COVID-19 WRAP | Gauteng records 173 of SA's 393 new Covid-19 cases

November 12 2021 - 20:47

Gauteng records 173 of SA's 393 new Covid-19 cases

Gauteng recorded 173 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, about 44% of the total number of infections across SA in the past day.

In total, 393 cases were recorded across the country. After Gauteng, the Northern Cape was next highest (39), followed by the Western Cape (38) and KwaZulu-Natal (32).

According to the NICD, this means that there have now been 2,925,371 total cases recorded across SA since March 2020.

November 12 2021 - 13:45

Norway plans third Covid-19 vaccine dose for all adults

Norway will offer a third Covid-19 vaccine dose to everyone aged 18 or older and will give municipalities the option of using digital "corona passes" as a way to beat back an ongoing surge in Covid-19 infections, the government said on Friday.

Norway has so far only given a third dose to those aged 65 and older.

"Everyone aged 18 and older will be offered a third dose next year," Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere told a news conference.

Norway in late September ended the last of its domestic coronavirus lockdown measures, which for 18 months had restricted social interaction and hobbled many businesses.

The country is not going back into lockdown however, Stoere said.

But while 87% of adults in Norway have received at least two vaccine doses against Covid-19, and 70% of the overall population has been inoculated, infections and hospitalisations are now rising rapidly.

Norway uses vaccines made by BioNTech, Pfizer and Moderna in its national rollout, which since September includes everyone aged 12 and over.

Reuters

November 12 2021 - 13:20

Rugby-England prop Genge to miss Australia test due to Covid-19

England prop Ellis Genge will miss Saturday's autumn international test against Australia after testing positive for Covid-19, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) said on Friday.

Genge, who had been named in the starting line-up for the Wallabies game at Twickenham Stadium, is the latest player to test positive after Joe Marler.

"Ellis Genge has tested positive for Covid. He returned a positive PCR result on Friday morning from a test taken on Thursday morning," the RFU said in a statement."

He immediately went into isolation. No other positive test results were received among players or staff."

Last week, captain Owen Farrell rejoined the squad after returning a false positive Covid-19 test.

Coach Eddie Jones said Bevan Rodd will replace Genge in Saturday's line-up, with Trevor Davison named on the bench.

"It is a great opportunity for a young lad like Bevan Rodd to play his first Test at Twickenham against our arch enemies Australia, we have the greatest confidence in him," Jones said."

We're disappointed for Ellis, he is such a big part of our team, but it is a great opportunity for the squad to step up." 

Reuters

November 12 2021 - 12:49

Germany to classify Austria as Covid-19 high-risk area from Sunday

Austria will be classified as a Covid-19 high-risk area starting Sunday, German Health Minister Jens Spahn said.

The classification means that people travelling from Austria must enter quarantine upon arrival in Germany unless they have been vaccinated or have recovered from Covid-19.

Reuters

November 12 2021 - 11:00

AstraZeneca vaccine turns profitable, drugmaker banking on new orders

AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine made a small contribution to earnings in the third quarter and it expects the shot to move to "modest profitability" on new orders after the drugmaker on Friday posted $1.05 billion in vaccine sales for the period.

The Anglo-Swedish company, which has said will not make a profit from the cheap and easy-to-use shot during the pandemic, this week unveiled plans to set up a separate unit for vaccines and antibody treatments to focus on its coronavirus efforts.

Total revenue jumped 47% to $9.74 billion for the three months to September on a constant-currency basis, while core earnings came in at $1.08 per share, the company said, with the vaccine, Vaxzevria, contributing one cent to the profit.

The addition of rare-disease specialist Alexion from July 21, thanks to a $39 billion deal agreed almost a year ago, also boosted sales.

Analysts on average were expecting profit of $1.28 per share on sales of $9.4 billion, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

Some of the company's core treatments for cancer, rare-diseases and heart conditions disappointed, with lower-than-expected growth in sales of lung cancer drug Tagrisso due to price cuts in China.

However, established asthma drug Symbicort recorded a strong performance in emerging markets, with sales overall up 13% at $676 million in the quarter. Revenues of the best-seller Tagrisso rose 8% to $1.25 billion.

AstraZeneca said the limited profit from the vaccine in the fourth quarter would make up for costs related to its antibody cocktail for preventing and treating Covid-19, as it stuck with its overall forecasts for the year.

Rival Pfizer this month forecast 2021 and 2022 sales from its Covid-19 vaccine of at least $65 billion overall, topping estimates. However, Moderna slashed its 2021 sales outlook for its shot by as much as $5 billion, on production hiccups.

Reuters

November 12 2021 - 09:52

Election campaigns and voting caused no Covid-19 spread: health ministry

Neither campaigning for the election nor voting day itself caused any signs of the super-spreading of Covid-19.

That's according to health minister Dr Joe Phaahla, who was speaking at a briefing on Friday morning.

“We are pleased to report that 11 days after the campaign and subsequent voting, we have not experienced any super-spreading effects,” he said.

“We were assured by the Electoral Commission that all would be safe, but we did say we were concerned and are now happy that, so far, not a single province or district has shown signs of a spike.”

He said the ministry would continue to monitor the situation, aided by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases and the ministerial advisory committee on Covid-19.

Regarding infections, he said active case numbers were still “relatively high” at about 16,000 but this was “still far less than the peak”. 

November 12 2021 - 08:11

Zimbabwe’s vaccine decree leaves workers in a bind

The Zimbabwean government may not yet be punishing government workers who have not received the Covid-19 vaccine, but its directive is still in full force.

In early September, the government issued a directive that by October 15, all civil servants would have to be vaccinated or else they would not be allowed at their work stations, among other punitive measures, including salary deductions. Parastatals and many big companies followed suit.

Before the decree, there was no express policy dealing with vaccination mandates in the country. The government insisted vaccination was voluntary, but senior government officials, including President Emmerson Mnangagwa, kept making announcements compelling citizens to be vaccinated. Some perceived this to be coercive.

November 12 2021 - 07:15

Netherlands to impose partial lockdown to halt Covid-19 surge 

The Netherlands will impose Western Europe's first partial lockdown since the summer this weekend, in a bid to stop a surge in Covid-19 cases, Dutch broadcaster NOS said on Friday.

Bars, restaurants and non-essential stores will be ordered to close at 7 P.M. for at least three weeks starting Saturday, NOS said, citing government sources.

People will be urged to work from home as much as possible, and no audiences will be allowed at sporting events in the coming weeks. Schools, theatres and cinemas would remain open.

Caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte's cabinet will take a final decision later on Friday, and will announce the new measures during a televised press conference scheduled for 1800 GMT.

New coronavirus infections in the country of 17.5 million have increased rapidly after social distancing measures were dropped late September and hit a record of around 16,300 in 24 hours on Thursday.

The new wave of infections has put pressure on hospitals throughout the country, forcing them to scale back regular care again to treat Covid-19 patients.

To contain the outbreak, the government's pandemic advisory panel on Thursday recommended imposing a partial lockdown and to limit entrance to public places to people who have been fully vaccinated or have recently recovered from a coronavirus infection.

A new lockdown would mean a drastic turn in policy for the Dutch government, which until last month thought that a relatively high vaccination rate would mean it could further ease measures towards the end of the year.

But it is not alone in considering strict measures as infections spike to record levels. Austria on Thursday said it was days away from placing millions of unvaccinated people in lockdown.

Many developed countries, however, are sticking to the view that vaccine rollouts mean lockdowns are unnecessary, with Britain, for instance, relying on booster shots to increase immunity.

Around 85% of the adult Dutch population has been fully vaccinated against Covid-19. Booster shots have so far only been provided to a small group of people with weak immune systems, and will be offered to people aged 80 years and older in December.

Last month, roughly 55% of patients in Dutch hospitals and 70% of those in intensive care were unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated, data provided by the Netherlands' Institute for Health (RIVM) showed. 

Reuters 

November 12 2021 - 07:00

Can the Covid-19 jab give me an irregular period?

Dr Michelle Groome from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said this week there have been reports of irregular menstrual periods from some women after receiving the Covid-19 vaccine.

She hosted a Q&A session on Twitter on Thursday to address concerns about the vaccine.

Groome said an irregular menstrual period can be a short-term side-effect of the vaccine and any persistent after-effects must be reported to the SA Health Products Regulatory Authority which is responsible for investigating adverse effects after immunisation.

November 12 2021 - 06:30

Mexico reports 256 new Covid-19 deaths

Mexico reported 256 new confirmed deaths from Covid-19 on Thursday, bringing the country's official death toll from the pandemic to 290,630, according to health ministry data.

Officials have said the ministry's figures likely represent a significant undercount of Covid-19 deaths.

Reuters

November 12 2021 - 06:15

Northeastern Chinese port city battles growing Covid-19 cluster

 A growing Covid-19 cluster in China's Dalian has spurred the northeastern port city to limit outbound travel, cut offline school classes and close a few cultural venues after being told by national authorities to contain the outbreak more quickly.

Dalian reported 52 locally transmitted infections with confirmed symptoms on Thursday, a daily count higher than any other Chinese city affected in an ongoing nationwide outbreak since mid-October, and more than doubling from 21 cases a day earlier, official data showed on Friday.

A total of 1,149 local cases were found in China between October 17 and November 11.

While the number is tiny compared with many outbreaks outside the country, local authorities have exerted resources to put out the flare-up with Beijing not expected to change its zero-tolerance policy any time soon."

Various measures should be quickened and their quality should be improved, in order to get the outbreak under control in a shorter amount of time and to minimise the outbreak's impact on manufacturing and life of the general public," the National Health Commission said on Thursday, citing a meeting chaired by the commission's director in Dalian.

The number of people travelling out of Dalian has dropped by 96.5% to 918 per day on average, a local transportation official said late on Thursday, after the city of 7.5 million people imposed curbs on public transport and warned residents against leaving Dalian for unnecessary reasons.

The city has demanded kindergartens and primary and high schools halt offline lessons, closed a number of libraries and museums, and started a second round of city-wide mass testing campaign.

On Friday, Dalian called on its residents not to leave their home unless it is necessary.

Dalian, a leading port for seafood shipments as well as fruit and some meats, has also ordered all businesses handling imported chilled and frozen foods to suspend operations, according to the state-backed newspaper Global Times.

As of Nov. 11, mainland China had reported 98,099 confirmed symptomatic Covid-19 patients, including both local cases and those arriving from abroad. The total death number remained at 4,636.

Reuters

November 12 2021 - 06:00

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and senior aides holed up in a nuclear bunker to simulate an outbreak of a vaccine-resistant COVID-19 variant to which children are vulnerable, describing such an eventuality as ‘the next war’