COVID-19 WRAP | SA has recorded 1,413 Covid-19 cases over the last 24-hour cycle

April 22 2021 - 20:18

SA has recorded 1,413 Covid-19 cases over the last 24-hour cycle

Covid-19 cases have increased by 1,413 since Wednesday, the health ministry said in an update on Thursday evening.

This brings the cumulative number of cases in SA to 1,571,348.

“Today, 55 Covid-19 related deaths have been reported: Eastern Cape 11, Free State 14, Gauteng 20, KwaZulu-Natal three, Limpopo 0, Mpumalanga one, North West 0, Northern Cape 0 and Western Cape six, which brings the total to 53,995 deaths.”

Cumulative recoveries stand at 1,496,756 representing a recovery rate of 95%.

Over the past 24-hours, 34,493 tests were completed.

April 22 2021 - 18:00

Local government elections could be postponed by Covid-19 spike: IEC

Electoral Commission CEO Sy Mamabolo says the commission cannot rule out this year's local government elections being postponed by Covid-19.

Mamabalo was answering questions at a press conference on Thursday about the elections.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Wednesday that the official date for the elections would be October 27. His announcement came amid calls from some opposition parties, led by Julius Malema's EFF, to postpone the elections because of Covid-19.

April 22 2021 - 16:29

African countries urged not to waste Covid-19 vaccines after expiry fears

The AU's disease control body and the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Thursday urged African countries not to waste Covid-19 vaccines donated to them, after confusion in Malawi and South Sudan about whether doses they received had expired.

Malawi has said it plans to destroy more than 16,000 doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India because the shots were not administered before the April 13 expiry date on the packaging. The doses were supplied via the AU thanks to a donation from MTN.

South Sudan has set aside 59,000 doses supplied by the AU and is not using them because of the same expiry issue, a government official said last week.

April 22 2021 - 16: 11

Sweden not ready to lift Covid restrictions, but PM says end in sight

Sweden, which has shunned lockdowns throughout the pandemic, will postpone a tentative plan to ease some Covid-19 restrictions, due to the ongoing high levels of new infections, the government said on Thursday.

Sweden is experiencing a third wave of the virus and the number of patients being treated in intensive care is at the highest level since the spring of last year.

"When the strain on health care eases and the spread of infection drops, only then will the government be ready to start lifting restrictions," prime minister Stefan Lofven told a news conference. "But we are not there yet."

The restrictions will be prolonged until mid-May and mean restaurants will have to close at 8:30pm and that shops and malls can only let in limited numbers of customers. Sport venues and public pools will remain effectively closed to visitors.

Lofven pleaded with people to hold out for a while longer, but said that the vaccination programme meant there was light at the end of the tunnel. "We are, perhaps, seeing the beginning of the end," he said.

Reuters

April 22 2021 - 13:31

Government to lift J&J vaccine suspension, 1 million more doses coming by Monday

President Cyril Ramaphosa's cabinet has agreed to lift the suspension of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) Sisonke vaccination programme, acting minister in the presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said on Thursday.

The programme was suspended last week as a precautionary measure after US federal health agencies recommended pausing use of J&J's vaccine because of rare cases of blood clots.

“The re-implementation will commence as soon as the department is ready with all the systems,” said Ntshavheni.

April 22 2021 - 11:50

Thailand says Russia agrees to supply Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

Russia has accepted in principle a request by Thailand to provide the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine to the Southeast Asian country, Thai government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri said on Thursday.

Details on the amount of vaccine, the price and the timeframe for delivery would be determined in future discussions between the company importing the vaccine and the Thai health ministry, he said.

-REUTERS

April 22 2021 - 09:15

Red flag for India as it smashes record for world's biggest single-day rise in coronavirus cases

India marked a new milestone in the Covid-19 pandemic on Thursday, reporting 314,835 new daily cases, the highest one-day tally anywhere, as its second wave and similar surges elsewhere raised new fears about the ability of health services to cope.

Hospitals across northern and western India, including the capital, New Delhi, have issued notices to say they have only a few hours of medical oxygen required to keep Covid-19 patients alive.

More than two-thirds of hospitals had no vacant beds, according to the Delhi government's online data base and doctors advised patients to stay at home.

April 22 2021 - 08:40

Syria gets 200,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine under COVAX scheme - U.N. officials

Syria's government has received its first delivery of COVID-19 vaccines through the global COVAX initiative, with almost 200,000 doses of the AstraZeneca shot, U.N officials said on Thursday.

A joint statement by UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the GAVI vaccine alliance said the delivery was "critical and timely" and would help health workers "to continue delivering life-saving services in an already exhausted health system as a result of the decade-long war."

Another 53,800 vaccines were delivered to the opposition-held north-west, which the statement said was an area that has seen large-scale displacement after a major hostilities last year. The statement said more deliveries were planned in coming weeks and months.

-REUTERS

April 22 2021 - 07:12

India records over 300,000 new Covid-19 cases

India on Thursday reported more than 300,000 coronavirus cases over the last 24 hours, the highest daily global total, while COVID-19-related deaths also jumped by a record.

India's daily jump in cases of 314,835 surpasses the previous highest one-day rise in the world of 297,430 cases posted by the United States in January.

India's total cases are now at 15.93 million, while deaths rose by 2,104 to reach a total of 184,657, according to health ministry data.

-REUTERS