COVID-19 WRAP | More than 2,8m Covid-19 cases recorded since the outbreak of coronavirus in SA

September 03 2021 - 20:55

SA records 247 Covid-19 deaths and 9,199 cases in 24 hours

More than 2.8-million Covid-19 cases have been recorded since the outbreak of the coronavirus in SA, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said on Friday.

This after 9,199 new infections were recorded in the past 24 hours, taking the cumulative number of cases to 2,805,604 since March 2020.

September 03 2021 - 15:26

President Ramaphosa affirms rights of employee and employer on Covid-19 vaccines

President Cyril Ramaphosa says workers have a right to decline Covid-19 vaccinations on medical and constitutional grounds, but employers equally have a right to protect employees and ensure efficient operation of their businesses.

Ramaphosa said implementation of mandatory vaccinations must be based on mutual respect and constitutional rights in what he described as “quite a delicate balance that needs to be struck”.

September 03 2021 - 14:25

WATCH | More freedom is coming for vaccinated people, says Phaahla

The government is planning relaxed lockdown Covid-19 restrictions for vaccinated people, health minister Joe Phaahla said on Friday.

Phaahla said the health department is not considering making vaccines mandatory but is prioritising “encouragement”.

“What we are looking at is soft kinds of incentives. People are hungry for entertainment, for music festivals, to go to Orlando stadium to watch a soccer match,” Phaahla told a briefing at the Chris Hani Baragwanath vaccination site in Soweto.

“With confirmation that you are vaccinated, we could start opening up more facilities and say, 'if you are vaccinated, so many people can go to a soccer stadium to watch a match; if you are vaccinated, so many people can go to Newtown to watch some music'.”

September 03 2021 - 13:14

EU reviewing cases of rare body inflammation after Covid-19 shots

Europe's medicines regulator said on Friday it was reviewing cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome after inoculation with Covid-19 vaccines, following a report of a similar case with Pfizer/BioNTech's shot.

The European Medicines Agency's safety committee is also looking into cases of blood clots in the vein with Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine, the regulator said, adding that the issue was distinct from a rare side-effect identified earlier.

Reuters 

September 03 2021 - 12:14

WATCH | South African train brings Covid-19 vaccines closer to people

With South Africa's Covid-19 inoculation campaign off to a slow start, a train is being deployed to bring vaccines closer to people and save them from travelling long distances.

September 03 2021 - 12:07

POLL | Should companies make Covid-19 vaccinations mandatory?

Mandatory vaccination is in the spotlight after financial services firm Discovery Group announced on Thursday it is considering implementing a policy that will make it mandatory for employees to get jabbed against Covid-19.

CEO Adrian Gore said the policy will take effect from January 1 2022.

He cited the need to ensure a safe workplace as a reason for the implementation.

September 03 2021 - 11:59

US shipped more than 2-million Covid-19 doses to Kenya and Ghana

The United States on Thursday shipped more than 2-million doses of Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine to Kenya and Ghana on Thursday through the COVAX global distribution program, a White House official said.

The United States sent 880,320 doses to Kenya, bringing the total number of doses sent to the African country to just over 1.76-million, the official said. It sent 1,229,620 doses to Ghana, the first shipment to that country.

Thursday's shipments were the latest installments in a US vaccine diplomacy push that has sent vaccines to dozens of countries.

September 03 2021 - 11:56

Need to protect people cited as Discovery plans mandatory vaccination policy for workforce

A need to safeguard its workforce is behind Discovery's intention to implement a mandatory Covid-19 vaccination policy for its employees, says CEO Adrian Gore.

The policy will become effective from January 1, 2022.

“Discovery intends to implement a mandatory vaccination policy effective 1 January 2022, given the clear moral and social obligation as informed by our core purpose to make people healthier and to enhance and protect all employees’ lives; and by our values, particularly, acting as a force for social good; and supported by a legal obligation to protect and safeguard our people from all potential risks.”

Gore said the mandatory vaccination policy “recognises employees’ right to object to the vaccination and has built in a process to manage this including, where necessary and possible, exemptions and reasonable accommodation of employees taking into account the operational and business requirements of the company.

September 03 2021 - 11:54

End of alert level 3 restrictions in sight as third wave declines, says Phaahla

Health minister Joe Phaahla dropped a broad hint on Friday that his department will recommend an easing of the alert level 3 lockdown next week.

Giving a media briefing at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital vaccination site in Soweto, Phaahla said he was encouraged by the decline in the third wave of Covid-19 in most provinces.

“We are hoping that KwaZulu-Natal will start to decline and Eastern Cape will stabilise,” he said.

“We will give a report to the president in the next week and if it becomes clear that there is stability we will give the necessary advice.”

September 03 2021 - 11:49

At least 1 in 7 children 'affected' by long Covid months after infection: study

As many as one in seven children may have symptoms linked to the coronavirus months after testing positive for Covid-19, the authors of an English study on adolescents said on Wednesday.

Children rarely become severely ill with Covid-19 but they can suffer lingering symptoms, and the study is one of the largest of its kind on how common so-called “long Covid” is in the age group.

The study, led by University College London and Public Health England, found that 11- to 17-year-olds who tested positive for the virus were twice as likely to report three or more symptoms 15 weeks later than those who had tested negative.

September 03 2021 - 07:38

WATCH LIVE | Health minister Joe Phaahla briefs media on Covid-19 response and vaccination rollout plan

September 03 2021 - 06:30

Australian PM flags quicker reopening after Covid-19 vaccine swap with Britain

Australia has secured 4 million doses of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines in a swap deal with Britain, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday, as he looks to convince states and territories to stick to a national Covid-19 reopening plan.

The extra doses should reach Australia this month doubling the available Pfizer supply for September, Morrison said, speeding up the country's efforts to come out of economically-damaging coronavirus lockdowns."

The plane is on the tarmac now. It will be leaving tomorrow ... this will enable us to bring forward significantly the opportunity for Australia to open up again," Morrison told reporters in Canberra on Friday, days after announcing a smaller vaccine swap agreement with Singapore.

Morrison has been criticised for failing to initially secure an adequate supply of vaccines and for a slow roll out which has seen initial vaccination targets delayed by months.

State governments say their vaccination programmes are being hindered by a lack of supply of the Pfizer vaccine needed to innoculate the younger population.

The vaccine deal comes ahead of a meeting of federal and state leaders later on Friday with virus-free Queensland and Western Australia states flagging they may delay their reopening plans due to the escalating Delta outbreaks in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia's largest cities.

More than half the country's 25 million people are under stay at home orders, with Sydney, Melbourne and the national capital Canberra in prolonged lockdowns.

The rest of the country enjoys a mostly Covid-free life, but those states have closed borders to stop the Delta variant entering their jurisdiction.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Friday said a modelling on how COVID-19 affects children has to be prepared before she can make any decisions to relax border rules.

Reuters

September 03 2021 - 06:15

Promising new Covid drugs are in the pipeline. Here they are

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to roil across the globe, scientists and healthcare professionals are still searching for that Holy Grail — a cure.

In the 18 months since the pandemic began, numerous drugs have been tried on patients to see if they have any outcome in preventing serious illness or death, with mixed results.

This has led to desperate patients and their families grasping unproven medications such as hydroxychloroquine and the animal anti-parasite drug ivermectin.

September 03 2021 - 06:00

PODCAST | The facts, the whole facts and nothing but the facts around vaccine safety and the origins of ivermectin treatment

Some scientists bask in the limelight because of their work. Others quietly - and rigorously - go about their mission wearing many challenging hats so that the interests of public health are at the front of the agenda for the rest of us.