COVID-19 WRAP | 9,445 new cases recorded in SA

December 20 2020 - 21:36

Italy has patient with new strain of virus found in Britain

Italy has detected a patient infected with the new strain of the coronavirus also found in Britain, the health ministry said on Sunday.

The patient and his partner returned from the UK in the last few days with a flight that landed at Rome's Fiumicino airport and were now in isolation, the ministry said.

Britain's European neighbours began closing their doors to travellers from the UK on Sunday amid alarm about the rapidly spreading strain of coronavirus that has caused cases to soar there. 

- Reuters

December 20 2020 - 20:27

9,445 new cases recorded in SA

SA on Sunday recorded 9,445 new cases of Covid-19, and 152 more deaths. 

Most of the deaths in the last 24 hours occurred in the Eastern Cape, with 105.

This brings the total number of deaths in the country to 24,691.

December 20 2020 - 18:56

Germany to restrict flights to and from SA and Britain

Germany plans to impose restrictions on flights from and to SA and Britain after the two countries reported identifying a new coronavirus strain, a government spokesman said on Sunday.

He said that the government was working on new travel rules and was in contact with European Union partners.

December 20 2020 - 18:43

Italy reports 352 Covid-19 deaths on Sunday, 15,104 new cases

Italy reported 352 coronavirus-related deaths on Sunday against 553 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections decreased to 15,104 from 16,308.

There were 137,420 swab tests carried out in the past day, down from a previous 176,185 the ministry said.

The first Western country hit by the virus, Italy has seen 68,799 Covid-19 fatalities since its outbreak emerged in February, the highest toll in Europe and the fifth-highest in the world. It has also registered more than 1.95 million cases to date.

- Reuters

December 20 2020 - 17:16

Church gathering ignites 48 Covid-19 cases as virus spreads in KZN

A church gathering attended by more than 2,000 people has contributed to the increased rate of Covid-19 infections in KwaZulu-Natal.

Premier Sihle Zikalala said during a media briefing on Sunday that this gathering resulted in at least 48 Covid-19 infections. Zikalala added that the province had recorded a number of cluster outbreaks within health-care settings, at church gatherings, retail shops, funerals, ceremonies and parties.

December 20 2020 - 16:31

Dutch register record 13,032 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday 

Coronavirus cases in the Netherlands jumped by more than 13,000 in 24 hours to hit another record, data released by Dutch health authorities on Sunday showed.

Covid-19 infections in the country have continued to rise despite new, stringent lockdown measures imposed by the government on December 14 which included closing schools and shops.

The 13,302 new cases reported by the National Institute for Health (RIVM) on Sunday surpasses the previous record 12,779 recorded on Thursday.

- Reuters

December 20 2020 - 16:07

Covid-19 surge and trauma patients put Western Cape hospitals under 'severe strain'

Hospitals across the Western Cape were under “severe pressure” on Sunday due to a sharp increase in patients with severe Covid-19.

The provincial health department said in a statement that a steep increase in non Covid-19 trauma cases was also putting additional strain on its hospitals. ICU beds at public hospitals in the province were technically full.

December 20 2020 - 14:38

Covid-19 related stress on the rise in SA

Luvuyo Mnyute, who lives in Cape Town, always spends the end-of-year holiday at his ancestral home in East London.

This year there will be no family reunion and Mnyute, a diabetic, has even put his 20th wedding anniversary celebrations on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic. He is one of thousands of South Africans who have decided to stay away from their loved ones this Christmas for fear of the virus.

December 20 2020 - 14:17

Bulgaria expects Covid-19 vaccinations to start December 27

Bulgaria plans to start vaccinations against Covid-19 on December 27 in three of its main cities, chief health inspector Angel Kunchev said on Sunday.

Along with other European Union members, Bulgaria has been waiting for the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to approve the vaccine developed by US drug company Pfizer and BioNTech. The EMA is expected to make an announcement on December 21.

Kunchev said that trucks loaded with vaccine shots are expected to ship from Belgium to all European Union member states on December 24 and estimated the batch for Bulgaria will arrive in the country late on December 25 or early on December 26.

"We are prepared and will start vaccinations from the following day, December 27, in hospitals in the cities of Sofia, Varna and Burgas," he told BNT TV channel.

-Reuters

December 20 2020 - 10:58

Christmas under lockdown for UK as new variant of Covid-19 surges

Prime minister Boris Johnson has imposed an effective lockdown on almost 18 million people in England and reversed plans to ease curbs over Christmas, saying Britain was dealing with a new coronavirus strain that is up to 70% more transmissible than the original.

Though Johnson and his scientific advisers believe vaccines will still be effective, and the new strain is not more deadly or more serious in terms of the illness caused, the prime minister said on Saturday the government had to take urgent action.

December 20 2020 - 10:12

Covid-19: SA has more than 100,000 active cases

There are 100,156 active cases of Covid-19 in SA, according to the latest update by the health ministry.

“The cumulative number of cases stands at 912,477 with 10,939 new cases identified since the last report,” health minister Zweli Mkhize said in a statement on Saturday evening.

There were 254 more Covid-19 related deaths over 24 hours: Eastern Cape 85, Free State 12, Gauteng 18, KwaZulu-Natal 61, Limpopo four and the Western Cape 74.

December 20 2020 - 06:53

Gauteng stumbling in the dark on Covid stats

Health experts agree that unless Gauteng sorts out the reporting of its Covid-19 numbers, it will be difficult to plan a response to the pandemic.

Last month the province had to be excluded from the national statistics because health authorities needed to reconcile their data, health minister Zweli Mkhize said at the time.

But just over a week ago, provincial health spokesperson Kwara Kekana told the Sunday Times she had taken a look at the numbers and they did not appear to have been reconciled.

December 20 2020 - 06:17

Worldwide coronavirus cases cross 75.06 million, death toll at 1,679,707

More than 75.06 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 1,679,707​ have died, according to a Reuters tally.

Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019. 

-REUTERS

December 20 2020 - 06:13

Covid-19 second wave: Now, not so lekker by the seaside

Tourism establishments are drowning in debt and cancellations following the closure of beaches by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday.

And legal action against the government is growing, as the Kouga local municipality in the Eastern Cape - home to Jeffreys Bay's famous surfing beach, Supertubes - prepares to file an urgent application in the high court in Pretoria tomorrow.

This comes as the DA takes Ramaphosa, co-operative governance & traditional affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and health minister Zweli Mkhize to the high court in Cape Town.

And in the southern Cape, the Great Brak Business Forum, Western Cape businessperson Louis Cook and civil rights organisation AfriForum on Tuesday filed a motion to have the closure of beaches in the Eastern Cape, Garden Route and KwaZulu-Natal declared unconstitutional.

December 20 2020 - 06:02

Swoop on fake masks as new Covid-19 variant hits SA

As SA rides the tsunami of a second surge of Covid-19 and a new ultra-infectious variant, authorities have moved to tighten the licensing and regulation of face masks - after a study found that some KN95 masks distributed to health-care workers were not effective.

The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) says the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) is probing six charges against companies supplying non-compliant masks.

This comes as the presence of a new variant of the virus - spreading fast and "making young and previously healthy people severely ill" - was announced by health minister Zweli Mkhize this week.