COVID-19 WRAP | SA records 1,385 Covid-19 cases over the last 24-hour cycle

April 24 2021 - 23:13

SA records 1,385 Covid-19 cases over the last 24-hour cycle

April 24 2021 - 14:16

Indian hospitals turn away patients in Covid-19 'tsunami'

Overwhelmed hospitals in India begged for oxygen supplies on Saturday as the country's coronavirus infections soared again overnight in a “tsunami” of disease, setting a new world record for cases for the third consecutive day.

Max Healthcare, which runs a network of hospitals in north India, tweeted that it had less than two hours of oxygen left while Fortis Healthcare, another big chain, said it was suspending new admissions in Delhi.

“We are running on backup, waiting for supplies since morning,” Fortis said.

April 24 2021 - 13:05

Cambodia closes markets to curb Covid-19, thousands plead for food

Cambodia closed all markets in the capital Phnom Penh on Saturday to contain a spike in coronavirus infections as thousands of families plead for food during a two-week lockdown.

The Southeast Asian country has one of the world's smallest coronavirus caseloads, but an outbreak that started in late February has seen overall cases spike to 8,848 and 61 deaths.

Phnom Penh went into lockdown on April 15 and has declared some districts "red zones," banning people from leaving their homes except for medical reasons.

Reuters

April 24 2021 - 10:27

South Korea signs with Pfizer for extra 40 million Covid-19 vaccine doses

South Korea said on Saturday it signed a contract with Pfizer Inc to purchase an additional 40 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine amid fears of spiking infections at home.

That brings the current amount of Pfizer vaccines to 66 million doses, it said in a statement.

It added that it had secured a total 192 million doses of vaccines, including those from Moderna Inc, AstraZeneca PLC, Johnson & Johnson's and Novavax.

Reuters

April 24 2021 - 09:26

Survived Covid-19? This is why you are not off the hook for illness and death

If you're among the 1.5 million South Africans who have recovered from Covid-19 but remain unwell, you are far from alone.

In what is believed to be the largest study yet of “long Covid”, US researchers have catalogued numerous diseases and discovered that survivors — even those who were not hospitalised — have an increased risk of death in the six months after diagnosis.

The findings echo a report last December to health minister Zweli Mkhize from the ministerial advisory committee on Covid-19.

April 24 2021 - 09:00

India's daily coronavirus cases climb to new world record as hospitals buckle

India's coronavirus infections rose by 346,786 overnight, the health ministry said on Saturday, setting a new world record for the third consecutive day, as overwhelmed hospitals in the densely-populated country begged for oxygen supplies.

India is in the grip of a rampaging second wave of the pandemic, hitting a rate of one Covid-19 death in just under every four minutes in Delhi as the capital's underfunded health system buckles.

The government has deployed military planes and trains to get oxygen from the far corners of the country to Delhi.

Reuters