COVID-19 WRAP | SA records 8,791 new cases and 178 more deaths

August 1 2021 - 19:57

SA records 8,791 new cases and 178 more deaths

SA on Sunday recorded 8,791 new Covid-19 cases and 178 more deaths.

The country's total cumulative cases is now 2,456,184, with the total number of deaths at 72,191.

The number of vaccines administered to date is 7,567,757.

August 1 2021 - 17:18

Britain reports 24,470 Covid-19 cases and 65 deaths on Sunday

Britain reported 24,470 new cases of Covid-19 on Sunday, a drop from 26,144 on Saturday, and 65 deaths within 28 days of a positive test, down from 71 on Saturday.

The government also said 46,851,145 people had received the first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine and 38,345,841 had received two doses.

Reuters

August 1 2021 - 15:33

Fauci predicts US will not return to lockdowns despite Delta variant risks

President Joe Biden's chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci on Sunday said he does not expect the US will return to lockdowns, despite the growing risks of Covid-19 infections posed by the Delta variant.

"I don't think we're going to see lockdowns," Fauci, who is also director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on ABC's "This Week".

"I think we have enough of the percentage of people in the country - not enough to crush the outbreak - but I believe enough to not allow us to get into the situation we were in last winter."

Reuters

August 1 2021 - 14:42

Pfizer and Moderna raise prices for Covid-19 vaccines in EU

Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc have raised the prices of their Covid-19 vaccines in their latest European Union supply contracts, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

The new price for the Pfizer shot was €19.50 against €15.50 previously, the newspaper said, citing portions of the contracts seen.

The price of a Moderna vaccine was $25.50 a dose, the contracts show, up from about €19 euros in the first procurement deal but lower than the previously agreed $28.50 because the order had grown, the report said, citing one official close to the matter.

Reuters

August 1 2021 - 14:17

Thailand extends pandemic measures, expands lockdown areas

Thailand on Sunday extended tighter containment measures in the capital and high-risk provinces probably until the end of August in a bid to slow the spread of Covid-19 as the country deals with its biggest outbreak to date.

Thailand reported 18,027 infections and 133 deaths on Sunday, bringing the cumulative total to 615,314 cases and 4,990 fatalities, mostly from an outbreak since April that is being fuelled by the highly transmissible Alpha and Delta variants.

The restrictions, including travel curbs, mall closures and curfews, will be expanded to 29 provinces classified as "dark red zone" from 13, Apisamai Srirangsan, spokesperson for the government's Covid-19 task force, told a televised news briefing.

The measures will start on Tuesday for 14 days and will be reviewed on August 18, she said.

Reuters

August 1 2021 - 12:45

Hackers shut down system for booking Covid-19 shots in Italy's Lazio region

Hackers have attacked and shut down the IT systems of the company that manages Covid-19 vaccination appointments for the Lazio region surrounding Rome, the regional government said on Sunday.

"A powerful hacker attack on the region's CED (database) is under way," the region said in a Facebook posting.

It said all systems had been deactivated, including those of the region's health portal and vaccination network, and warned the inoculation programme could suffer a delay.

Italy recently followed France in announcing that proof of vaccination or immunity from Covid-19 would become mandatory for an array of activities.

The move triggered a series of protests across the country against introduction of the so-called Green Pass which shows people have been vaccinated, tested negative or recovered from Covid-19.

Reuters

August 1 2021 - 10:54

Russia reports 22,804 new Covid-19 cases, 789 deaths

Russia reported 22,804 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday, including 2,484 in Moscow, taking the official national tally since the pandemic began to 6,288,677.

The government coronavirus task force said 789 people had died of coronavirus-linked causes in the past 24 hours, pushing the national death toll to 159,352.

The federal statistics agency has kept a separate count and has said Russia recorded around 290,000 deaths related to Covid-19 from April 2020 to May 2021.

Reuters

August 1 2021 - 7:30

'We're holding on by our fingertips': Western Cape becomes new Covid-19 epicentre

The Western Cape is in the eye of the Covid-19 storm after it replaced Gauteng as the epicentre of the third wave. A specialist on the Covid-19 frontline at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town said on Friday: “We are holding on by our fingertips. We are completely saturated.”

Covid-19 hospital admissions in the Western Cape reached 3,443 on Thursday, only marginally below the 3,545 at the height of the second wave in January. By Friday there were a record 730 patients in critical care and intensive care, 40% more than the January high.

August 1 2021 - 7:00

Delta variant ‘breakthrough infections’ guide

The infectious Delta variant has led to a substantial rise in “breakthrough infections” of Covid-19 among people who have been vaccinated. But the infections are mild or asymptomatic in more than 90% of cases, and Covid-19 vaccines are preventing hospitalisation and death in nearly everyone who has one.

The Sunday Times asked a range of experts to answer common questions about breakthrough infections...

August 1 2021 - 05:30

Western Cape overtakes Gauteng and becomes Covid-19 epicentre