COVID-19 WRAP | 'Earliest opportunity' for safe Covid-19 vaccine in mid-2021, says Gauteng GP

October 07 2020 - 17:25

Cigarettes 'exported' from SA during lockdown never got out: report

While tobacco companies in SA have denied being behind the large number of cigarettes available on the black market during the country's lockdown, a new report claims that the industry may indeed have had a hand.

When SA moved to reduced lockdown levels in May, the tobacco industry reached an agreement with the government that it could continue to produce cigarettes — but only for export. At the time, the sale, transport and distribution of tobacco and related products had been controversially outlawed.

But a Global Initiative Against Transnational Crime report has uncovered that at least 66% of cigarettes earmarked as “exports” did not make it out of South African borders, or did not reach their intended destination.

October 07 2020 - 13:20

EU has agreed supply of 20,000 additional doses of Remdesivir

The European Commission said on Wednesday it had agreed with U.S. company Gilead the supply of more than 20,000 additional doses of its COVID-19 drug Remdesivir, in a bid to tackle shortages of the medication in European countries.

A spokesman for the EU executive said Brussels had agreed with Gilead last Friday the supply of nearly 20,300 additional doses for the treatment of about 3,400 patients.

It said it had paid 7 million euros ($8.2 million) for the new supply, which is in addition to 30,000 courses of treatment it had bought at the end of July. 

-Reuters

October 07 2020 - 11:59

'Earliest opportunity' for safe Covid-19 vaccine in mid-2021, says Gauteng GP

South Africa could have a Covid-19 vaccine within the next nine to 10 months.

This is according to Gauteng-based general practitioner Dr Mark Holliday, who spoke to health minister Zweli Mkhize on Tuesday.

Holliday said a “safe” vaccine could be expected in SA by “mid-2021". 

October 07 2020 - 09:17

Current COVID-19 measures are best way of dealing with virus -UK minister

Local lockdowns and different restrictions across Britain are the best way for the country to deal with the coronavirus at the moment, trade minister Liz Truss said on Wednesday.

Asked about criticism that the measures are not working, Truss told BBC Radio: "The measures that we put in place are, whilst not measures that we would want to have to do in normal times, are the best way of dealing with it that we have now." 

-Reuters

October 07 2020 - 09:17

Cape Town warns of possible second wave of Covid-19

Cape Town's health department has expressed concerns over the increase in non-adherence to safety protocols, saying this could lead to a second wave of Covid-19 infections.

Mayoral committee member for community services and health, Zahid Badroodien, said some residents were no longer wearing face masks in public and social distancing protocols were being ignored by many businesses.

October 07 2020 - 08:40

Czech Republic's daily Covid-19 cases climb above 4,000 for first time

The Czech Republic reported 4,457 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, its highest one-day tally since the pandemic started, Health Ministry data showed on Wednesday.

The rise surpassed a previous record of 3,794 as the country has had one of Europe's fastest per-capita spikes in cases in the past month. In total, it has recorded 90,022 cases since March, along with 794 deaths.

-REUTERS

October 07 2020 - 08:30

Teachers, nurses and doctors are expected to join one-day walkout

Services such as health care and education are expected to be disrupted on Wednesday as public sector workers down tools and stay at home to protest against the government’s failure to implement wage increases.

Union leaders in three of the largest federations, Cosatu, Fedusa and the National Council of Trade Unions, have been on a collision course with the government after it backed out of a pay increase deal following finance minister Tito Mboweni’s huge budget cuts to contain rising government debt and a ballooning budget deficit.

-BusinessLIVE

October 07 2020 - 08:07

Ukraine sees record daily high of 4,753 new coronavirus cases - security council

Ukraine registered a record 4,753 Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, the national security council said on Wednesday, up from a previous record of 4,661 new cases reported on October 3.

The council said a total of 239,337 cases had been registered in Ukraine as of October 7, with 4,597 deaths, including 77 in the past 24 hours.

The daily tally of coronavirus infections spiked in late September and early October above 4,000, prompting the government to extend lockdown measures until the end of October.

-REUTERS

October 07 2020 - 07:07

'Second pandemic' could be mental health fallout as effects of Covid-19 are felt globally

The first global data on the impact of Covid-19 on mental health have been released, and the numbers are staggering.

Of 130 countries surveyed, 93% have seen “disrupted or halted critical mental services”, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), which carried out the survey.

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October 07 2020 - 06:00