COVID-19 WRAP | SA records 300 new Covid-19 cases

October 24 2021 — 20:00

SA records 300 new Covid-19 cases

October 24 2021 — 13:15

Japan's sudden coronavirus success puzzles experts

Almost overnight, Japan has become a stunning, and somewhat mysterious, coronavirus success story.

Daily new Covid-19 cases have plummeted from a mid-August peak of nearly 6,000 in Tokyo, with caseloads in the densely populated capital now routinely below 100, an 11-month low.

The bars are packed, the trains are crowded, and the mood is celebratory, despite a general bafflement over what, exactly, is behind the sharp drop.

October 24 2021 — 12:30

Israel, UAE sign 'green corridor' agreement for vaccinated passengers - Israeli consulate in Dubai

Israel and the United Arab Emirates have signed a "green corridor" agreement allowing passengers vaccinated against the novel coronavirus to travel freely between the two countries, the Israeli consulate in Dubai said on Twitter on Sunday. 

Reuters

October 24 2021 — 11:30

China says 76% of population have received complete doses of Covid-19 vaccines

China has given complete doses of Covid-19 vaccines to about 75.6% of its population as of October 23, National Health Commission spokesperson Mi Feng said on Sunday.

Some 1.068 billion people have now been inoculated with the required dosages, out of a population of 1.412 billion, Mi told a news briefing.

The country administered 2.245 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines as of Saturday, official data showed.

China is giving booster shots to adults whose last dose was at least six months earlier, with priority groups including essential workers, older people and those with weaker immune systems.

Data showed antibodies elicited by vaccines, including the most-used shots from Sinovac and Sinopharm, declined within months.

Wang Huaqing, chief expert for the immunization program at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said China would not keep giving people booster shots after booster shots.

"We hope that an ideal vaccine works well with the full doses of immunization," Wang told the briefing."

Even if it needs to be strengthened later, the number of boosters is limited," Wang said. "We hope in the future there will be better vaccines and better vaccination procedures to achieve solid protection among the public."

China has largely contained the virus in most areas, and the sporadic local outbreaks are tiny compared with those seen in other countries.

However, Mi cautioned on Sunday there is increasing risk that China's latest outbreak, involving over 100 infections in a week across 11 provincial areas, will spread further. 

Reuters 

October 24 2021 — 08:40

As outbreak worsens, Covid-19 cases in eastern Europe near 20 million

Coronavirus cases in eastern Europe will soon surpass 20 million, according to a Reuters tally on Sunday, as the region grapples with its worst outbreak since the pandemic started and inoculation efforts lag.

Countries in the region have the lowest vaccination rates in Europe, with less than half of the population having received a single dose.

Hungary tops the region's vaccination rates with 62% of its population having got at least one shot, whereas Ukraine has given just 19% of its residents a single dose, according to Our World in Data.

New infections in the region have steadily risen and now average over 83,700 new cases per day, the highest level since November last year, Reuters data through Friday showed. Though it has just 4% of the world's population, eastern Europe accounts for roughly 20% of all new cases reported globally.

According to a Reuters analysis, three of the top five countries reporting the most deaths in the world are in eastern Europe — Russia, Ukraine and Romania.

More social gathering indoors after the lifting of restrictions just as winter sets in is driving a rise in Covid-19 infections in many countries across Europe, the World Health Organisation's emergency director Mike Ryan said on Thursday.

As the wave of infections intensifies, many people in eastern Europe are torn between defiance and regret over not getting vaccinated.

Hundreds have protested in Sofia and other cities against mandatory certificates that came into force on Thursday, limiting access to many indoor public spaces to those who have been vaccinated.

A European Commission poll, the Eurobarometer, has shown that at least one person in three in most countries in the European Union's east does not trust the healthcare system, compared to a bloc average of 18%.

More than 40% of all new cases reported in eastern Europe were in Russia, with 120 people testing positive every five minutes, according to a Reuters analysis.

The country's healthcare system is operating under great strain, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said on Wednesday. The nation on Friday reported record Covid-19 fatalities for the fourth straight day.

So far, Russia has vaccinated about 36% of its population with one vaccine shot.

Moscow, the country's most populous city and capital, will next week shutdown all businesses except essential stores such as supermarkets and pharmacies to stem the spread of the disease.

Slovakia reported 3,480 new Covid-19 cases on October 19, its highest daily tally since March, health ministry data showed Wednesday. The country has one of the lower vaccination rates in the EU, with just over half the adult population fully inoculated in the country of 5.5 million. This has contributed to a faster rise in infections than in some neighbouring countries.

In Romania, hospitals are stretched to breaking point, with emergency beds fully occupied across the country. Morgues were also running at full capacity. The country reported record numbers of daily coronavirus fatalities and infections on Tuesday. The virus was killing one person every five minutes on average this month in a country where the inoculation rate is low.

Ukraine registered a record daily high of new coronavirus infections and related deaths for the second consecutive day on Friday. It also extended a state of emergency that allows authorities to impose curbs until year-end to rein in infections.

Reuters

October 24 2021 — 07:00

Melbourne to ease more Covid curbs as 80% vaccination rate nears

Melbourne, the world's most locked-down city that emerged from its latest spate of Covid-19 restrictions on Friday, will see more curbs eased next week when Victoria state reaches an 80% full vaccination rate, officials said on Sunday.

Home to about five million people, Melbourne endured 262 days, or nearly nine months, of stay-at-home restrictions during six lockdowns since March 2020, longer than the 234-day continuous lockdown in Buenos Aires.

Starting on Friday, when 80% of people across Victoria - of which Melbourne is the capital - are expected to be fully vaccinated, Melburnians will be free to travel throughout the state and masks will no longer be required outdoors.

"There's a fundamental agreement that we have reached with the Victorian community, we asked you to get vaccinated, you have done that in record time and record numbers," Premier Daniel Andrews said.

With a once-sputtering vaccine rollout now at full speed, authorities across Australia no longer plan to rely on extended lockdowns to suppress the virus. Victoria recorded 1,935 new coronavirus cases and 11 deaths on Sunday.

As the state moves towards a "vaccinated economy" in which only fully inoculated people will be allowed into venues, a 90% percent rate is expected around November 24, Andrews said.

He added that he wanted to see crowds in excess of 80,000 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the Boxing Day Test on Dec. 26 between Australia and England.

"It's our approach to try and achieve life as close to normal as possible," Andrews said.

Australians overwhelmingly support vaccinations, with research by the Melbourne Institute at the University of Melbourne, showing in October that only 6.9% of the population were unwilling to be inoculated.

New South Wales state, whose capital Sydney spent 100 days in a lockdown that ended earlier this month, recorded 296 new Covid-19 cases and four deaths. Nearly 85% of the state's population have been fully vaccinated.

New Zealand, which is also learning to live with the virus through vaccinations, had 80 cases on Sunday, all in the North Island. On Saturday, it reported a first Covid-19 infection in nearly a year in the country's South Island.

Reuters

October 24 2021 — 06:30

Vexed vs unvaxxed: Office politics get extra needle as return to work accelerates

If Covid-19 protocols are observed, people can return to work in offices “fairly safely”, unless they have comorbidities or live with vulnerable people,  says Wits University professor of medicine Francois Venter.

His advice came as the number of active infections in SA dropped to its lowest level since early June 2020, when the first wave was still in its early stages.

But without mandatory vaccination policies for workplaces, staff risk greater exposure to the virus than they do working at home and may feel unsafe.

October 24 2021 — 06:00