COVID-19 WRAP | SA records 377 new Covid-19 related deaths in 24 hours

July 15 2021 - 19:47

SA records 16,435 new Covid-19 cases — mostly in Gauteng

SA recorded 16,435 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday with the majority of them, 44%, coming from Gauteng.

The Western Cape followed with 18% of the new infections.

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said on Thursday that a further 377 Covid-19 related deaths had been reported, bringing total fatalities to date to 65,972.

July 15 2021 - 12:00

Pfizer, BioNTech deny talks with Thai Thonburi Healthcare on vaccines

Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech denied on Thursday that they were in talks with Thailand's Thonburi Healthcare Group Pcl for a deal to import 20 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine to the Southeast Asian country.

The chief of Thonburi Healthcare Group had said earlier in the day that it would sign a private order for 20 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, news of which saw the hospitals operator's share price leap over 13%.

"We are not in negotiations with the company," BioNTech said in an e-mail responding to a Reuters query about the deal. It also denied it was in negotiations with any Thai entity.

Company chairman Boon Vanasin had told Reuters a deal would be signed on Thursday with BioNTech, the German firm that jointly developed the mRNA vaccine with Pfizer.

Asked about the companies' denial, Boon later insisted a vaccine deal was still in the works, saying: "We are not doing it directly." He declined to elaborate.

A Pfizer spokesman said the company was only in discussions with Thailand's health ministry and disease control department.

"Neither Pfizer Inc nor any of its affiliates globally, have authorized anyone to import, market, distribute the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine," he said.

It was not immediately possible to reconcile the conflicting statements by Boon and the two companies.

Thailand is in the early stages of its mass Covid-19 vaccinations programme and is struggling to suppress its most severe wave of infections.

It has relied heavily on the AstraZeneca and Sinovac vaccines but is seeing increased demand for mRNA type vaccines, after concern about efficacy. The majority of the mRNA vaccines ordered will not arrive until the fourth quarter this year.

Boon had said a licensed importer in Thailand would make an announcement on the deal. "I want it to conclude this week or next," he said.

Reuters

July 15 2021 - 11:25

Looting puts SA's entire health system at risk amid third wave, Western Cape warns

The entire country's healthcare system is at risk from the disruption of supply chains caused by this week's looting and violence in KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape health chiefs warned on Thursday.

July 15 2021 - 11:00

French police use tear gas to quell anti-vaccine protest 

French police used tear gas to disperse a protest against government plans to require a COVID-19 vaccine certificate or negative PCR test to enter bars, restaurants and cinemas from next month.

July 15 2021 - 10:00

Argentina breaches 100,000 Covid deaths amid deepening crisis

The number of coronavirus deaths in Argentina has surpassed 100,000, making it the fifth Latin American country to exceed that figure. It recorded 614 new deaths in the past 24 hours alone.

July 15 2021 - 09:23

I'm not feeling well, should I keep my vaccination appointment or postpone?

The day for you to get the Covid-19 vaccine has arrived, but you are not feeling well. Should you go? 

As registration for those 35 and older opens on Thursday, thousands are set to line up for the jab over the next few weeks.

While many will be excited and a touch nervous, some may be feeling a little under the weather when it is their turn to get the vaccine.

According to the ministerial advisory committee (MAC) on Covid-19 vaccines, the decision to go to your vaccine appointment depends on what symptoms you are showing.

July 15 2021 - 07:20

Eight athletes from Kenya women's rugby team classified as close contacts after positive case on flight - Asahi

Eight athletes from the Kenya women's rugby team were classified as close contacts after a passenger on their flight to Tokyo tested positive for coronavirus, the Asahi Shimbun daily reported on Thursday.

According to the Asahi, the women all tested negative after their arrival at Narita airport from Doha on Tuesday, but a passenger sitting in front of them tested positive. 

Reuters

July 15 2021 - 07:00

Coronavirus incidents at the Tokyo Olympics

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics, postponed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, will be held under unprecedented conditions and tight quarantine rules to prevent the spread of Covid-19 infections.

Yet a number of cases have emerged involving athletes and other people involved with the Games.

The following is a list to date, in chronological order.

JUNE 20 - A coach with Uganda's squad tests positive on arrival at Narita airport and is quarantined at a government-designated facility. The rest of the team heads by bus for their host city, Izumisano near Osaka in western Japan.

JUNE 23 - A Ugandan athlete tests positive, Izumisano officials said.

JULY 4 - A member of Serbia's Olympic rowing team tests positive on arrival. The other four team members are isolated as close contacts.

JULY 9 - One Lithuanian and one Israeli athlete test positive, according to reports. Later reports say the Lithuanian's results were unclear and subsequently tested negative.

JULY 14 - A masseur for the Russian women's rugby sevens team tests positive, forcing the team into isolation for two days, the RIA news agency reports.

Officials in Munakata, southwestern Japan, confirmed that one staff member was hospitalised and said none of the team members could be considered close contacts.

- The refugee Olympic team has delayed its arrival in Japan following a positive case with a team official in Doha.

The infected official is in quarantine without symptoms and 26 of the 29 refugees will remain in their Doha training camp.

- Seven staff at a hotel in Hamamatsu, central Japan, where dozens of Brazilian athletes are staying have tested positive, a city official said.

- Twenty-one members of the South African rugby team are in isolation after they are believed to have been in close contact with a case on their flight. 

Reuters

July 15 2021 - 06:45

Pop star Olivia Rodrigo urges youth to get vaccinated

Pop star Olivia Rodrigo, whose album 'Sour' is No. 1 on the charts, took to the podium at the White House to encourage young people to get vaccinated against Covid-19.

July 15 2021 - 06:20

Haiti receives U.S.-donated Covid-19 vaccines through COVAX facility

Haiti received on Wednesday its first 500,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccines donated by the US government through the COVAX vaccine distribution scheme, regional health officials said.

The batch was part of a US pledge to donate some 12 million vaccine doses to countries in the Caribbean and Latin America, according to a statement from PAHO, the regional office of the World Health Organization.

The donations were made through the global vaccine facility COVAX, which distributes vaccines to poorer countries.

A national vaccine campaign has yet to begin in Haiti, which has plunged deeper into turmoil following the assassination of President Jovenel Moise. Some private companies, however, have distributed doses to their employees.

Preliminary results of a study conducted by the University of Haiti showed only 22% of Haitians, however, would accept the vaccine, according to Jean Gough, UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean in a separate statement.

"Reaching communities with doses of vaccines doesn’t guarantee they want to get vaccinated," Gough said.

Haiti’s health ministry reported earlier this month that the country to date has registered around 19,400 total cases, and about 500 deaths.

Both figures, however, likely undercount the real impact of Covid-19 due to little testing.

Reuters

July 15 2021 - 06:10

South Korea sends team to tackle coronavirus on anti-piracy ship

South Korea is sending a medical team to the Middle East to tackle a coronavirus outbreak on one of its ships on anti-piracy patrol while at home, new daily infections are hovering around record levels with 1,600 reported on Thursday.

South Korea was for months a coronavirus success story as it kept outbreaks under control with testing, tracing and social distancing but the Delta variant has been fuelling a new wave of persistent infections in recent weeks.

The outbreak on the South Korean destroyer with some 300 service members on board operating in the Gulf of Aden is another headache for the administration of President Moon Jae-in.

Moon has ordered medical experts with emergency equipment to fly to the region to contain the outbreak and get patients out if they have to, said presidential spokeswoman Park Kyung-mee.

The Yonhap news agency, citing the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said six service members had tested positive for the coronavirus, while some 80 had developed some symptoms. None on board were vaccinated, Yonhap said.

The defence ministry declined to make any immediate comment but said it was preparing a statement on the matter.

South Korea has recorded 173,511 coronavirus cases and 2,050 deaths since the pandemic began, data from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) showed.

Only 30.8% of its 52 million people have received at least one dose of a vaccine, while 12% have been fully vaccinated.

Reuters 

July 15 2021 - 06:00

Thailand says AstraZeneca seeks to delay delivery of 61m vaccine doses

AstraZeneca has asked Thailand to extend the timeline for the delivery of 61 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine by five months, a deputy minister said on Thursday, a move likely to disrupt further the country's sluggish vaccine rollout.

Deputy Health Minister Sathit Pitutacha said AstraZeneca currently had the capacity to produce 15 million doses of vaccine per month at its production facility in Thailand and that capacity could expand in the future.

The company has promised to deliver 40% of what is produced to Thailand, the deputy health minister said, adding that Thailand will ask the company for more doses.

"We must negotiate with them because in this situation we need more vaccine," Sathit said."We want 10 million doses because the original plan was 10 million doses," he said referring to the previous monthly delivery target.

Thailand a day earlier said it was considering imposing limits on exports of locally manufactured AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine to fight its own outbreak.

Reuters