COVID-19 WRAP | 648 new cases, 25 deaths reported in SA

October 10 2021 - 20:00

48 new cases, 25 deaths reported in SA

A s of today the cumulative number of #COVID19 cases identified in SA is 2 912 145 with 648 new cases reported.

Today 25 deaths have been reported bringing the total to 88 317 deaths. The cumulative number of recoveries now stand at 2 791 256 with a recovery rate of 95,8%

October 10 2021 - 18:18

Russian rocket engine facility suspends tests to save oxygen for Covid patients

Russia will suspend test-firing rocket engines at one of its design bureaus in the city of Voronezh until the end of the month to conserve oxygen supplies for Covid-19 patients, a top space official said on Sunday.

Russia, which is grappling with a surge of Covid-19 cases, on Saturday registered the most coronavirus-related deaths it has recorded in a single day since the pandemic began.

The Kremlin blames the high toll on the slow progress of the national vaccination campaign. Officials reported 962 COVID-19 deaths on Sunday and more than 28,600 new cases.

"In view of growing demand for medical oxygen to treat the sick, today we decided to suspend test firing rocket engines at Voronezh's Chemical Automatics Design Bureau ranges until the end of the month," the head of Russia's space agency tweeted."

Our company alone supplies up to 33 tonnes of oxygen per day," Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin said. 

Reuters

October 10 2021 - 16:40

Venezuela receives second batch of 2.5 million vaccines via COVAX

Venezuela on Sunday received a second batch of 2.5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines via the COVAX mechanism, while the government said it hoped to reach immunity for 70% of Venezuelans by the end of the month.

Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and Unicef representatives, as well as the Venezuelan government, were present at Maiquetia international airport outside Caracas to receive the doses.

As well as the doses supplied by COVAX, Health Minister Carlos Alvarado said Venezuela can also count on doses of Russian jab Sputnik V, the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine, and Cuba's Abdala vaccine to inoculate its population.

Venezuela now has more than 29 million vaccine doses, Alvarado said, adding the number would cover the vaccination of 70% of the population by the end of October.

Half of Venezuela's population has been vaccinated, according to the government, though academics and specialists say it is more likely closer to 21%.The government for months said it had been unable to pay for the vaccines due to U.S. sanctions meant to force President Nicolas Maduro from power, but in April announced it had deposited most of the funds in a Swiss bank account.

The South American country received an initial batch of 693,000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine manufactured by China's Sinovac Biotech in early September.

Venezuela expects to receive a total of 11 million doses through COVAX, overseen by the GAVI alliance and the World Health Organization.

New cases reported in Venezuela are at their highest peak since the pandemic started, according to a Reuters tally.

Venezuelan authorities have reported a total of 382,266 coronavirus infections and 4,606 deaths.

Reuters

October 10 2021 - 09:00

Italy hits target of fully vaccinating 80% of people over-12s

Italy reached the target of fully vaccinating 80% of the population over the age of 12 against COVID-19, according to official data, achieving a goal Rome had set as a safety cut-off point, government data showed on Sunday.

According to a government website showed 43,229,551 people over-12, out of a total population of around 60 million, had completed their vaccination cycle as of Oct 10.

The 80% target was set by special commissioner for the COVID emergency, Army General Francesco Paolo Figliuolo, in March and was hit late on Oct. 9.

"That's a critical level above which experts say - and the trend we've been recording for weeks confirms this - that the risk of hospitalisation is drastically reduced", the commissioner's office said.

Guido Rasi, a former director at the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and current advisor to Figliuolo, said it was "not just a symbolic threshold".

"It's a level that, calculations show, correlates with a significant reduction in the circulation of the virus and a drastic cut in hospital admissions."

Rasi added that reducing the number of hospital admissions was essential for Italy's economic recovery and to help the national health care system refocus on non-COVID related services.

However, reaching the 80% target is not sufficient, according to the commissioner's advisor.

"We will have to continue to reach other thresholds: either percentages above 80% if we continue to refrain from vaccinating children under the age of 12, or 80% of the entire population, including 5 to 12-year-olds", he said.

Hospitalisations for COVID in Italy have been steadily declining since early summer.

Italy has registered 131,274 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak in February last year, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the ninth-highest in the world. The country has reported 4.7 million cases to date. 

-Reuters