COVID-19 WRAP | SA records 13,575 Covid-19 cases over last 24-hour cycle

June 19 2021 - 18:56

SA records 13,575 Covid-19 cases over last 24-hour cycle

SA recorded another 13,575 Covid-19 cases, it had recorded over 13,000 cases on Wednesday as well.

As the government tries to find ways to tackle the third wave of infections, the health department announced on Friday that it had vaccinated over two million  people by then.

The daily Covid-19 deaths were 149 with the recovery rate standing at 90,6%. 

June 19 2021 -14:17

All teachers to be vaccinated by July 8, says Angie Motshekga

All teachers will receive a Covid-19 vaccination by the time the winter school holiday begins, basic education minister Angie Motshekga said on Saturday. 

But she said schools would not close in response to the surging third wave of Covid-19.

Briefing the media in Pretoria about the impact of Covid-19 on schools, Motshekga said 582,000 staff at public and private schools would be vaccinated between Wednesday and July 8.

The jab recipients would include support workers and people who work at education department offices nationally and provincially. 

June 19 2021 -12:22

Just let me get on with the job, acting health minister tells critics

Acting minister of health Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane has pleaded with South Africans to allow her to do her job amid criticism that she is not the right person to fill Zweli Mkhize’s shoes. 

“Let my work speak for me, I am here to do the work,” Kubayi-Ngubane said in an interview with Newzroom Afrika on Saturday.

June 19 2021 -12:09

Russian, Chinese vaccines on way but they won't be a magic bullet for SA

SA’s negotiations to secure the Sputnik V and Sinovac Covid-19 vaccines are “at an advanced stage” but, even if millions of doses are secured, they may not be the magic bullet needed to ramp up the rollout.

June 19 2021 -12:06

Biden, Harris urge vaccinations as US looks likely to miss July 4 target

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday urged Americans to get Covid-19 shots, as the country looks likely to miss the White House's goals for vaccination next month as a new coronavirus variant triggered serious concerns."

Act now, act now," Biden said in remarks at the White House, urging the unvaccinated to talk to their family and friends who have had shots and to their doctors.

Deaths and hospitalizations are going "drastically down in places where people are getting vaccinated," but not other areas, Biden said. "They're actually going up in some places."

At the current pace, the United States seems unlikely to hit Biden's goal of having 70% of adults receive at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine by July 4, the Independence Day holiday.

As of Friday, around 65.1% of people in the United States had gotten at least one shot, and that mark has increased by less than one percentage point over the past two weeks.

That pace would have to more than double over the next two weeks for the United States to hit the target.

The White House had no immediate comment on the possibility of missing the July 4, 70% goal. 

Reuters

June 19 2021 -12:00

Mexico's coronavirus death toll hits 230,959

Mexico reported 4,098 confirmed coronavirus cases on Friday and an additional 167 deaths, according to Health Ministry data, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 2,471,741 and the overall death toll to 230,959.

Reuters

June 19 2021 -11:00

India reports 60,753 new coronavirus cases

 India reported on Saturday 60,753 new Covid-19 cases and 1,647 deaths over the past 24 hours, according to a government statement.

The total cases of Covid-19 in India have risen to 29.82 million and so far 385,137 have succumbed to the infections.

Reuters 

June 19 2021 -10:20

Russia reports 17,906 new Covid-19 cases, 466 deaths

Russia on Saturday reported 17,906 new Covid-19 cases, including a record 9,120 in Moscow, pushing the national infection tally up to 5,299,215 since the pandemic began.

The government coronavirus task force confirmed 466 coronavirus-related deaths in the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 128,911.

The state statistics agency, which keeps separate figures, has said Russia recorded around 270,000 deaths related to Covid-19 from April 2020 to April 2021. 

Reuters

June 19 2021 - 09:10

BioNTech shots have stronger antibody response than Sinovac, Hong Kong study shows 

People who are vaccinated against Covid-19 with BioNTech's vaccine were found to have "substantially higher" levels of antibodies than those who received Sinovac's jab, the South China Morning Post reported  on Saturday, citing a Hong Kong study.

Some who received the Sinovac vaccine might need a third booster shot as well, the newspaper said, citing lead researcher Professor Benjamin Cowling, an epidemiologist with the University of Hong Kong (HKU).

The government-commissioned study was conducted by HKU's school of public health and involved tracking the antibody responses of 1,000 people who received either vaccine, the report added.

Earlier this week, officials in Indonesia warned that more than 350 medical workers have caught Covid-19 despite being vaccinated with Sinovac and dozens have been hospitalised, raising concerns about its efficacy against more infectious variants of the virus.

Earlier in June, Uruguay released real-world data on the impact of Sinovac Biotech's Covid-19 vaccine among its population that showed it was over 90% effective in preventing intensive care admissions and deaths.

The Uruguay government also studied the effectiveness of the Pfizer/BioNTech's vaccine among 162,047 health workers and people over 80 years old, and said the shot was 94% effective at preventing intensive care unit admissions and deaths, and reduced infections by 78%.

Reuters

June 19 2021 - 09:00

Shenzhen airport tightens Covid-19 measures as China logs 30 new cases

 The airport in China's southern city of Shenzhen said on Saturday that anyone entering the premises must show a negative virus test taken within 48 hours before entry.

The instruction posted on the airport's official WeChat page follows the outbreak of new cases in southern China since late May which has seen lockdowns in certain neighborhoods and the cancellation of flights.

China reported 30 new confirmed Covid-19 cases on the mainland for June 18, up from 23 infections a day earlier, the country's health authority said on Saturday.

Of the new cases, six were local infections in southern Guangdong province, while the rest were imported cases, the National Health Commission said.

Shenzhen airport has previously ordered residents of the southern cities of Guangzhou or Foshan to show a negative virus test result before they can depart.

Foshan Shadi Airport cancelled all flights and suspended operations from June 12-22, according to a post on the Weibo social media account of the Foshan municipal government's information office.

The number of new asymptomatic infections rose to 42 from 25 a day earlier. China does not classify these as confirmed cases.

Total confirmed Covid-19 cases in mainland China stood at 91,564 at the end of June 18, with the death toll unchanged at 4,636.

Reuters