COVID-19 WRAP | SA records 792 new Covid-19 cases & more than 10,000 arrested in KZN for not wearing masks
February 22 2021 - 22:36
SA records 792 new Covid-19 cases
SA’s cumulative number of Covid-19 cases is 1,504,588 with 792 new cases identified over the past 24-hours, health minister Zweli Mkhize said on Monday evening.
An additional 97 deaths were reported countrywide, taking the total since the start of the pandemic to 49,150.
“The number of health care workers vaccinated under the Sisonke Protocol is 23,059 as of 6pm on February 22,” said Mkhize.
“Our recoveries now stand at 1 413 566, representing a recovery rate of 93,9%.”
February 22 2021 - 17:09
Health-care workers clamouring to get Covid-19 vaccination urged to remain calm
Senior health experts driving SA's biggest inoculation programme have called for calm among health-care workers who fear missing out on the Covid-19 vaccine, saying that all of them will be helped.
Chaos erupted at Steve Biko Academic Hospital — one of the country’s Covid-19 vaccination sites — on Sunday when hundreds of health-care workers who had battled to register on an electronic vaccine data system descended on the site.
This saw many who had successfully registered on the system unable to get their jab and being turned away.
February 22 2021 - 14:09
Some KZN health workers have declined Covid-19 vaccine: health MEC
KwaZulu-Natal health MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu says some health workers have refused to be vaccinated and won't be forced to do so.
She was speaking at a media briefing on Sunday, where she said there were "a couple" who have refused to be vaccinated.
"The president and the minister have always indicated that no-one is going to be forced to vaccinate.
"But we are all required and requested to vaccinate so that we are able to reach that herd immunity percentage that is needed."
February 22 2021 - 14:02
More than 10,000 arrested in KZN for not wearing face masks
More than 10,000 people have been arrested since December for not wearing face masks in KwaZulu-Natal.
Provincial police spokesperson Brig Jay Naicker on Monday said the police and security forces arrested 14,653 people during multi-disciplinary operations across the province.
“Because of operations carried out from December 29 until February 21, 14,653 individuals were arrested for contraventions of level 3 lockdown regulations in the province. During the same period, 10,701 people were arrested in public spaces for not wearing a mask.
February 22 2021 - 11:32
Tenants in arrears, slump in parking fees: Covid-19 hurts centres like Sandton City
SA’s Liberty Two Degrees (L2D), which owns malls in prime locations in Johannesburg and Cape Town, said on Monday its full year profit more than halved due to lower rental income and the temporary closure of shops and hotels during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In line with government’s guidance, malls partially closed in SA in late March last year with only essential services outlets allowed to trade during the initial hard lockdown that lasted until May.
The closure of some shops also prompted landlords and tenants to negotiate lower rental fees.
February 22 2021 - 08:24
Friend allegedly kills friend at unruly ‘after tears’ event
Spinning, attacking police officers and vehicles and a fatal shooting.
A 31-year-old man is expected to appear before the Emalahleni magistrate’s court on Monday after he allegedly shot his 24-year-old friend who later succumbed to the gunshot wound in hospital.
Police spokesperson Brig Leonard Hlathi said the shooting took place at about 2pm on Saturday at Clewer near Witbank when the pair argued after attending a funeral.
February 22 2021 - 07:30
U.S. nears 500,000 Covid-19 deaths as Biden plans commemoration
The United States faces a dark milestone this week despite a recent decline in COVID-19 cases as it prepares to mark a staggering half-million deaths, with President Joe Biden planning to memorialize the lives lost.
While the number of COVID-19 cases fell for the fifth straight week and officials scrambled to inoculate the population, the nation was poised to reach 500,000 deaths from the highly infectious respiratory disease.
-REUTERS
February 22 2021 - 07:00
Handling Covid-19 with no government clinic in sight
The Xhora Mouth area of the Eastern Cape is about 100km from Mthatha by car. The first 60km is a sporadically potholed tar road, the last 40km a dirt road.
There is no piped water in the area and the electricity grid has yet to reach it. Solar panels and water tanks are a common sight. And the hills fade from vivid green to light grey as they stretch endlessly into the distance, contrasting underdevelopment with breathtaking beauty.