COVID-19 WRAP | Covid-19 airport screening relaxed for domestic passengers ahead of holidays

November 24 2020 - 21:24

SA passes 21,000 Covid-19 deaths, as daily positivity rate stays above 12%

SA's Covid-19 positivity rate was again above the 10% benchmark on Tuesday, as the health ministry confirmed 2,493 new cases in the past 24 hours from 20,288 tests.

This translates to a positivity rate of 12.2%.

The new cases means SA has now recorded 772,252 total infections.

November 24 2020 - 19:45

SA confirms going for COVAX vaccine scheme for 10% of population

SA is going with the COVAX global Covid-19 vaccine distribution scheme, with a committed purchase for 10% of its population of 58 million, a senior health official said on Tuesday.

Khadija Jamaloodien, director of affordable medicines at the health ministry, told Reuters SA had not yet signed the commitment agreement to participate in COVAX but would do so once officials had completed the necessary administrative processes.

She said the facility would give the country an early batch of vaccines with which to start protecting people.

-REUTERS

November 24 2020 - 17:15

Italy to get AstraZeneca Covid shots in early 2021, 70 million by mid-year

Italy will get 16 million shots of the potential Covid-19 vaccine developed by British drugmaker AstraZeneca in the first months of 2021 under a supply deal agreed at a European Union level, a government source said.

This initial supply will immunise 8 million people as the AstraZeneca vaccine will require an initial shot followed by a booster, the source told Reuters on Tuesday.

"Italy will receive 4 million shots as early as January and it will receive a further 12 million within the following three months", the source said, cautioning that this timing was subject to approval of the AstraZeneca and University of Oxford developed vaccine by the European Medicine Authority.

-REUTERS

November 24 2020 - 15:27

Russia's Sputnik Covid-19 vaccine to cost less than $20 per person internationally

Russia's Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine will cost less than $20 per person on international markets and Moscow aims to produce more than a billion doses at home and abroad next year, its backers and developers said on Tuesday.

The Sputnik vaccine is administered in two shots, each of which will cost less than $10 each, according to the official Sputnik V Twitter account. For Russian citizens, vaccination will be free of charge.

The pricing announcement comes as Russia looks to scale up distribution and production. Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia's RDIF sovereign wealth fund, said Moscow and its foreign partners had capacity to make more than a billion doses starting from next year, enough to vaccinate over 500 million people.

November 24 2020 - 14:34

Covid-19 airport screening relaxed for domestic passengers ahead of holidays

Travellers flying on domestic routes in SA will no longer have to fill in health questionnaires at airports.  

Airports Company SA (Acsa) confirmed the changes in a tweet on Tuesday.

Asked what the eased restrictions meant for domestic travellers, Acsa said: "The health questionnaire no longer needs to be completed. Temperature screening will be performed by airport staff at entrances to terminal buildings."

November 24 2020 - 13:00

Western Cape government warns of Covid-19 'super-spreaders' in malls ahead of Black Friday

The finance and economic opportunities department in the Western Cape has urged retailers to avoid congestion on Friday as scores of shoppers are expected to flood malls for Black Friday deals.

The department said while the sales will help boost businesses affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown, retailers are urged to ensure the occasion does not become a Covid-19 super-spreader.

November 24 2020 - 11:30

40,000 informal traders to each get R1,000 Covid-19 relief: here's how to check if you qualify

Small business development minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni has called on informal traders whose businesses have been impacted by Covid-19 to apply for funding of R1,000.

The minister said the initiative is a collaboration between the department and Nedbank, and aims to empower 40,000 small businesses.

“In a total contribution of R40m, qualifying traders will receive grants of R1,000 each. The money will be used to buy stock,” Ntshavheni said on Monday.

November 24 2020 - 10:20

Lockdown leads to surge in teen pregnancies

Lockdown has coincided with an increase in teenage pregnancy in sub-Saharan Africa, where 1 million pregnant teens face difficulties in returning to school.

According to World Vision, a humanitarian aid organisation, teenage pregnancy spiked during the Covid-19 crisis, and is now is threatening to bar 1 million girls across sub-Saharan Africa from returning to school.

In a study titled “Covid-19 Aftershock: Access Denied”, the organisation says the pandemic caused “additional and unanticipated disruption”.

November 24 2020 - 09:40

Traditional leaders urged to close initiation schools to curb the spread of Covid-19

The government has once again urged traditional leaders to help its efforts in arresting the spread of Covid-19 by suspending initiations.

On Monday, co-operative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) deputy minister Obed Bapela said while the department acknowledges the importance of this tradition, the safety of initiates is paramount.

November 24 2020 - 07:30

India records nearly 38,000 new coronavirus infections

India said on Tuesday it had recorded 37,975 new infections of coronavirus, with the daily increases, tallied by Reuters, remaining below the 50,000 mark for more than two weeks, having peaked in September.

The latest increase brought the total number of cases to 9.18 million, the health ministry said. Deaths rose by 480, with the total now at 134,218.

India has the second-highest number of cases in the world, after the United States.

-REUTERS

November 24 2020 - 07:00

Covid-19: Trains overcrowded as rail service battles with demand

While the country continues to endure hundreds of Covid-19 deaths weekly, commuters in Durban say they have no choice but to use overcrowded trains as the cheapest way to get to work.

The Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) blamed the overcrowded carriages on the shortage of trains in the province.