COVID-19 WRAP | 175 more deaths reported in SA

July 03 2021 - 19:31

Over 26,000 Covid-19 cases reported on Saturday with more than 16,000 in Gauteng

The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases on Saturday surged to 26,485, an increase representing a positivity rate of 27.3%, according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases.

Another 175 deaths were reported, bringing SA's overall death toll to 61,507.

July 03 2021 - 17:08

Chef Jenny Morris hospitalised with Covid-19: 'Imagine being a chef and not being able to taste'

One of SA’s most loved chefs, Jenny Morris, is in hospital fighting for her life after suffering Covid-19 symptoms.

“All I had was headache; I’ve always got lower backache and sinus. I only realised afterwards that these were symptoms. People go about their business and they don’t really feel sick in the beginning and all of sudden it’s like the devil has come out of hell to drag you out.

“My poor husband [Paul Clarke] is still in ICU, we used to sanitise all the time and wear masks, this thing doesn’t care about all that,” she said.

July 03 2021 - 17:01

Joburg mayor Geoff Makhubo hospitalised with Covid-19

The mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Geoff Makhubo, 53, has been hospitalised with Covid-19 complications, the city said on its official Twitter account. 

He was diagnosed with Covid-19 late last month. At the time, his office said he had “gone into self-quarantine as part of the recovery process”.

“Joburg residents are urged once more to take all necessary precautions to remain safe and to avoid infection. This includes strict adherence to non-medical practices of wearing masks, sanitising regularly and minimising movement in line with the level 4 restrictions announced by the president,” his office said in a statement.

July 03 2021 - 16:47

Booze ban saved lives, study finds

The ban on alcohol sales meant to reduce the spread of Covid-19 did save lives, a new study has found. 

According to research by the SA Medical Research Council and the University of Cape Town, published in the SA Medical Journal on Friday, the restrictions reduced the number of unnatural deaths.

“Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) restrictions, particularly relating to the sale of alcohol and hours of curfew, have had a marked effect on the temporal pattern of unnatural deaths in SA,” the researchers said.

July 03 2021 - 11:44

Sahpra to closely monitor newly approved CoronaVac Covid-19 vaccine

The SA Health Products Regulatory Authority’s approval of the Chinese-produced CoronaVac Covid-19 vaccine is not without conditions. 

In a statement on Saturday, the regulatory body said it had “authorised the CoronaVac Covid-19 vaccine, manufactured by Sinovac Life Sciences Co., and imported by Curanto Pharma (Pty) Ltd”. It said “CoronaVac is an inactivated whole virion vaccine derived from the Sars-CoV-2 virus (CZ02 strain)”.

July 03 2021 - 11:00

South Africa faces junior doctor 'scandal' amid third wave

South Africa is battling a third wave of Covid-19 infections and now also a government ‘scandal’.

July 03 2021 - 10:30

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT - Doctor in Jakarta battles to help Covid-19 patients

Cheras Sjarfi a 28-year-old doctor in a small public hospital in south Jakarta says the facility was not ready for the influx of Covid-19 patients who arrived after a surge of new infections hit Indonesia

July 03 2021 - 10:00

In soccer host city, Russian doctors battle surge

Doctors battling record numbers of Covid-19 deaths in St. Petersburg are watching with unease as soccer fans gather in the host city for the Euro 2020 games

July 03 2021 - 09:44

Eastern Cape motorists bust for transporting booze during level 4 of the Covid-19 lockdown

Two Eastern Cape motorists have been arrested for transporting alcohol in  contravention of the Disaster Management Act (DMA) regulations. 

Eastern Cape police spokesperson Sgt Majola Nkohli said the motorists were arrested in Makhanda on Friday.

July 03 2021 - 09:27

Saphra approves use of Sinovac vaccine

The SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) has given the go ahead for the use of the CoronaVac Covid-19 vaccine, which is manufactured by the Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac. 

July 03 2021 - 09:10

Indonesian police block streets on first day of tougher Covid-19 curbs

Indonesian police threw up road blocks and more than 400 checkpoints on the islands of Java and Bali to ensure hundreds of millions of people stayed home on Saturday, the first day of stricter curbs on movement to limit the spread of Covid-19.

As it battles one of Asia's worst coronavirus outbreaks, the world's fourth most populous nation has seen record new infections on eight of the past 12 days, with Friday bringing 25,830 cases and a high of 539 deaths.

"We are setting up (patrols) in 21 locations where typically there are crowds," Istiono, the head of national traffic police, who goes by one name, told a news conference late on Friday."Where there are street stalls and cafes, we will close those streets, maybe from around 6 p.m. until 4 a.m."

Saturday's more stringent curbs, from tighter travel checks to a ban on restaurant dining and outdoor sports and the closure of non-essential workplaces, will run until July 20, but could be extended, if needed, to bring daily infections below 10,000.

More than 21,000 police officers as well as military will fan out across Indonesia's most populous island of Java and the tourist resort island of Bali to ensure compliance with the new curbs, a police spokesman said.

At the road blocks and checkpoints on the islands, police will conduct random tests and enforce curfews.

Vaccinated travellers with a negative swab test will be permitted to make long-distance journeys, however.

The highly infectious Delta variant first identified in India, where it caused a spike in infections, is spreading in Indonesia and pushing hospitals across Java to the brink.

Reuters

July 03 2021 - 09:00

Ukraine to look into causes of man's death shortly after Covid vaccination

Ukraine's health ministry is investigating why a 47-year old man died just four hours after he received a shot of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine, the ministry said late on Friday.

The ministry said that there may be no connection between the two and that another five people who were vaccinated from the same vial as the man who died are in a satisfactory condition.

It said that under Ukrainian law and international standards for the organisation of pharmacovigilance for adverse events after immunisation, every death that occurs within 30 days of immunisation must be investigated.

Pfizer was not immediately available for comment from its office in Ukraine outside of normal business hours.

About 2 million people in Ukraine have received their first shot since February, but no deaths caused by vaccination have been reported.

Ukraine, with a population of 41 million, has been among the European countries most affected by the pandemic, with around 2.24 million Covid-19 cases and 52,460 deaths as of July 3. 

Reuters