COVID-19 WRAP | SA records 1,480 new Covid-19 cases

September 25 2020 - 19:22

SA records 1,480 new Covid-19 cases

South Africa recorded 1,480 new Covid-19 cases and 29 deaths in the past 24 hours, health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize said on Friday.

He said the country now has 668 529 recorded cases..

September 25 2020 - 19:22

Covid-19 a 'life-changing' event for Western Cape nurse

Contracting Covid-19 was a “life-changing” event that gave a Western Cape male nurse a different “perspective” on life.

Leonard Maschilla contracted Covid-19 while he was part of a team that was screening  more than 95, 000 Drakenstein community members, the provincial government said in a media statement.

September 25 2020 - 18:00

Government and Nehawu agree more talks are needed to address workers' grievances

The government and the country's largest public sector trade union, the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu), have agreed to more talks about issues concerning collective bargaining and workplace conditions, particularly in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A government delegation led by President Cyril Ramaphosa met the Nehawu leadership in Pretoria on Friday after the union's submission of a memorandum to the government earlier this month.

September 25 2020 - 17:13

Bloom refuses to retract criticism of suspended health MEC Bandile Masuku

DA spokesperson on health in Gauteng, Jack Bloom, said he will not retract a statement he made last week alleging financial mismanagement at the Nasrec field hospital in Johannesburg.

On Thursday, through his legal team, suspended health MEC Dr Bandile Masuku threatened legal action if Bloom does not apologise and retract his statements. He gave Bloom 24-hours to retract his statement regarding the admission of patients at the Nasrec field hospital.

September 25 2020 - 14:17

Gauteng takes disciplinary, civil action against officials over PPE wrongdoing

Gauteng has already initiated disciplinary steps and civil action against senior government officials implicated in wrongdoing in line with the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) progress report, says premier David Makhura.

Makhura said his government received a progress report from the SIU on September 22 about the ongoing investigation into irregularities in the procurement of goods and services related to the government response to the Covid-19 pandemic in the province.

“Details will be announced next week, once all due legal processes have been concluded,” Makhura said.

September 25 2020 - 13:53

Black Friday online sales could get boost from coronavirus pandemic

Black Friday could get an online boost from the coronavirus pandemic as shoppers embrace the “new norm” of not flocking to retail stores unnecessarily.

bidorbuy CEO Craig Lubbe said they were anticipating very high demand for online shopping during the bargain day.

“South Africans became a lot more conscious of their health and safety during lockdown, and footfall in malls has still not returned to the levels before Covid-19, which suggests consumers are, understandably, still wary of visiting stores in large numbers,” said Lubbe.

September 25 2020 - 13:17

Novavax signs manufacturing deal with Endo for potential Covid-19 vaccine

Novavax Inc has signed an agreement with Endo International for manufacturing its experimental Covid-19 vaccine, the generic drugmaker said on Friday.

Endo said its unit Par Sterile has begun production of the final drug product, with initial batches to be used in Novavax's phase-3 clinical trial in the United States.

—Reuters

September 25 2020 - 11:33

Iran, Russia discussing joint production of Covid-19 vaccine

Iran and Russia's sovereign wealth fund RDIF are discussing the joint production of a vaccine against Covid-19, Russian news agencies cited the Iranian ambassador to Moscow as saying on Friday.

"We are holding talks, I spoke with the head of RDIF Kirill Dmitriev, our officials have held several rounds of consultations and we announced that we will co-operate," Ambassador to Moscow Kazem Jalali was cited as saying.

Thus far, Russia has struck a manufacturing partnership deal with India, which is due to produce 300 million doses of the 'Sputnik-V' vaccine domestically. It is also discussing such partnerships with several other countries, including Brazil. 

—Reuters

September 25 2020 - 11:25

SA drops to 10th for Covid-19 cases as Argentina's infections surge

SA has dropped to 10th position on the Worldometers ranking of countries affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

This comes as the cumulative number of infections in SA sits at 667,049 and the death toll at 16,283, according to statistics released by health minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize on Thursday. 

The number of new infections has been steadily declining, with the country recording fewer than 10,000 in the past week.

September 25 2020 - 11:08

China's annual production capacity of Covid-19 vaccines expected to reach 610 million doses by end-2020

China's annual production capacity of Covid-19 vaccines is expected to reach 610 million doses by end-2020, the country's National Health Commission said on Friday.

Production capacity of the vaccines is forecast to reach 1 billion doses per year by 2021, Zheng Zhongwei, Director General of the Development Centre for Medical Science and Technology of the commission, told a news briefing.  

—Reuters

September 25 2020 - 10:48

China's Clover says its coronavirus vaccine candidate showed promise in animal test

An experimental coronavirus vaccine developed by China's Clover Biopharmaceuticals appeared to be safe and able to trigger immune responses in animal tests, researchers have said.

The result of the study on monkeys comes months after Clover began an early stage human trial in Australia in June, as global drug makers race to develop a safe and effective vaccine that can protect people from the Covid-19 pandemic that has killed nearly 1 million people.

Clover's vaccine candidate, which is partly funded by a global vaccine research coalition, uses adjuvants, ingredients that could boost immune responses, from Britain's GlaxoSmithKline and US-based Dynavax Technologies.

—Reuters

September 25 2020 - 09:09

Russia agrees to supply 35 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine to Uzbekistan 

Russia's sovereign wealth fund said on Friday it had agreed to supply up to 35 million doses of the Russian experimental vaccine against Covid-19 to Uzbekistan's Laxisam, a pharmaceutical company.

The deal is one of several agreed by the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) in recent weeks to supply the vaccine, which is currently being tested in a large-scale trial in Moscow, abroad.

It has also inked supply deals with Kazakhstan, India, Mexico and two states in Brazil. 

— Reuters

September 25 2020 - 08:23

Churches excited to open doors for congregants to worship under level 1

With the easing of lockdown and the country slowly moving towards more freedom, churches are polishing their pews and stocking up on hand sanitiser.

The new Covid-19 alert level one regulations came into play on Monday.

When President Cyril Ramaphosa made the announcement last week, he also announced an increase in the number of people allowed to attend religious gatherings. 

September 25 2020 - 07:46

Ramaphosa to meet Nehawu to discuss safety of health workers as they fight virus