COVID-19 WRAP | SA records 13,021 new cases and 238 more deaths

August 14 2021 - 20:53

SA records 13,021 new cases and 238 more deaths

There were 13,021 new cases of Covid-19 and 238 more deaths recorded in SA on Saturday, according to the latest data from the department of health.

This brings the total number of cases recorded in the country to 2,595,447. The total number of deaths stands at 76,869.

There have been 9,373,343 vaccines administered to date.

August 14 2021 — 12:38

Russia releases worst pandemic death numbers to date

Russia's daily Covid-19 deaths hit a new record of 819 on Saturday, a day after Moscow's health department reported the highest number of monthly deaths in the city since the start of the pandemic. 

Russia's daily coronavirus deaths are on the rise after infections peaked in July. Authorities blame the infectious Delta variant and a slow vaccination rate.

Moscow said late on Friday that the mortality rate in the city in July was 70% higher than before the pandemic in 2019 and 60% higher than in the same month last year.

August 14 2021 — 11:45

Musicians at Serbian trumpet festival play on despite pandemic

The sound of trumpets filled the air as thousands of people crowded into a small Serbian town late on Friday for the 60th Guca Brass Band Festival, with visitors undeterred by a resurgence of coronavirus cases in the country.

Launched in 1961 when just four bands competed for the Golden Trumpet trophy and only 2,500 visitors attended, the festival is now Serbia's liveliest traditional music event but, like many events around the world, it was cancelled in 2020 amid the global pandemic.

This year, visitors must show vaccination certificates or a negative Covid-19 test if they want to enter Guca, a small town in the rolling hills of southwestern Serbia.

“The situation is like this everywhere in the world, and we have to learn to live with that, we cannot stop the music, we cannot stop living,” Horseco, a visitor from Cuba told Reuters.

Brass bands have a long tradition in Serbia stretching back to a royal decree establishing a military ensemble in 1831, and groups of musicians are present at events spanning births to weddings to funerals.

More than 15 million visitors have come to Guca during the festival's history, and organisers and local authorities are hoping that despite the health restrictions, sales of tickets and souvenirs, and the taxes and duties paid by restaurateurs can help the local economy rebound.

“Many people are prevented from coming because not all of them can follow prescribed measures for the protection from Covid-19,” said Jovan Kovacevic, director of the Culture Centre in Guca.

Serbia has seen a sharp increase in Covid-19 infections in recent weeks, driven by the spread of the highly-infectious Delta variant, mostly in the unvaccinated.

The country of around 7 million has recorded 730,222 coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, with 7,158 deaths. Around 50% of the population are fully vaccinated.

Reuters

August 14 2021 — 10:29

Egypt gets new AstraZeneca vaccine batch via Covax

Egypt received a new batch of about 1.7 million AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine doses through the global Covax initiative, the health ministry said late on Friday.

The new shipment, the third of its kind, brings the total number of AstraZeneca shots received by Egypt via Covax to about 4.3 million doses.

Covax was established by the Geneva-based GAVI vaccine alliance and the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the equitable distribution of vaccines.

Egypt has also received shipments of the Sputnik, Sinopharm, Sinovac and Johnson & Johnson shots. It also recently began locally producing Sinovac's Covid-19 vaccines.

The government said in June it aims to vaccinate 40% of the 100 million population by the end of this year.

Reuters

August 14 2021 — 10:00

China administered 1.84bn doses of Covid-19 vaccines as of August 13

China has administered a total of 1.84 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines as of August 13, the National Health Commission said on Saturday.

On August 13, about 11.93 million doses were administered, according to a Reuters calculation.

Reuters

August 14 2021 — 09:10

Sydney lockdown fines hiked as Australia faces its 'worst' Covid-19 situation

On-the-spot fines for people breaking lockdown rules in Sydney and the rest of its home state of New South Wales have been raised sharply to as much as A$5,000 ($3,700) as the state logged a record jump in daily new Covid-19 infections.

State police will fine people for breaching stay-at-home orders or for lying to contract-tracing officials, said state Premier Gladys Berejiklian.

Previously breaching quarantine orders had carried a A$1,000 fine.“We have to accept that this is the worst situation New South Wales has been in since day one. And it's also regrettably, because of that, the worst situation Australia's been in,” she told a news conference.

Locally transmitted infections surged by a record 466 over the previous 24 hours, eclipsing the previous daily high of 390 set on Friday. Four deaths were recorded on Saturday, taking the state's total in the latest outbreak to 42.It is becoming increasingly unlikely Sydney will end its nine-week lockdown on Aug. 28 as planned.

Authorities had been talking about easing some restrictions if enough people are vaccinated and case numbers fall.

“We will get through this, but September and October are going to be very difficult,” Berejiklian said.

“This is literally a war, and we've known we've been in a war for some time, but never to this extent.”

Hundreds more defence personnel will be deployed next week to Sydney to help enforce the lockdown, with authorities particularly concerned about the spread of the virus to several regional towns.

Stay-at-home orders will also be introduced for regional areas not currently in lockdown on Saturday and a new A$3,000 fine will apply to people entering regional areas without an official permit.

The permit will only be granted for certain reasons including authorised work, property inspections or urgent work repairs on a second home.

“The fines are some of the biggest fines that I've ever seen and we will be issuing them as of today,” said New South Wales police commissioner Mick Fuller. “Those people that have been getting around the orders, taking family vacations to other premises — that is over.”

In neighbouring Victoria, where state capital Melbourne is in its second week of an extended lockdown, authorities reported 21 locally acquired cases, up from 15 a day earlier.

Despite the recent outbreaks, Australia still has far lower COVID-19 numbers than many other countries in the developed world, with just over 38,600 cases and 952 deaths.

Reuters

August 14 2021 — 09:00

US approves Covid-19 boosters for immunocompromised

The CDC approved a third Covid-19 vaccine dose for people with compromised immune systems, hours after the FDA authorised a third shot of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for those who are likely to have weaker protection from the two-dose regimens.