a White House spokeswoman said on Saturday.

“We are in active conversations at high levels and plan to quickly deploy additional support to the Government of India and Indian healthcare workers as they battle this latest severe outbreak. We will have more to share very soon,” the spokeswoman told Reuters via e-mail.

Washington is under increasing pressure to do more to help India, the world's largest democracy and a strategic ally in President Joe Biden's efforts to counter China, as it grapples with a record-setting surge in coronavirus infections.

April 25 2021 - 06:58

First locally made vaccines ready for rollout

Aspen Pharmacare was due to release the first 1.1-million doses of the Johnson & Johnson's (J&J) coronavirus vaccine for the South African market this weekend, coinciding with the resumption of the vaccine rollout after it was temporarily halted.

Stavros Nicolaou, Aspen's senior executive for strategic trade, this week confirmed the first 1.1-million doses that were due for release on 24 April will be for SA.

Aspen is making the vaccines at its facility in Gqeberha, in the Eastern Cape, one of several facilities globally that are producing J&J vaccines.

April 25 2021 - 06:15

Show us the vaccines - and make sure they're kept safe from the looters

If truth be told, few - if any - believed that the government would deliver on its stated vaccine promises. South Africans have learnt from bitter experience not to take their government at its word.

It either lies to hide its incompetence or simply moves the goalposts. To preserve our sanity, we often have to take what it says with a dollop of salt.

It is a reflection of that lack of confidence in the government that some are already speculating that the much-vaunted vaccine rollout, which has been beckoning from a distance like a mirage, may not see the light of day.

April 25 2021 - 06:00

Researchers track changes over time in responses to Covid-19

Wealthy South Africans worry a lot more about Covid risks than their poorer compatriots do, despite being better able to afford the necessary precautions. 

This was among the findings published in the journal PLOS One by two researchers at the Wits University school of economics and finance, Umakrishnan Kollamparambil and Adeola Oyenubi.

They also found that as the pandemic wore on last year, people appeared to put more faith in face masks than in hand-washing.