COVID-19 WRAP | SA records 45 new Covid-19 deaths as cases rise by 5,074

June 06 2021 - 21:00

SA records 45 new Covid-19 deaths as cases rise by 5,074

South Africa recorded 45 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, department of health said on Sunday evening.

It said the country also recorded more than 5,000 new Covid-19 cases, taking the total of infections to 1,696,564.

June 06 2021 - 14:46

KZN records 227 new Covid-19 infections, expands vaccine rollout to pre-empt third wave

KwaZulu-Natal has vaccinated 360,451 people in the province and it plans to begin the vaccination of teachers from Wednesday, premier Sihle Zikalala said on Sunday.

Briefing the media, Zikalala said the province has not reached the third wave of Covid-19 infections yet.

“Many people have been asking whether the province is in the third wave or not. The answer is that, at this stage, we will say no,” Zikalala said.

June 06 2021 - 12:44

Joburg and Tshwane seeing bulk of new Covid-19 infections in Gauteng

There are 3,062 people in hospital for Covid-19 in Gauteng, the health department said on Sunday.

The province has seen a total of 471,613 cases with 438,701 recoveries and 11,404 deaths as at Saturday.

June 06 2021 - 11:38

Taiwan to quarantine workers to control Covid spike at tech firm

All foreign workers at a plant of major Taiwanese chip packager King Yuan Electronics in Taiwan's northern city of Miaoli will be quarantined as health workers try to stop an outbreak of Covid-19 there, the government said on Sunday.

While cases had been concentrated in Taipei and neighbouring New Taipei, health authorities are now trying to stop an outbreak at two chip packagers in Miaoli, King Yuan and Greatek Electronics, as well as ethernet switch maker Accton Technology Corp.

The government said the quarantine would only apply to King Yuan, where most of the Miaoli infections have happened.

King Yuan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Reuters 

June 06 2021 - 11:01

Patricia de Lille confirms Covid-19 diagnosis, now isolating

Public works and infrastructure minister Patricia de Lille has tested positive for Covid-19, she said on Sunday. 

She took the test on Friday after showing some symptoms. The minister said she is in self-quarantine, and has informed everyone she has come into contact with to do the same.

De Lille encouraged all South Africans to observe hygiene protocols to combat Covid-19, as the country tries to combat the third wave of infections.

June 06 2021 - 09:37

In boost for Africa, Senegal aims to make Covid-19 shots next year

Senegal could begin producing Covid-19 vaccines next year under an agreement with Belgian biotech group Univercells aimed at boosting Africa's drug-manufacturing ambitions, says a source involved in funding the project.

As wealthy countries begin to reopen after securing vaccine supplies early, African nations are still struggling to acquire shots. On a continent of 1.3 billion, only about 7 million have been fully vaccinated.

June 06 2021 - 08:46

As Hungary lifts restrictions, couples can wed at last

Marton Aszalos, a young Hungarian ambulance paramedic, and vet Eniko Tokacs-Mathe had to cancel their wedding twice during the pandemic and are finally getting ready for their big day this summer as Covid-19 restrictions are lifted.

June 06 2021 - 06:50

Brazil registers 66,017 coronavirus cases and 1,689 deaths in 24 hours

Brazil had 66,017 new cases of the novel coronavirus reported in the past 24 hours and 1,689 deaths from Covid-19, the Health Ministry said on Saturday.

The South American country has registered 16,907,425 cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 472,531, according to ministry data, in the world's third worst outbreak outside the United States and India and the second deadliest.

Reuters

June 06 2021 - 06:40

US boosts Taiwan's Covid-19 fight with 750,000 vaccine doses

The United States will donate 750,000 Covid-19 vaccine doses to Taiwan as part of the country's plan to share shots globally, US Senator Tammy Duckworth said on Sunday, offering a much-needed boost to the island's fight against the pandemic.

Taiwan is dealing with a spike in domestic cases but has been affected like many places by global vaccines shortages. Only around 3% of its 23.5 million people have been vaccinated, with most getting only the first shot of two needed.

Speaking at Taipei's downtown Songshan airport after arriving on a three-hour visit with fellow Senators Dan Sullivan and Christopher Coons, Duckworth said Taiwan would be getting 750,000 doses as part of the first tranche of US donations.

"It was critical to the United States that Taiwan be included in the first group to receive vaccines because we recognise your urgent need and we value this partnership," she said at a news conference after the group arrived from South Korea.

She did not give details of which vaccines Taiwan would get or when.

Reuters

June 06 2021 - 06:30

Australia's Covid-19 hotspot reports two new local cases

Australia's second most populous state Victoria on Sunday reported two new locally acquired Covid-19 cases, with the low number raising hopes that a hard lockdown in the state's capital Melbourne will be eased on June 10.

The two new local infections bring Victoria's total cases to 72, including two recovered cases, in the outbreak that began in late May after a man who tested negative in hotel quarantine in Adelaide returned to Melbourne and tested positive.

The daily rise was down from five new cases reported on Saturday and both cases were linked to existing clusters, which authorities said meant Melbourne's restrictions would probably be eased on Thursday.

"If we can, we will lift it early, but at this stage our expectation is that it will continue to Thursday," Victoria's deputy chief health officer Allen Cheng told reporters.

Reuters

June 06 2021 - 06:15

Gauteng school sanitation saga: SIU freezes assets, goes after millions in 'irregular' contracts

In a matter of weeks, the directors of seven companies contracted to decontaminate Gauteng schools during last year's Covid lockdown blew through more than R40m in a spending spree that included designer watches, jewellery, luxury cars, plastic surgery, investment policies and paying off home loans.

June 06 2021 - 06:00

R14bn PPE stain attests to 'industrial-scale' looting

From R300m spent on temporary housing structures, most of which were never built, to R45m on food parcels with unverified standards, a partial audit of the billions of rands the government spent fighting Covid-19 paint a picture of looting on an industrial scale.

This week the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) released an explosive report on corruption in the past financial year, when, in the face of a global crisis, officials deliberately twisted the rules to enable the theft of public funds.