COVID-19 LIVE WRAP | Covid-19 claims 53 more lives in SA over 24-hours

June 21 2020 - 21:07

The cumulative number of confirmed Covid-19 cases is 97,302 with 4,621 new cases identified.

A total of 1 328 060 tests have been completed with 34,452 new cases reported.

Regrettably, a further 53 Covid-19 related deaths have been reported : 8 from Gauteng, 1 from Kwa-Zulu Natal, 17 from Eastern Cape and 27 from Western Cape, bringing the total deaths toll to 1930.

The mortality rate is 1,98% and the number of recoveries is 51,608, which translates to a recovery rate of 53%

June 21 2020 - 20:37

Dimitrov tests positive for coronavirus after playing in Djokovic event

Grigor Dimitrov has tested positive for coronavirus after pulling out of an exhibition tournament which featured world number one Novak Djokovic.

"I want to reach out and let my fans and friends know that I tested positive back in Monaco for Covid-19," world number 19 Dimitrov wrote on Instagram.

Last weekend, Dimitrov, 29, took part in the Adria Tour event in Belgrade with Djokovic, world number three Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev, ranked 17.

He also played in the second leg of the Balkans tournament in Zadar on Croatia's Adriatic coast on Saturday.

However, he withdrew after losing to Borna Coric, complaining of feeling unwell.

Later Sunday, the final between Djokovic and Russia's Andrey Rublev was immediately cancelled as a precaution.

Zverev and former US Open winner Marin Cilic were also in the Croatia line-up.

"I want to make sure anyone who has been in contact with me during these past days gets tested and takes the necessary precautions," added Dimitrov.

"I am so sorry for any harm I might have caused. I am back home now and recovering."

-AFP

June 21 2020 - 18:05

June 21 2020 - 17:55

June 21 2020 - 17:32

India gives Hetero Labs and Cipla approval to make Gilead's COVID-19 drug

India's drug regulator has given Hetero Labs and Cipla Ltd the green light to manufacture and market their generic version of Gilead Sciences Inc's experimental COVID-19 treatment remdesivir, the Indian pharmaceutical companies said on Sunday.

The drug, which will be marketed under the brand name Covifor, will likely be priced at 5,000 to 6,000 rupees ($66-$79) for a 100 milligram dose, Hetero said.

India's Cipla said its generic version of remdesivir will be called Cipremi.

The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) was not immediately available for comment.

Gilead Sciences Inc signed non-exclusive licensing pacts last month with five generic drugmakers based in India and Pakistan to expand the supply of its COVID-19 treatment.

The pacts allow Jubilant Life Sciences Ltd, Cipla, Hetero Labs, Mylan NV and Ferozsons Laboratories Ltd to make and sell the drug in 127 countries.Indian drugmaker Zydus Cadila said last week it signed a non-exclusive licensing pact with Gilead Sciences to manufacture and market remdesivir.

India reported a record jump in coronavirus infections on Saturday, an increase of 14,516 COVID-19 cases, the health ministry said, taking the total to 395,047 with 12,948 deaths.

- Reuters

June 21 2020 - 17:20

June 21 2020 - 16:07

Coronavirus spreads in Ukrainian football as another game postponed

The Ukrainian Premier League has postponed a fourth match due to coronavirus after another two players tested positive.

Two players from Olympic Donetsk were found to have the virus ahead of their scheduled game on Sunday against Karpaty Lviv.

The Ukrainian top-flight's governing body said late on Saturday that it had decided to postpone the match to a later date.

June 21 2020 - 15:25

Nigerian doctors end strike as virus cases spike

Nigerian doctors in state-run hospitals on Sunday called off a week-long strike over welfare and inadequate protective equipment as new coronavirus cases spike in the country.

The strike by the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), which represents some 40 percent of Nigeria's doctors, began last Monday but had exempted medics treating coronavirus patients. 

June 21 2020 - 14:49

The novel coronavirus has killed at least 464,423 globally

The novel coronavirus has killed at least 464,423 people since the outbreak began in China last December, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP. 

At least 8,841,680 cases of coronavirus have been registered in 196 countries and territories. Of these, at least 4,120,500 are considered recovered.

The tallies, using data collected by AFP from national authorities and information from the World Health Organization (WHO), probably reflect only a fraction of the actual number of infections.

Many countries are testing only symptomatic or the most serious cases.

The United States is the worst-hit country with 119,719 deaths from 2,255,119 cases. At least 617,460 people have been declared recovered.

After the US, the countries with the highest death tolls are Brazil with 49,976 deaths from 1,067,579 cases, Britain with 42,589 deaths from 303,110 cases, Italy with 34,610 deaths from 238,275 cases and France with 29,633 deaths from 196,594 cases.

China -- excluding Hong Kong and Macau -- has to date declared 4,634 deaths and 83,378 infections (up 26) with 78,413 recoveries.

Europe overall has 192,598 deaths from 2,516,978 cases, the United States and Canada have 128,174 deaths from 2,356,078 infections, Latin America and the Caribbean 93,621 deaths from 2,017,610 cases, Asia 28,617 deaths from 1,010,688 cases, the Middle East 13,377 deaths from 633,209 infections, Africa 7,905 deaths from 298,244 cases, and Oceania 131 deaths from 8,874 cases.

As a result of corrections by national authorities or late publication of data, the figures updated over the past 24 hours may not correspond exactly to the previous day's tallies.

- AFP 

June 21 2020 - 14:49

US sees 568 more virus deaths as infections rise

The United States lost another 568 people to the new coronavirus in the 24 hours leading up to 8:30 pm Saturday (0030 GMT Sunday), according a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

It marked the 10th day in which the daily toll from the virus has been fewer than 1,000, even as the US remains the country hardest-hit by the pandemic with 119,654 deaths out of 2,251,205 official cases.

Some 20 states have seen a rebound in infections as the epicenter of the country's outbreak has moved from New York and the country's Northeast to the South and West.

After dipping below 20,000 new daily confirmed cases recently, the figure has crept back up towards 30,000 and beyond in recent days.

There are fears of a second wave of COVID-19 infections following state reopenings and massive anti-racism protests around the country in recent weeks.

President Donald Trump's first campaign rally since the coronavirus crisis, being held Saturday night in Oklahoma, is also being criticized as a potential COVID-19 "superspreader" event.

- AFP

June 21 2020 - 11:35

Trump says he urged team to 'slow' Covid-19 testing

US President Donald Trump said Saturday he was encouraging health officials in his administration to slow down testing, arguing that increased tests lead to more cases being discovered.

The president has claimed falsely on several occasions that surges of Covid-19 in several states can be explained by increased diagnostic tests.

At his first rally since the outbreak forced nationwide shutdowns in March, Trump told the crowd in Tulsa, Oklahoma that testing was a "double-edged sword."

The US — which has more deaths and cases than any other country — has carried out more than 25 million coronavirus tests, placing it outside the top 20 countries in the world, per capita.

"Here is the bad part: When you do testing to that extent, you are going to find more people, you will find more cases," Trump argued. "So I said to my people 'slow the testing down.' They test and they test."

It was not clear from Trump's tone if he was playing to the crowd, which cheered as he spoke, or if he was being serious

-AFP

June 21 2020 - 11:35

Three Special Investigating Unit offices closed after employee tests positive for Covid-19

The Special Investigating Unit has closed three of its offices after an employee tested positive for Covid-19.

SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said the head office, the Gauteng provincial office in Pretoria and its Limpopo office in Polokwane had been closed with immediate effect.

Kganyago said the offices would remain close until June 29.

June 21  2020 - 11:00

Virus booze ban causes headache for winemakers

Wineries around Cape Town fear a nine-week alcohol sales ban will leave a bad hangover that outlasts the coronavirus pandemic, as South African bottles lose their spots on international shelves and thousands of jobs are lost.

Africa's most industrialised economy shuttered liquor stores at the start of a strict anti-coronavirus lockdown on March 27 to limit the spread of Covid-19, and reduce pressure on busy emergency wards.

The controversial booze ban was lifted on June 1st as part of a gradual easing of confinement measures to limit the economic setbacks of the pandemic.

But wine producers in the valleys of the Western Cape are concerned the industry will struggle to bounce back.

The alcohol sales ban was coupled with a six-week export freeze — raising concern buyers could turn to suppliers in other countries if demand abroad was not rapidly met.

-AFP

June 21 2020 - 8:00

PODCAST | Witnesses relive the day Collins Khosa died

In this episode of Boots on the ground: behind SA’s national lockdown, we speak to the witnesses and victims who were present when Collins Khosa died.

Listen to the shocking tale of assault and abduction here:

June 21 2020 - 7:00

Apartheid didn't defeat me, nor did Covid-19, says rugby legend

Apartheid's cruelty failed to break rugby legend Broadhurst Cona, and almost half a century later the 73-year-old's fighting spirit has seen off the coronavirus, too.

Cona, who was part of the black SA rugby squad in the 1970s, tested positive for Covid-19 at the end of April. He spent three weeks at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town.

June 21 2020 - 6:58

Looking better for bad hair days: salons open up under advanced level 3 lockdown

Like cigarettes and, until recently, alcohol, hairdressing has gone underground during the lockdown.

This week it will reopen officially amid “stringent safety requirements”, after minister of small business development Khumbudzo Ntshavheni gazetted protocols for the personal care services industry to curb Covid-19 on Friday. But for thousands of stylists it will mean only the end of their defiance.

June 21 2020 - 6:57

'They've been cool under a lot of pressure': Future doctors respond to Covid-19 call

Hundreds of future doctors are getting a real-life “crash course” in pandemic medicine after stepping in to help overwhelmed medical teams in SA’s hardest-hit cities.

Medical students from the universities of Cape Town, Stellenbosch, the Witwatersrand and KwaZulu-Natal are working long hours either fielding calls at disaster management centres, screening and testing, or conducting contact tracing.

June 21 2020 - 6:56

Government eased lockdown to stave off economic 'massacre' in tourism sector

President Cyril Ramaphosa's announcement of the reopening of a range of businesses this week followed warnings of a major jobs bloodbath in the stricken tourism industry.

Ramaphosa said on Wednesday the cabinet had decided to allow restaurants, hotels, casinos, movie theatres and other tourism facilities to resume operations under level 3 of the lockdown.

June 21 2020 - 6:55

Covid-19 relief: NPA freezes 28 bank accounts as huge UIF ‘fraud’ comes to light

Nearly R6m in Covid-19 relief funds - intended for 200 workers at risk of starvation - were diverted to one man in what Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) investigators are calling a glaring instance of fraud and money-laundering.

In what appears to be a manipulation of the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) relief system that has given a lifeline to 3.6-million people, a large labour broker's Covid-19 Temporary Employment Relief Scheme (Ters) claim was allegedly paid to one man - Tshepang Phohole.

June 21 2020 - 12:08