COVID-19 WRAP | SA records 1,456 new cases, 50 more deaths

February 20 2022 - 21:37

SA records 1,456 new Covid-19 cases, 50 more deaths

February 20 2022 - 18:33

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II tests positive for mild Covid-19

Queen Elizabeth II, the UK’s 95-year-old monarch, has tested positive for Covid-19 and has mild symptoms, her office at Buckingham Palace said.

The queen is experiencing “cold-like” effects but expects to continue “light duties” at Windsor Castle over the coming week, the palace said in a statement. She has received all her vaccinations.

“She will continue to receive medical attention and will follow all the appropriate guidelines,” according to the statement.

February 20 2022 - 18:30

Beijing closes curtain on 'closed loop' Games

Beijing doused its Olympic flame on Sunday night, closing a Games that will be remembered for the extremes of its anti-Covid-19 measures and outrage over the doping scandal that enveloped 15-year-old Russian skating sensation Kamila Valieva.

Chinese President Xi Jinping was on hand for the snowflake-themed ceremony at the Bird's Nest stadium, where International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach described the Beijing Games as “truly exceptional” before declaring them closed.

The Beijing Games, contained inside a “closed loop”, were the second Olympics in six months to be deprived by Covid-19 of much of its festivity.

February 20 2022 - 11:40

Hong Kong in 'all-out combat' to contain outbreak with China support

Hong Kong is in "all-out combat" to contain a surge in coronavirus cases, the city's number two official said on Sunday, with the ramping up of community isolation and treatment units helped by mainland Chinese construction teams.

Scenes of people lying outside public hospitals in the rain and chilly weather have shocked many in the global financial hub, leading to an apology from authorities. Officials have now organised facilities to shelter patients amid a drop in temperatures as healthcare facilities are overwhelmed.

Officials reported 6,067 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday, a day after the government announced that the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal would be turned into a dedicated Covid-19 facility with 1,000 beds to mitigate overburdened public hospitals.

Hong Kong's embattled leader Carrie Lam, who attended a ground-breaking ceremony at a construction site for nearly 10,000 Covid-19 units at Penny's Bay close to the city's Disneyland resort, said the initiatives would enhance the city's anti-epidemic capacity "within a very short period of time".

In what was seen as a rebuke to the Hong Kong authorities' handling of the spiralling outbreak, Chinese President Xi Jinping said fighting the virus must now be their "overriding mission", in comments carried in the state-backed Ta Kung Pao newspaper on Wednesday.

Hong Kong's top civil servant, John Lee, said in a blog post on Sunday that the city's "government has entered a state of all-out combat."

The global financial hub's "dynamic zero-Covid" policies, mirroring those in mainland China, have contributed to its current woes and are unsustainable, some experts say.

The city's public hospitals have been severely stretched, struggling to cope with an influx of patients including the elderly, many of whom have resisted vaccinations.

Health official Sara Ho said on Sunday that she understood public frustration but urged patients to fully cooperate with hospital staff. Health chief Sophia Chan said the government was considering tightening social distancing rules further.

While the city has so far ruled out a city-wide lockdown, authorities are examining mandatory testing for its 7.4-million people.

Sunday's Covid-19 tally was slightly higher than Saturday's 6063 cases, and the city reported 14 deaths.

The city has recorded around 40,000 infections and fewer than 300 coronavirus deaths, far below other major cities. But some epidemiologists expect daily infections to approach 30,000 by the end of March.

China has sent epidemiologists, critical care experts and over 100 testing personnel to the city, as well as mobile testing vehicles, with authorities saying the outbreak could take up to three months to stabilise.

The conversion of public housing estates, rental of commercial hotels and indoor sport centres will add an extra 20,000 extra units for people who tested positive for Covid-19 but had no or mild symptoms for isolation.

An election to choose the city's next leader, initially scheduled for March, has been postponed to May, adding to uncertainty about the former British colony's future as Beijing imposes its rule

Reuters

February 20 2022 - 07:00

Budget requires a refocus on long-term health-care funding

Now that Covid funding needs are abating, SA needs to get back to spending on 'normal' health care — which has been left worse off by the pandemic

February 20 2022 - 06:00

Global Covid-19 war brews as vaccine giants accused of putting profits before public health

A global war is brewing over Covid-19 vaccines and SA — the base of the World Health Organisation (WHO) vaccine equity hub — is at the heart of it.

The conflict comes as scientists claim that the government has given up on the vaccination rollout, which has virtually stalled with only a third of adults fully jabbed.

Three vaccine giants are under fire for allegedly prioritising profit over public health amid rows about intellectual property (IP) and a shipping container manufacturing  system.

The container model will see companies setting up ready-made vaccine factories in Africa, a process that will impart no skills to locals and see stock being shipped back to Europe, according to the British Medical Journal (BMJ).