COVID-19 WRAP | SA records 1,912 virus cases in the last 24-hours & Alcohol industry warns against breaking lockdown rules

October 30 2020 - 21:00

SA records 1,912 Covid-19 cases in the last 24-hours

October 30 2020 - 19:39

Gauteng records 'significant decline' in number of Covid-19 hospital admissions

Johannesburg still accounts for the majority of the Covid-19 infections in Gauteng, with 90,864 cases and 1,777 deaths.

By Thursday, the province had recorded 228,128 Covid-19 cumulative cases and 4,717 related deaths.   

This is according to provincial health spokesperson Kwara Kekana, who added that 207,316 recoveries had been recorded.  

October 30 2020 - 14:23

Covid-19 cases in England rose by 51,900 per day last week - ONS

New Covid-19 cases in England increased by around 51,900 each day last week, a steep increase on the 35,200 daily cases the week before, a survey by the Office for National Statistics said on Friday.

The ONS Infection Survey estimated 568,100 people had Covid-19 infections between 17 to 23 October, up from 433,300 the week before. 

-REUTERS

October 30 2020 - 13:59

Alcohol industry warns its colleagues against breaking lockdown regulations

Days after the SA Liquor Brand owners Association (Salba) appealed to President Cyril Ramaphosa to relax trading hours, it came out strongly against establishments breaking lockdown regulations.

Salba warned it would cut off supplies to those breaking the law.

“The industry has seen the devastating impact of the ban on the value chain. If establishments breaking the law lose their licence, collectively, we have agreed we will immediately stop servicing and supplying them,” said Salba CEO Kurt Moore.

October 30 2020 - 13:23

October 30 2020 - 12:54

Iran's coronavirus cases surpass 600,000 -Health Ministry

Iran’s confirmed Covid-19 cases crossed the 600,000 threshold on Friday with 8,011 infections identified in the past 24 hours, a Health Ministry spokeswoman told state TV, as the country’s death toll rose to 34,478.

Sima Sadat Lari said 365 people had died in the past 24 hours and the total number of infection cases reached 604,952.

-REUTERS

October 30 2020 - 12:17

October 30 2020 - 12:02

National Covid lockdown not inevitable, UK foreign minister says

A national lockdown in England is not inevitable to contain an increase in Covid-19 cases, British foreign minister Dominic Raab said on Friday, adding that a localised approach could work if everyone stuck to the rules for their area.

October 30 2020 - 11:15

October 30 2020 - 10:08

Russia's daily coronavirus cases surge above 18,000 to record high

Russia's daily tally of coronavirus cases surged to a record high of 18,283 on Friday, including 5,268 in Moscow, taking the national total to 1,599,976 since the pandemic began.

Authorities also reported 355 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the official death toll to 27,656.

-REUTERS

October 30 2020 - 08:28

Lonza to make Covid-19 antibody combination for AstraZeneca

Lonza Group has agreed with AstraZeneca to make AZD7442, an experimental combination of two antibodies that may be used to prevent and treat Covid-19, the Swiss contract manufacturer said on Friday.

AZD7442 is in Phase I clinical studies and AstraZeneca plans to advance the combination into Phase III trials in the coming weeks, Lonza said. Lonza will manufacture drug substance for AZD7442 at Lonza's facilities in the United States.

Operations are expected to start in the first half of 2021.

-REUTERS

October 30 2020 - 07:58

India records 48,648 new coronavirus cases

India saw a daily spurt of 48,648 coronavirus infections, taking its tally to 8.09 million, health ministry data showed on Friday.

India is the world's second worst affected country, after the United States, which has nearly 9 million infections and hit a daily record of more than 91,000 cases on Thursday.

Cases in India have been dipping since a peak hit in September, but experts have warned of a possible spike during the festival season, which runs until mid-November.

The death toll rose 563 to stand at 121,090, the ministry added.

-REUTERS

October 30 2020 - 07:09

U.S. breaks daily record for coronavirus cases with over 91,000 new infections

The United States broke its single-day record for new coronavirus infections on Thursday, reporting over 91,000 new cases, as hospitalizations also hit new highs in many states, according to a Reuters tally.

The spike in cases comes less a week before the presidential election on Tuesday.

Among the hardest hit by the latest COVID-19 surge are hotly contested states such as Ohio, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin that will play an important role in deciding whether Republican President Donald Trump gets a second term or Democratic challenger Joe Biden becomes president.

-REUTERS

October 30 2020 - 06:00

CoughWatchSA app to help with early detection of Covid-19 second wave

The CoughWatchSA will run as a pilot for the remainder of this year and will be officially launched as a complementary surveillance platform to current disease surveillance systems.