COVID-19 WRAP | Nearly half of the new Covid-19 infections recorded in Gauteng

May 20 2021 - 21:09

Motshekga says department lost more than 1,600 teachers to Covid-19

Basic education minister Angie Motshekga has revealed how the Covid-19 pandemic damaged her department.

Addressing parliament during the budget debate for basic education, Motshekga said: “Covid-19 had a very devastating effect on our sector. The analysis we have made... shows that up to February 2021 we lost about 1,678 educators.

“Unfortunately, the sector lost the MEC for education in the Northern Cape, we lost the superintendent-general for education in the Eastern Cape, we lost the president of Natu [National Teachers Union].”

May 20 2021 - 16:07

Vaccine explainer: when will I get my shot?

The government began providing Covid-19 vaccines to the public on May 17, after the Sisonke study for healthcare workers came to an end. The big question now on everyone’s mind is: “When will I get my shot?”

May 20 2021 - 14:52

Cosatu not happy with government's slow Covid-19 vaccination rollout

Tripartite alliance partner Cosatu has slammed the government’s slow pace in the rolling out the Covid-19 vaccine, saying the “excuses are unacceptable and unjustifiable”.

“We hope that government will iron out the bureaucratic inadequacies that have led to many delays in the vaccination process, since the beginning of the year. Reaching the 67% population immunity level is critical to saving lives and livelihoods,” Cosatu said in a statement released on Thursday.

The labour federation held a three-day ordinary central executive committee (CEC) meeting, in which it discussed organisational, political, international and socioeconomic issues facing workers and the working class in general.

May 20 2021 - 13:19

DA councillor in court for Covid-19 relief 'fraud and money laundering'

A City of Cape Town councillor appeared in court on Thursday accused of siphoning Covid-19 employee relief funds.

DA ward councillor Nora Grose, 64, was released on R10,000 bail after a brief appearance in the Atlantis magistrate's court on charges of fraud and money laundering, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) said in a statement.

Grose handed herself over to investigators ahead of her court appearance.

May 20 2021 - 10:47

Beware! R350 Covid-19 social relief grant 'triple pay' promise is a scam, says Sassa

The SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) has again warned of fake messages making the rounds on social media, targeting Covid-19 social relief grant beneficiaries.

A message was shared on social media platforms recently, leading some people to believe that beneficiaries of the R350 social relief of distress grant would receive a “triple pay” of R1,050 if they hadn't got payments in the past months.

“Attention. If you haven’t received your last R350 for the passed [sic] months. Many people yesterday received R700 Sassa and some received triple pay R1,050,” read the message, before directing people to a google link.

May 20 2021 - 10:46

Western Cape government adds 10 more vaccine sites as it speeds up rollout

Western Cape premier Alan Winde says the province has added 10 more vaccination sites to speed up the province's Covid-19 vaccine rollout.

SA launched the second phase of nationwide vaccinations on Monday.

In a statement on Wednesday, Winde said the province started the second phase of inoculation with eight sites, two of which were reserved for healthcare workers and six for both health workers and people over 60, and on Tuesday brought 10 more sites on line.

May 20 2021 - 10:44

Malawi burns nearly 20,000 expired Covid-19 shots despite assurances on shelf life

Malawi on Wednesday destroyed 19,610 doses of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines that expired 18 days after arriving, despite assurances from the African Union (AU) and World Health Organisation (WHO) that the vaccines were safe until mid-July.

A batch of 102,000 vaccines arrived on March 26, under an initiative by the AU and WHO, and they expired on April 13, leaving less than three weeks for them to be used. Malawi managed to deploy about 80 percent of them by that time.

John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), part of the AU, told a news conference late last month that the shots could be used until July 13, based on a further analysis conducted by manufacturers the Serum Institute of India (SII).

May 20 2021 - 10:43

Zimbabwe reports first cases of coronavirus variant from India

Zimbabwe has detected the first cases of the new coronavirus variant that emerged in India, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga said on Wednesday, adding that all travellers from the Asian nation would be required to undergo mandatory quarantine.

Chiwenga, who also doubles as Zimbabwe's health minister, said in a statement the cases had been detected among a group of people in the central town of Kwekwe after a student returned from India on April 29.

"People travelling from or transiting from India will be subject to mandatory quarantine at a designated quarantine centre and at their own cost," Chiwenga said.

May 20 2021 - 10:42

Egypt extends measures to curb coronavirus to end of May

Egypt will extend measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus, including early closing hours for shops, until the end of May, the cabinet said on Wednesday.

Since May 6, stores, malls and restaurants have had to close by 9 p.m., straddling the last days of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and Eid celebrations.

Public parks and beaches, which were closed during Eid, will be allowed to reopen with appropriate precautions, the cabinet said in a statement.

May 20 2021 07:08

Lockdown retrenchments increase six-fold as Covid-19 lockdowns bite

In early 2020, insurance group Liberty was processing about 10 retrenchment claims a month. But five months after Covid-19 struck, that number increased six-fold.

Liberty’s retrenchment claim statistics for 2020, released on Wednesday, give an indication of just how many people lost their jobs in the formal sector as a result of Covid-19. Between August and October last year, the insurer was processing more than 60 retrenchment claims a month.

Its clients, mostly middle to high income earners, were considered to be less susceptible to job losses.

May 20 2021 - 07:00

'The Covid-19 pandemic triggered millions of smokers to want to quit tobacco': WHO