COVID-19 LIVE UPDATES | 'HIV, Hepatitis B & C testing, treatment and prevention among the most disrupted services by Covid-19': WHO

May 21 2021 - 17:06

These are the sports children can play at school after Covid-19 bans

Cricket, tennis, softball and gymnastics are among the sports children can still play at school after contact sports were officially halted this week amid rising Covid-19 cases.

The council of education ministers (CEM) took a decision to suspend all contact sports with immediate effect on Wednesday following a surge in coronavirus infections since schools reopened for the second term.

Choir practice or rehearsals, choir competitions, choir performances and interschool choir events are suspended.

May 21 2021 - 13:57

More than 100,000 vaccinated during phase 2 of rollout

More than 100,000 people have been given the Covid-19 vaccine since the launch of SA's phase 2 rollout and plans are in place to ramp up the number of shots given in the coming weeks.

Business for South Africa (B4SA) said at a briefing on Friday morning that 117,000 people were vaccinated in the first four days of the rollout.

B4SA steering committee chairperson Martin Kingston said the second phase had started relatively smoothly. He said a war room was set up to ensure there was a more speedy response to issues that cropped up in the early stages of the rollout.

May 21 2021 - 13:46

Graves at home of former El Salvador police officer investigated as possible femicide

El Salvador officials said on Thursday they were excavating graves discovered at the house of a former police officer that contained as many as 40 bodies, most of them believed to be women.

Exhuming all the bodies could take another month, authorities said. The remains of at least 24 people have been recovered so far at the house in the municipality of Chalchuapa, about 48 miles (78km) northwest of the capital, San Salvador.

At least 10 people are facing charges, according to the office of the attorney-general, including a former police officer, Hugo Ernesto Osorio Chavez, whose home is on the same site as the graves.

May 21 2021 - 13:43

Bulk of KZN health budget to be spent on appointing 932 additional staff

More than half the R302m allocated to the KwaZulu-Natal department of health for its 2021/22 budget will be spent on staff procurement. 

At least 932 additional staff members are expected to be employed by the department at a cost of R205.2m. 

This was revealed by health MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu while presenting the budget vote speech at the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature in Pietermaritzburg on Friday. 

Simelane-Zulu said R16.7m would be spent on the procurement of refrigerators that operate at -40ºC and 34 ultra-cold freezers to store Covid-19 vaccines. 

May 21 2021 - 12:03

‘Anxiety and stress’ as vaccine shortfall hits Africa’s Covid-19 inoculation drive

After a stressful year working as a doctor in Kenya’s largest public hospital during the Covid-19 pandemic, Ngala Mwendwa received his first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine in March and breathed a sigh of relief.

The shot manufactured in India was supplied by Covax, a global vaccine initiative that has been a lifeline for poor African nations. But with India engulfed in its own crisis, Mwendwa has no idea when he will receive his second dose.

“It’s just the way we are disadvantaged as a developing country,” he told Reuters after a shift in Kenyatta National Hospital’s paediatric intensive care ward.

May 21 2021 - 10:33

Japan approves more Covid-19 vaccines as state of emergency set to widen

Japan is set to expand a state of emergency to cover the southern island of Okinawa on Friday, just as it approved two more novel coronavirus vaccines to speed up its lagging inoculation campaign.

After health regulators' green light a day earlier, the government said it approved vaccines developed by Moderna Inc and AstraZeneca PLC, which will join that developed by Pfizer Inc together with BioNTech SE in a vaccination drive that began in mid-February.

Local media reported that the government was unlikely to use the AstraZeneca shots for the time being due to concerns over blood clots. Japan has arranged to buy 120 million doses of the British-Swedish drugmaker's vaccine.

May 21 2021 - 09:36

Old Mutual pays out R2.7bn in Covid-19 death claims in first quarter

Insurer Old Mutual said on Friday it had paid out R2.7 billion ($192.94 million) worth of Covid-19 related death claims in the first quarter of the year, leaving around 1.3 billion rand in its reserves set aside to help it manage the pandemic.

The company, which did not give a forecast for earnings in the trading update, said its measure of operating profit was up 48% in the three months to March 31 at 1.8 billion rand. 

May 21 2021 - 09:28

No patent waiver, instead G20 leaders to back Covid-19 vaccine 'voluntary licensing'

Leaders of the world's largest economies will adopt on Friday a declaration recommending voluntary actions to boost Covid-19 vaccine production, snubbing a push from the US and other nations on patent waivers, the final text shows.

Several G20 leaders will speak at the summit, one of this year's major events to co-ordinate global actions against the pandemic. US President Joe Biden is not listed among the speakers, with vice-president Kamala Harris representing the US at the meeting, an EU Commission spokesperson said.

The White House did not immediately comment.

May 21 2021 - 09:27

Concern over 'chemsex' grows as Covid-19 shuts Thailand's LGBT+ bars

Beam, a gay sex worker, used to go to a "chemsex" party about once a month before the coronavirus pandemic shut Thailand's bars and clubs. But since then, the drug-fuelled gatherings have become much more frequent.

As Thailand grapples with a third Covid-19 wave, campaigners are warning of the health risks posed by an apparent increase in chemsex - where mainly gay and bisexual men meet to take drugs such as crystal meth or GHB and unprotected sex is common.

Beam, 34, who also works as a porn actor and regularly meets his clients at the parties, said changes to people's working routines under lockdown had made the gatherings more popular.

May 21 2021 - 09:26

Kenya seeks alternatives to AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine after delays

Kenya's health ministry said it is in talks with vaccine manufacturers such as Johnson and Johnson as it seeks alternatives to the AstraZeneca Covid-19 shot after shipment delays of the drug from India.

Kenya received a batch of AstraZeneca shots through vaccine sharing platform COVAX, which supplies doses to low-income countries and depends on India's Serum Institute's exports of AstraZeneca drugs.

"AstraZeneca Vaccine is unlikely to remain the vaccine of choice in Africa because of the delays in shipments currently being experienced from India," Kenya's health ministry said on Twitter, attributing the comments to health minister Mutahi Kagwe.

May 21 2021 - 09:25

Why Prof Salim Abdool Karim believes SA’s third wave may be 'different' to global trends

SA's third wave could be different compared to other countries, says Prof Salim Abdool Karim. 

Prof Abdool Karim, who spoke to Jacaranda FM this week, predicts that SA could expect a different outcome because it had a variant in the second wave. 

During the height of the second wave, SA had the 501Y.V2 variant, which was first discovered in the Eastern Cape and was found to be more infectious than the original virus. 

May 21 2021 - 07:33

Drugmakers to make big low-cost vaccine push to poor nations — EU official

Drugmakers are to announce on Friday they will provide large new supplies of at-cost Covid-19 vaccines to poor nations this year to try to redress the global imbalance, an EU official familiar with the matter said.

Coinciding with a global health summit hosted by Italy and the EU, the bloc will also announce it is setting up three manufacturing hubs in Africa from this year to boost long-term production of vaccines, the official told Reuters.

Among the drugmakers that will announce more doses for poorer nations is Pfizer-BioNTech, the official said, adding that at least other two companies are expected to make announcements on Friday.

May 21 2021 - 07:00

'HIV, Hepatitis B & C testing, treatment and prevention among the most disrupted services by Covid-19': WHO