COVID-19 WRAP | 110 Covid-19 related deaths reported

September 6 2020 - 21:24

638,517 confirmed Covid-19 cases recorded with 1,633 new cases identified

The total number of tests conducted to date is 3 800 190 with 16 367 new tests conducted in the past 24 hours.

There has been 110 Covid-19 related deaths: 31 from KwaZulu-Natal, 24 from Gauteng, 7 from Eastern Cape, 9 from Free State, 1 from Western Cape and 38 from Mpumalanga.

14 889 is the total number of Covid-19 related deaths thus far and recoveries now stand at 563 891 which translates to a recovery rate of 88%.

September 6 2020 - 18:57

France reports 7,071 new daily Covid-19 infections

French health authorities reported 7,071 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Sunday, down from Saturday's 8,550 and also below Friday's peak of 8,975.

Friday's figure had set a new all-time high of daily additional infections for the country. The number of people hospitalised for the disease over the last seven days reached 1,704, of which 288 were in intensive care units.

The number of people in France who have died from Covid-19 increased by 3 to 30,701, and the cumulative number of cases now totals 324,777.

France must stay vigilant as more people will be hospitalised in intensive care units in the next two weeks, reflecting a flare-up in Covid-19 infections in recent days, Health Minister Olivier Veran said on Saturday.

- Reuters

September 6 2020 - 17:00

UK records 2,988 new coronavirus cases, highest since May

Britain said on Sunday it had recorded 2,988 new daily coronavirus cases, up from 1,813 on Saturday to the highest level since May 23.

The number of fatalities, however, remained at a low level, with two reported deaths within 28 days of a positive Covid-19 test in the previous 24 hours, government data showed.

- Reuters

September 6 2020 - 15:00

'One vaccine isn't enough': Mexico aims for its own coronavirus fix

Mexico is working to produce its own Covid-19 vaccines and could have one ready by next spring, according to a researcher coordinating local efforts amid a global race to tame a disease that has infected over 26.75 million people worldwide.

Esther Orozco, coordinator of the scientific group that represents Mexico at the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, said research based on a virus that transmits the avian Newcastle disease is the most viable candidate to produce the first vaccine in Mexico.

Orozco said the vaccine, developed by the private firm Laboratorio Avimex with researchers from Mexico's main public university, UNAM, and the Mexican Social Security Institute, is ready to start the first phase of testing with humans.

"They are advanced," Orozco told Reuters in an interview. "I think it's going to be ready by spring or the start of summer."

She said the Avimex vaccine trials will begin with "dozens of humans." A second stage will see "hundreds of patients" before thousands of volunteers take part in final Phase 3 studies.

- Reuters

September 6 2020 - 14:17

Too early to celebrate decline in Covid-19 stats, says KZN premier

KwaZulu-Natal premier Sihle Zikalala says it is too early for the province to start celebrating the decline in Covid-19 cases. 

September 6 2020 - 13:57

Costa Rica researchers to trial coronavirus treatment from horse antibodies

Researchers in Costa Rica are due to begin trials of an inexpensive coronavirus treatment based on antibodies taken from horses injected with the SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, according to scientists.

Developed by University of Costa Rica's Clodomiro Picado Institute (ICP), the equine antibodies medication is to be tested on 26 patients from mid-September, Roman Macaya, president of the Social Security Fund that manages public health centers, told Reuters.

Costa Rican authorities hope to be able to begin applying the treatment more widely in hospitals if the results from the phase 2 study are encouraging.

- Reuters

September 6 2020 - 11:12

Russia reports 5,195 new coronavirus cases and 61 deaths

Russia reported 5,195 new coronavirus cases on Sunday taking its total to 1,025,505, the fourth highest in the world.

The Russian coronavirus crisis centre said 61 deaths had been confirmed in the past 24 hours, bringing the official death toll to 17,820.

- Reuters

September 6 2020 - 10:23

Nothing to see: Covid-19 origins off-limits as China's Wuhan touts recovery

The Huanan seafood market in the Chinese city of Wuhan, believed by many to be the origin of the Covid-19 pandemic, is sealed behind a blue perimeter fence. A large team of security staff chases away anyone who lingers.

“We are just doing our job,” said a guard in black who ordered a Reuters reporter to delete footage recorded near the market's main gates. He identified himself as a worker from the city government's epidemic prevention and control team.

September 6 2020 - 10:01

ANC patron gets R77m tender for cops' masks

The police awarded a multimillion-rand mask tender to an ANC donor who is being probed by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) for irregularities in connection with the R2.7bn Giyani water project.

In April, the police gave LTE Consulting a R77m tender to supply 3-million masks. LTE is owned by Thulani Majola, who is at the centre of the SIU investigation of how a project to supply water to villagers in Giyani, Limpopo, ballooned from R100m to R2.7bn - and is still incomplete.

September 6 2020 - 9:44

India reports global daily record of new coronavirus cases

India added more than 90,000 cases of the novel coronavirus on Sunday, a global daily record, according to data from the federal health ministry.

There were 90,632 new cases in the 24 hours to Sunday, according to the data from the ministry of health and family welfare, while the number of deaths rose by 1,065 to 70,626.

The country is set to pass Brazil on Monday as the second most affected country by total infections and will be behind only the US, which has 6.4-million cases and nearly 193,000 deaths.

Coronavirus cases in India have reached 4.1-million and about 3.2-million affected people have been treated so far, the government data showed.

Medical experts said the country was seeing a second wave of the pandemic in some parts of the country, and that case numbers have surged because of increased testing and the easing of restrictions on public movement.

India has logged the world's largest daily coronavirus case load for almost a month even as its government pushes to open businesses to revive a contracting economy. 

- Reuters

September 6 2020 - 8:17

Australia's Covid-19 epicentre extends hard lockdown, gradual easing through November

Australia's coronavirus hotspot state of Victoria on Sunday extended a hard lockdown in its capital Melbourne by two weeks to the end of September as infection rates have declined more slowly than hoped.

State Premier Daniel Andrews on Sunday extended the hard lockdown, in place since August 2, to September 28 with a slight relaxation, and mapped out a gradual easing of restrictions over the following two months.

Melbourne's stage 4 restrictions, which had been due to end on September 13, shut most of the economy, limited people's movements to a 5km zone around their homes for one hour a day and imposed a night time curfew.

September 6 2020 - 8:01

Lockdown pressure cooker boils away love

SA's Covid-19 lockdown has spawned a new epidemic - of broken marriages.

A company that offers online divorce and mediation services reports a 20% increase in new divorce cases after the six weeks of level 5 lockdown, and Cape Town divorce lawyer Bertus Preller said his practice had been even busier than during the usual post-holiday "divorce season" in February and March.

September 6 2020 - 7:54

China's CNBG, Sinovac find more countries to test coronavirus vaccines

China National Biotec Group (CNBG) and Sinovac Biotech Ltd said on Saturday they have each found two more countries to run late-stage clinical tests of their coronavirus vaccine candidates, as China steps up its efforts in the global race.

Serbia and Pakistan have agreed to participate in the Phase 3 trials of CNBG's vaccine candidates while Sinovac has received approval from Turkey and Bangladesh.

The two companies are seeking more data from overseas as new cases in China are dwindling.

Serbia will test two vaccines developed by CNBG's Wuhan and Beijing units, and Pakistan will test the Beijing unit's candidate, the company told Reuters.

CNBG's Phase 3 trials are expected to involve 50,000 people in about 10 countries, said CNBG vice president Zhang Yuntao. Trials have already begun in United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Peru, Morocco, Argentina and Jordan.

- Reuters

September 6 2020 - 7:52

Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 988 to 249,985

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 988 to 249,985, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Sunday.

The reported death toll rose by one to 9,325, the tally showed. 

- Reuters

September 6 2020 - 7:49

South Korea's coronavirus cases at 3-week low, below 200 for fourth day

South Korea on Sunday reported the smallest rise in coronavirus infections in three weeks, remaining under 200 for a fourth consecutive day as tighter restrictions cap a second wave.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 167 cases of the new coronavirus for the 24 hours through midnight Saturday, down from 168 the previous day.

That brings the country's total infections to 21,177 with 334 Covid-19 deaths.

Success in crushing early outbreaks was partially reversed after a wave infections among members of a church spread when they attended a political rally in mid-August.

Daily infections have hovered below 200 for four days after peaking at 441 in late August, as tougher social distancing curbs have taken effect.

- Reuters

September 6 2020 - 7:46

Mainland China reports 10 new Covid-19 cases, unchanged from a day earlier

Mainland China reported 10 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday, unchanged from a day earlier, the country's national health authority said on Sunday.

The National Health Commission said in a statement that all the new cases were imported, marking the 21st consecutive day with no locally transmitted infections.

The number of new asymptomatic cases rose to 17 from eight a day earlier. China does not count asymptomatic infections as confirmed Covid-19 cases.

The total confirmed Covid-19 cases for mainland China now stands at 85,122, while the death toll remained unchanged at 4,634.

- Reuters

September 6 2020 - 7:39

SA's PPE disgrace: 'substandard' anti-Covid masks fail quality tests

Four companies have been charged and dozens more are being investigated for providing substandard personal protective equipment (PPE), which heightens the risk of spreading Covid-19 and endangers health-care workers.

The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) confirmed that alongside the police's organised crime unit, the Hawks and the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), it is investigating PPE manufacturers and suppliers for "the supply of substandard or falsified PPE" intended for use in health-care institutions, including aged-care facilities.

September 6 2020 - 7:30

Mexico records 6,319 new coronavirus cases, 475 more deaths

Mexico's health ministry on Saturday reported 6,319 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections and 475 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 629,409 cases and 67,326 deaths.

The government has said the real number of infected people is likely to be significantly higher than the confirmed cases.

- Reuters