COVID-19 UPDATES | Scientist explains how they're creating a universal Covid vaccine

January 28 2022 -  18:18

Labour groupings warn against firing workers for refusing Covid-19 shot

Three big labour organisations have cautioned employers against taking a hard line with employees who refuse to take the Covid-19 jab.

This after an employee at Goldrush Group who was fired after she failed to comply with the company's mandatory vaccination policy lost her bid to have the decision overturned by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).

January 28 2022 -  13:55

Scientist explains how they're creating a universal Covid vaccine

CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta speaks to scientists at the Duke Human Vaccine Institute who are working to create a universal vaccine against all variants of the coronavirus. 

January 28 2022 -  13:00

POLL | Do you agree with the CCMA upholding a woman’s dismissal for refusing to vaccinate?

Mandatory vaccinations in the workplace have been thrown back into the spotlight after the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) upheld a Johannesburg woman's dismissal for refusing to get vaccinated as justified.

January 28 2022 -  12:52

Omicron behind nearly all infections in Italy, health body says

The highly contagious Omicron coronavirus now accounts for nearly all new infections in Italy, the National Health Institute (ISS) said on Friday, accounting for almost 96% of cases in a flash January 17 survey.

The previous survey from January 3 showed Omicron responsible for 81% of cases.

“In Italy on January 17, the Omicron variant was predominant, with an estimated prevalence of 95.8%, while Delta was at 4.2% of the sample tested”, the Institute said in a statement.

January 28 2022 -  12:33

Senior Japanese govt official tests positive for Covid-19 

A senior Japanese government official, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihiko Isozaki, tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday after showing symptoms including fever, NTV television network said.

In the course of his job, Isozaki meets with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida relatively frequently, but the broadcaster gave no further details, including when the two of them last met.

Japan has seen a rapid surge in coronavirus cases, with Tokyo recording a record 17,631 new cases on Friday.

Reuters

January 28 2022 - 09:49

Australia suffers deadliest day of pandemic, expands booster eligibility

Australia suffered its deadliest day of the Covid-19 pandemic on Friday with nearly 100 deaths, but several large states said they expect hospital admissions to fall amid hopes that the latest wave of infections would begin to subside.

January 28 2022 - 09:11

Relax — New Covid-19 sub-variant BA.2 is 'not a cause for concern' at the moment

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has calmed fears over the Covid-19 sub-variant BA.2, saying it is not a cause for concern at the moment. 

BA.2 was first identified in India and SA in late December last year. It is believed to have emerged from a mutation of Omicron. 

Other sub-lineages have already been referenced, such as BA.3 or BB.2, but they have attracted less attention from epidemiologists due to the increase in cases of people who have contracted the BA.2 variant. 

January 28 2022 - 09:08

'Whack-a-mole': Experts call Hong Kong's zero-Covid-19 policy unsustainable

With thousands of people locked down in tiny apartments, government quarantine centres filling up and many businesses shuttered, Hong Kong is scrambling to sustain a zero-Covid-19 policy that has turned one of the world's most densely packed cities into one of the most isolated. 

The economic and psychological tolls from the global financial hub's hardline approach — in line with China's strategy — are rapidly rising, residents say, with measures becoming more draconian than those first implemented in 2020.

Flights out of Hong Kong's international airport are down around 90%, over 8,000 people are locked down in government quarantine facilities and a congested housing block, while 900,000 students have been shut out of schools since the start of this week. Doctors say the restrictions are taking an increasingly heavy toll on residents' mental health.

January 28 2022 - 08:49

Sweden decides against recommending Covid-19 vaccines for children aged 5-12

Sweden has decided against recommending Covid-19 vaccines for children aged 5-11, the Health Agency said, arguing that the benefits did not outweigh the risks.

“With the knowledge we have today, with a low risk for serious disease for kids, we don't see any clear benefit with vaccinating them,” Health Agency official Britta Bjorkholm told a news conference.

She added that the decision could be revisited if the research changed or if a new variant changed the pandemic. Children in high-risk groups can already get the vaccine.

January 28 2022 - 07:00

Are alcohol-based hand sanitisers safe for everyone to use?

There are no health concerns associated with using alcohol-based hand sanitisers, says the World Health Organisation (WHO). 

Since the advent of the global coronavirus pandemic in 2019, experts have recommended using them to disinfect hands and surfaces to reduce the chances of contracting Covid-19. 

The WHO says though there have been rare cases of accidental swallowing and intoxication, alcohol-based hand sanitisers are safe for everyone to use. 

“Alcohols in the sanitisers have not been shown to create any relevant health issues. Little alcohol is absorbed into the skin, and most products contain an emollient to reduce skin dryness. Allergic contact dermatitis and bleaching of hand hair due to alcohol are very rare adverse effects.”

January 28 2022 - 06:23

Drug resistance: the big global health crisis in Covid’s shadow

If we look on the bright side of the past two years, Covid-19 should at least mean we’ll be ready for the next major threat from infectious disease. We know how to prepare, we have more advanced technology, we’ve strengthened public-health protocols. And governments have learnt just how quickly science can move when offered the right incentives. 

All of these learnings are needed already — in the fight against growing antimicrobial resistance (AMR), or infections that don’t respond to drugs.

Antimicrobials is the catch-all term for the many antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals and other drugs that prevent infections in humans, animals and plants. Pathogens naturally develop resistance to antimicrobials as they evolve, but thanks to an overuse of antibiotics and other conditions, the speed of such resistance has become a major global health issue. 

January 28 2022 - 06:10

Omicron sub-variant’s stealthy rise puts Hong Kong on the back foot

After avoiding Covid-19 for months, Hong Kong is grappling with an outbreak caused by a novel twist on Omicron that’s rare, but on the rise worldwide.

More than 200 people have been infected with the “stealth” variant, which has been traced back to a traveller infected by the strain during a 21-day hotel quarantine, according to the government. It’s one of the largest outbreaks in the city, which has taken increasingly drastic steps to stamp out the disease, from locking down thousands of residents and banning flights from countries including the US and UK, to killing thousands of hamsters after some tested positive.   

January 28 2022 - 06:00

Anti-vaxxers’ Holocaust tropes are fuelling anti-Semitism

Protesters against Covid-19 measures who liken themselves to Jews under Nazi persecution are stoking global anti-Semitism, the Israeli government said in a report marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Such Holocaust tropes have become “widespread” and, along with violent demonstrations linked to Israel’s May war in Gaza, were main factors behind physical or online attacks on Jews in Europe and North America last year, said the 152-page report by the diaspora affairs ministry.

Several US and British politicians have in recent months apologised after suggesting vaccine or lockdown policies recalled Hitler’s regime.