What's new

Coronavirus in Africa

South Africa records 3,370 new COVID-19 cases

Health minister says areas experiencing resurgence of virus

JOHANNESBURG - South Africa recorded 3,370 new coronavirus cases Friday, bringing the number of infections to 781,941, according to Health Minister Zweli Mkhize.

He said 89 people died from the virus, pushing the number of fatalities to 21,378 but 722,876 patients have recovered.

Earlier Friday, Mkhize told a news briefing in the Eastern Cape Province, which has the highest numbers of infections, that parts of the country are witnessing a resurgence of the virus.

Mkhize said medical staff in several provinces are feeling the pressure associated with the resurgence.

"The fatigue, the psycho-social strain on our staff is huge," he said, and more health workers are being infected with the virus and are going into self-isolation, while others are taking a leave from work.

He said it has left those on duty traumatized after seeing colleagues become infected or having died.

"We need to intensify communication, to make people understand that if they do not adhere to the measures [wearing masks and sanitizing], the numbers will rise," said Mkhize.

During a surge in July and August, South Africa recorded 10,000 - 12,000 infections daily, but cases declined to 800 - 1,500 in September and October. Cases now are again increasing daily to between 2,800 and 3,300.

During the surge in August, Gauteng province, which includes the capital of Pretoria and the commercial hub of Johannesburg, had the highest number of cases followed by the coastal province of KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and West Cape provinces.

Mkhize said the health department still has an opportunity to act on new outbreaks in the Eastern and Western Cape provinces so that it can stem the spread to the remaining seven provinces.

South Africa has the highest number of COVID-19 cases on the continent and is the sixteenth most affected globally.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/south-africa-records-3-370-new-covid-19-cases/2058575.
 
South Africa registers 3,198 coronavirus cases

Deaths surpass 21,400

ABUJA, Nigeria

South Africa registered 3,198 new cases of the coronavirus Saturday, taking the nationwide tally to 785,139, according to the health ministry.

Sixty-one additional people died from the virus, bringing fatalities to 21,439.

The country has conducted more than 5,385,000 tests and nearly 723,500 patients have recovered.

Africa has reported more than 2 million COVID-19 cases.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/south-africa-registers-3-198-coronavirus-cases/2059363.
 
Coronavirus: African Union Member States reporting COVID-19 cases as of 29 November 2020, 9 am EAT

African Union Member States (55) reporting COVID-19 cases (2,150,439) deaths (51,481), and recoveries (1,815,839) by region:

Central (65,085 cases; 1,188 deaths; 60,412 recoveries): Burundi (681; 1; 549), Cameroon (24,117; 435; 22,177), CAR (4,913; 63; 4,825), Chad (1,663; 101; 1,499), Congo (5,774; 94; 4,891), DRC (12,608; 333; 11,495), Equatorial Guinea (5,153; 85; 5,009), Gabon (9,191; 59; 9,037), Sao Tome & Principe (985; 17; 930)

Eastern (267,717; 5,147; 177,710): Comoros (611; 7; 586), Djibouti (5,676; 61; 5,577), Eritrea (577; 0; 498), Ethiopia (108,930; 1,695; 68,250), Kenya (82,605; 1,445; 54,399), Madagascar (17,341; 251; 16,657), Mauritius (501; 10; 433), Rwanda (5,891; 47; 5,480), Seychelles (173; 0; 162), Somalia (4,451; 113; 3,417), South Sudan (3,104; 61; 2,954), Sudan (17,404; 1,235; 10,175), Tanzania (509; 21; 178), Uganda (19,944; 201; 8,944)

Northern (730,824; 19,215; 582,863): Algeria (81,212; 2,375; 52,568), Egypt (115,183; 6,621; 102,490), Libya (81,273; 1,153; 52,299), Mauritania (8,460; 172; 7,680), Morocco (349,688; 5,739; 298,574), Tunisia (94,980; 3,153; 69,226), Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (28; 2; 26)

Southern (882,040; 23,076, 801,848): Angola (15,087; 345; 7,763), Botswana (9,992; 31; 5,534), Eswatini (6,406; 121; 5,987), Lesotho (2,109; 44; 1,278), Malawi (6,025; 185; 5,453), Mozambique (15,586; 129; 13,677), Namibia (14,285; 150; 13,412), South Africa (785,139; 21,439; 723,347), Zambia (17,589; 357; 16,925), Zimbabwe (9,822; 275; 8,472)

Western (204,773, 2,855, 193,006): Benin (2,974, 43; 2,819), Burkina Faso (2,816; 68; 2,579), Cape Verde (10,700; 105; 10,161), Côte d'Ivoire (21,261; 131; 20,912), Gambia (3,731; 123; 3,590), Ghana (51,379; 323; 50,298), Guinea (13,039; 76; 11,982), Guinea-Bissau (2,422; 43; 2,309), Liberia (1,595; 83; 1,343), Mali (4,659; 149; 3,138), Niger (1,484; 70; 1,205), Nigeria (67,330; 1,171; 62,819), Senegal (16,027; 332; 15,582), Sierra Leone (2,410; 74; 1,834), Togo (2,946; 64; 2,435)
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.africanews.com/2020/11/...vid-19-cases-as-of-29-november-2020-9-am-eat/.
 
Uganda advances coronavirus test kits

(MENAFN) President Yoweri Museveni stated on Sunday, November 29, that Ugandan scientists have advanced two coronavirus diagnostic tests kits, antivirals and a bronchodilator in an attempt to end the virus.

In a televised address, Museveni stated that the scientists have advanced three antivirals, which kill the virus and limit its harm to the body, two diagnostic tests to spot the virus and a bronchodilator to aid hard breathing.

Museveni stated that Ugandan scientists have advanced seven products, six of which are under trial and one, an immune booster, is already being used.

Museveni stated that one of the two diagnostic test kits can provide results in 30 minutes after taking the saliva sample.
Click to expand...

Source: https://menafn.com/1101208718/Uganda-advances-coronavirus-test-kits&source=30.
 
Coronavirus death toll in Africa tops 52,000

316 fatalities, more than 13,300 new COVID-19 cases recorded, recoveries over 1.85M, says Africa CDC

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia

Coronavirus deaths in Africa are now over 52,000, the Africa CDC said in an update on Wednesday.

A total of 316 more fatalities were reported over the past day, raising the death toll to 52,231, while infections shot up by 13,366 to reach 2,184,209, according to latest data.

While the number of recoveries has reached 1,853,263, active COVID-19 cases on the continent stand at 330,946.

Southern Africa, with 890,100 cases and 23,300 deaths, is the worst-hit region on the continent.

However, it also has the highest number of recoveries at 811,800.

Some 749,200 cases have been reported in North Africa, 272,700 in East Africa, 206,300 in West Africa, and 65,800 in Central Africa.

The virus has claimed at least 19,600 lives in North Africa, 5,200 in East Africa, 2,900 in West Africa, and 1,200 in Central Africa, according to the Africa CDC.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/latest-on-...irus-death-toll-in-africa-tops-52-000/2062879.
 
South Africa tightens local restrictions as coronavirus surges

Clear evidence of a resurgence of Covid-19 across the Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces

South Africa’s government has tightened lockdown restrictions in the Eastern Cape province’s largest city as a first step in tackling localised coronavirus outbreaks that are threatening to spread nationwide.

In a live television address on Thursday, president Cyril Ramaphosa told citizens there was clear evidence of a resurgence of Covid-19 across the Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces, which urgently needed to be contained.

“There are three areas that account for most new infections. They are Nelson Mandela Bay and the Sarah Baartman District in the Eastern Cape, and the Garden Route District in the Western Cape,” Mr Ramaphosa said.

The Covid-19 flare-ups in both coastal regions could lead to a full-blown second wave of the disease, say medical experts, due to the expected mass movement of people across South Africa’s nine provinces over the festive season.

In addition, the government is concerned people are succumbing to restriction fatigue, even though the country is currently on Level 1 of its five-stage, risk-adjusted lockdown strategy – the least severe.

This has manifested in a growing tendency to ignore social distancing and mask-wearing regulations.

As a result, the Eastern Cape’s Nelson Mandela Bay metro has become the first place to officially be declared a Covid-19 hot spot, which has triggered the introduction of targeted restrictions designed to slow the outbreak while protecting economic activity.

These controls include limiting the sale of alcohol, the introduction of a 10pm- 4am curfew, a ban on alcohol consumption in public places, a reduction – from 250 to 100 – in the number of people who attend indoor events, and a ban on post-funeral gatherings.

Mr Ramaphosa also said his government would create extra capacity at medical facilities in affected areas, as some hospitals and clinics in both provinces were experiencing significant rises in admissions.

Public health interventions such as testing, contact tracing, isolation and quarantine, as well as awareness-raising campaigns, are also being expanded.

“We must change our behaviour to prevent a resurgence of the virus and manage outbreaks wherever they occur . . . At the same time, we need to do all we can to keep the economy open and to push ahead with our reconstruction and recovery effort,” Mr Ramaphosa concluded.

Infection figures
South African business associations have cautiously accepted the government’s needs-based approach to the targeted restrictions, saying it takes into account the realities of people’s lives.

The Business for South Africa organisation had earlier warned that returning the country to a strict Level 3 lockdown would cost the country a further 200,000 jobs.

The first wave of Covid-19 started to peak in South Africa in late June before subsiding in early September. The situation had remained stable since then, with under 2,000 new cases recorded nationwide most days until last month.

By late November the new infection figures had crept up to just under 3,000 per day, while on Thursday 4,400 cases were recorded over the previous 24 hours. This brought the total number of infections recorded in South Africa since March 5th to 800,872, with 21,803 related deaths.

According to department of health officials, more than half of the recent daily increases were driven by infections in the Eastern Cape, and about 25 per cent by cases in the Western Cape.

Since Covid-19 was first recorded in Africa – in Egypt – in early February, South Africa has become the hardest-hit country of the continent’s 54 nations by some distance.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest figures show it has recorded 36.15 per cent of Africa’s 2,215,216 confirmed infections, and 41.27 per cent of its 52,824 recorded Covid-19-related deaths.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/wor...-restrictions-as-coronavirus-surges-1.4427596.
 
South Africa Expects First Virus Vaccine Delivery by Mid-2021

(Bloomberg) --

South Africa will probably take its first delivery of coronavirus vaccines by the middle of next year after agreeing on an initial payment, according to the Health Ministry.

The government will pay about 327 million rand ($22 million) to take delivery of the vaccines under the Covax initiative that will cover about 10% of the population, the ministry said in a statement. The total cost of the vaccines could amount to more than 2 billion rand. The World Health Organization-backed Covax initiative aspires to give lower-income countries the same access to vaccines as wealthier nations.

“Our understanding from the production estimates we have been provided with at this stage is that we should expect to receive the first batch of stock in quarter two of 2021,” the ministry said.

South Africa is seeing a surge in coronavirus cases in some districts just as millions of people prepare to travel to their home towns and holiday destinations during the festive season. President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday reintroduced restrictions aimed at containing the spread of the virus in Nelson Mandela Bay, the nation’s sixth-largest city, with a population of 1.3 million people.

The government is also considering buying vaccines from other potential producers, including Johnson & Johnson, Novavax Inc., AstraZeneca Plc and the Pfizer Inc. and BioNtech partnership. It needs to ensure it has funds and resources for the distribution, storage and administration of the vaccines, the ministry said.

“While the Covax facility is our favored vehicle for accessing vaccines, we will always explore all options to ensure that the process of rolling out vaccines is safe and cost-effective,” it said.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/south-africa-expects-first-virus-vaccine-delivery-by-mid-2021-1.1532141.
 
Scientists are worried a second wave of Covid-19 infections is starting in Kenya and South Africa

Many African countries have been widely praised for their effective response to curbing the spread of the deadly coronavirus. Countries in the continent had from the onset of the pandemic implemented social distancing measures to control the spread of the virus and had from around August been reporting a decline in daily cases and deaths.

Against expectations, Africa has so far recorded a far lower tally of Covid-19 cases and deaths compared to Europe, Asia, the Americas, or the Middle East. The continent which accounts for about 18% of the global population, only accounts for about 3.2% of Covid-19 cases and 2.5% of deaths by the diseases globally.

But in recent weeks, there has been a resurgence in new cases and deaths in the continent.

As the US and European countries report a resurgence of cases in what is being referred to as the “second wave,” the resurgence of cases in some African countries is viewed as the potential beginning of a second wave across the continent.

There has been a resurgence in Egypt, DR Congo, and South Africa that may be the beginning of a second wave, but in Kenya, the picture looks different. Kenya appears to be fully experiencing a second wave. Over 1,500 new cases were reported in November surpassing those recorded (less than 1000 cases) during the worst time of the pandemic in the country before a decline in August.

Kenya has now topped 85,000 Covid-19 cases and nearly 1500 deaths including 31 health workers. It has lost nine doctors, four who died in November. The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union threatened a national strike from this weekend (Dec. 6) if the government did not provide protective equipment and medical insurance for its members, and compensation for health workers who die from Covid-19.


Professor Kevin Marsh, a senior advisor and co-lead of the Covid-19 team at the African Academy of Sciences says calling these resurgences in Kenya and South Africa, a second wave depends on how one defines it.

“There is certainly a rise in cases and deaths in both countries following an initial drop. In Kenya, it is not clear if this is a genuine rise in transmission or whether it reflects cases from further afield coming into urban centers following the relaxation of restrictions on movement,” he says.

South Africa, which has reported the highest cases and deaths in Africa due to risk factors such as an older population and a high rate of HIV and tuberculosis infections, had been able to drastically reduced the number of daily cases and death. However, in the recent week alone, the number of new cases has increased from around 2000 to over 4000.

“It looks like there is a resurgence or an increase in the number of infections as compared to a few weeks ago,” says professor Glenda Gray, president of the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC). “This uptick could be the beginning of a new surge. The next peak will depend on interventions implemented to try and reduce community transmission.”

Gray says there is a discrepancy between the number of deaths that were expected by this time this year in South Africa and what is being observed. That is, there are more deaths in the country due to Covid-19 than is expected.

She says this could be due to under-reporting of COVID-19 in death certificates, people dying of Covid-19 without a diagnosis, and collateral deaths from diseases such as HIV and Tuberculosis at home.
Click to expand...

Source: https://qz.com/africa/1942066/scientists-worry-second-wave-of-covid-19-in-kenya-south-africa/.
 
COVID-19 in Africa — pandemic could be far more deadly than thought

A study of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum suggests that only two to five per cent of the total number of coronavirus deaths have been officially reported.

The report, led by the Imperial College London (ICL) COVID-19 Response Team, says that as of Nov. 20, 477 deaths in Khartoum state were reported to be related to COVID-19.

It estimates the true figure to be between 14,300 and 17,990 higher than that.

The report also estimates that as much as 38 per cent of the population of Khartoum was infected.

Dr. Oliver Watson, an infectious disease modeller at ICL and one of the report’s authors, says scientists cannot analyze deaths in the developing world the same way they do in developed countries because deaths are not always correctly registered and death data is not always accurately gathered.

“The data that we’ve been using to estimate the reporting of deaths are two surveys that were conducted within Khartoum. The first was a social media-distributed survey which asked individuals for their previous symptoms, whether they had received a test for COVID-19 and what the outcome of that test was,” Watson said.

“However, that’s a voluntary enrolment in that survey, so we expect that that likely selects for individuals who have been infected, and so it’s likely overestimating the number of infections.”

Watson says that’s why there is a range of between two and five per cent for the estimated level of reported COVID-19 deaths versus actual COVID-19 deaths.

The second source of data was a COVID-19 test survey of 1,135 people, conducted in Khartoum between May 22 and July 5, through the Sudan Field Epidemiology Training Program.

“These are two very different forms of collecting data, and they were collected at two very different places at two different times in the year,” said Watson.

“However, they both suggest the same level of detection of mortality.”

Demographic difference
The case fatality ratio — the number of deaths per case — would still be much lower than in Canada or Europe.

Most experts agree that demographics and other diseases also play a role.

Dr. Mary Stephen works with the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Team at the World Health Organization’s (WHO) regional office in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.

“Our population is young, and then the number of people with co-morbidities, if you want to compare it with Europe and the United States, is relatively lower as well,” said Stephen.

“The two most important factors (affecting COVID-19 deaths) are age and the presence of co-morbidities.”

Stephen says the combination of the young demographics and limited testing resources means authorities have a poor idea of how the disease is spreading.

“Most of our cases have been moderate to mild and a large proportion asymptomatic,” said Stephen.

“So if you find yourself in a country where the testing strategy limits testing to people that have symptoms, and contacts of those that are confirmed with COVID, and maybe people arriving from places with high transmission, then it means that this testing strategy misses out on people that are asymptomatic.”

When accounting for these factors, Watson believes COVID-19 could actually be just as deadly in Khartoum as it is in Ottawa or Paris.

“The case fatality ratio, as it’s based across ages, appears to be similar to case fatality ratios we’re seeing from other hospitals in the world,” Watson said.

“However, what really potentially is then driving that difference we’re seeing within, say, the fatality ratio from somewhere like Khartoum versus ‘high-ranking’ countries that suffered most burden, is really the age demographic, much younger populations, which likely lead to substantially fewer fatalities being observed.”

One factor that may be helping African countries is the list of lessons learned from other epidemics, like Ebola. The virus has killed more than 2,000 people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 2018 and killed more than 11,000 people in West Africa between 2013 and 2016.

“First of all, the countries have the experience and the structures on how to get the communities engaged and most of them leverage on these existing structures to try to provide this communication and community engagement services,” said Stephen.

“To the issue of ‘not touching, don’t come close, wash your hands,’ it was not that much of a difficulty. So the community was able to understand and adjust, because they have seen the impact of what Ebola has done.”

Secondary impacts of COVID-19

On Monday the WHO reminded the world that Africa has been facing even greater challenges for many years.

Its global malaria report said that more than 409,000 people — most of them babies in the poorest parts of Africa — were killed by the disease last year.

The WHO said COVID-19 will almost certainly make things worse in 2020.

“Our estimates are that depending on the level of service disruption (due to COVID-19) … there could be an excess of malaria deaths of somewhere between 20,000 and 100,000 in sub-Saharan Africa, most of them in young children,” Pedro Alonso, director of the WHO’s malaria program, told reporters.

"It’s very likely that excess malaria mortality is larger than the direct COVID mortality.”

Stephen told Global News the effects will be felt far beyond the fight against malaria.

“Antenatal care, the issue of child care, malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, chronic non-communicable diseases, hypertension, diabetes,” she listed.

“The continuity of these services have been affected in a number of ways, partly lockdowns, people who couldn’t move. Another reason is the issue of accessibility, because of logistics, a closure of borders.”

The WHO report found there were 229 million malaria cases globally in 2019.
Click to expand...

Source: https://globalnews.ca/news/7494748/coronavirus-covid-19-africa-pandemic-more-deadly/.
 
South Africa Declares Second Wave of Coronavirus as Cases Surge

South Africa’s government declared a second wave of coronavirus infections as the number of cases surged.

The wave is being driven by the provinces of Western Cape, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and the economic hub of Gauteng, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said in a statement Wednesday. A seven-day moving average graph shows that the increases in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng are exponential, he said.

“This means that we should expect faster rising numbers with a higher peak than in the first wave,” Mkhize said.

South Africa registered a record 6,709 infections on Wednesday, bringing the total number to 828,598, with 22,574 deaths. The government expects to take its first delivery of coronavirus vaccines by the middle of next year.

The latest surge in cases comes as millions of people prepare to travel to their home towns and holiday destinations during the festive season.

With the onset of the second wave, the Health Ministry has advised provincial-government leaders to ensure testing turnaround times are as fast as possible, assess bed capacity and urgently attend to staffing and equipment needs.

The age distribution of new cases in the past two days shows a different pattern to previous trends, with the peak in the current period in the 15-19-year-old group, the ministry said.

It attributed the change to “a large number of parties involving young people drinking alcohol with no adherence to non-pharmaceutical interventions, including wearing masks and socially distancing.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...res-second-wave-of-coronavirus-as-cases-surge.
 
'Africa needs at least 750M coronavirus vaccine doses'

Minimum 60% of continent's population needs to be immunized to curb virus' spread, says Africa CDC chief

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia

At least 60% of Africa’s 1.2 billion people need to be immunized for a COVID-19 vaccination drive to prove effective, the head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday.

“By that count, Africa will need at least 750 million doses of the coronavirus vaccines,” John Nkengasong said in a weekly online news briefing.

He said every person will need two doses – one of the antidote and another for boosting immunity – so the total amount required could be over 1 billion.

Some 5% to 7% of vaccine doses may be wasted in the process, he added.

Nkengasong said Africa will use a combination of financial sources to buy vaccines, including a $12 billion support package from the World Bank for countries that need assistance.

The African Export-Import Bank and other institutions will also chip in, according to the official.

His remarks came as Africa’s COVID-19 cases crossed 2.3 million (2,304,485) on Thursday, including 54,916 fatalities and over 1.96 million (1,968,447) recoveries.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/africa-needs-at-least-750m-coronavirus-vaccine-doses/2072461.
 
E.Africa migrants face highest exposure to coronavirus

COVID-19 pandemic on steady rise across region, says International Organization for Migration

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia

Migrant communities in the East and Horn of Africa regions have been most exposed to the coronavirus infections as the pandemic continues to take its toll in the region, said the International Organization for Migration on Friday.

"The number of people infected with COVID-19 continues to increase across East & Horn of Africa. Migrants, including Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), are among some of the world’s most vulnerable to have been impacted by the disease, compared to non-migrants," the UN agency said in a situational overview.

As of Dec. 8, the number of positive COVID-19 cases in the region stood at 247,693.

At least 1,447 new cases were reported on that day, with the most new cases reported in Uganda (660 new cases, an increase of 2.8%), followed by Ethiopia (440 cases, up 0.4%), Kenya (199 cases, up 0.2%), and Rwanda (62 cases, up 1.0%).

Ethiopia remains the country with the highest number of confirmed cases in the region with 113,735 (46.5% of total cases), followed by Kenya with 88,579 (35.8%) and Uganda 23,860 (9.6%), the IOM said.

It said: "Migrants are more likely to be exposed to the conditions and circumstances in which COVID-19 spreads, which includes poorer and makeshift conditions, overcrowded settings and a lack of access to hygiene."

"Migrants are also less likely to have access Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and medical care, and migrants may suffer an over-representation of pre-existing health issues due to a historic lack of access to healthcare," it said.

"Thousands of migrants are currently stranded across the East and Horn of Africa due to COVID-19 related border closures and movement restrictions," it said.

Many, it noted, are in need of food, water, medical assistance and transportation.

A regional financial appeal to assist migrant groups in East Africa and the Horn of Africa was launched in April for $71.6 million. So far, 72% of the required funds have been raised.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/eafrica-migrants-face-highest-exposure-to-coronavirus/2074075.
 
Coronavirus: African Union Member States reporting COVID-19 cases as of 13 December 2020, 9 am EAT

1024x576_r19kvn.jpg

African Union Member States (55) reporting COVID-19 cases (2,361,271) deaths (55,989), and recoveries (2,004,985) by region:

Central (68,473 cases; 1,223 deaths; 61,805 recoveries): Burundi (728; 1; 630), Cameroon (25,143; 443; 22,177), CAR (4,936; 63; 4,852), Chad (1,751; 102; 1,603), Congo (6,049; 99; 4,891), DRC (14,342; 350; 12,465), Equatorial Guinea (5,185; 85; 5,058), Gabon (9,330; 63; 9,182), Sao Tome & Principe (1,009; 17; 947)

Eastern (296,216; 5,550; 224,092): Comoros (628; 7; 606), Djibouti (5,725; 61; 5,612), Eritrea (711; 0; 564), Ethiopia (116,297; 1,803; 92,449), Kenya (91,526; 1,586; 72,596), Madagascar (17,587; 259; 16,992), Mauritius (515; 10; 478), Rwanda (6,528; 56; 5,892), Seychelles (187; 0; 182), Somalia (4,579; 121; 3,529), South Sudan (3,206; 62; 3,043), Sudan (21,147; 1,344; 12,227), Tanzania (509; 21; 178), Uganda (27,071; 220; 9,744)

Northern (821,405; 21,409; 669,941): Algeria (91,638; 2,584; 60,028), Egypt (121,089; 6,898; 104,710**), Libya (89,880, 1,278; 59,839), Mauritania (10,780; 222; 8,022), Morocco (397,597; 6,589; 353,098), Tunisia (110,393; 3,836; 84,218), Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (28; 2; 26)

Southern (957,601; 24,839; 848,115): Angola (16,161; 366; 8,841), Botswana (10,931; 37; 9,940), Eswatini (6,714; 127; 6,331), Lesotho (2,250; 44; 1,319), Malawi (6,063; 186; 5,491), Mozambique (16,812; 140; 14,795), Namibia (16,269; 160; 14,582), South Africa (852,965; 23,106; 760,118), Zambia (18,217; 366; 17,339), Zimbabwe (11,219; 307; 9,359)

Western (217,576; 2,968; 201,032): Benin (3,090, 44; 2,972), Burkina Faso (3,894; 71; 2,858), Cape Verde (11,302; 110; 10,922), Côte d'Ivoire (21,639; 133; 21,261), Gambia (3,779; 123; 3,645), Ghana (52,933; 328; 51,676), Guinea (13,420; 79; 12,657), Guinea-Bissau (2,444; 44; 2,337), Liberia (1,676; 83; 1,358), Mali (5,721; 189; 3,566), Niger (2,199; 80; 1,276), Nigeria (72,757; 1,194; 65,850), Senegal (17,061; 349; 16,059), Sierra Leone (2,440; 75; 1,850), Togo (3,221; 66; 2,745)

**Africa CDC inadvertently reported 120,611 recoveries for Egypt. Correct values now listed.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.africanews.com/2020/12/...vid-19-cases-as-of-13-december-2020-9-am-eat/.
 
Ambrose Dlamini: Eswatini's PM dies after testing positive for Covid-19

The government of Eswatini says Prime Minister Ambrose Dlamini has died, four weeks after he tested positive for coronavirus.

A government statement said Dlamini, 52, died on Sunday afternoon in hospital in South Africa.

No cause of death was mentioned, but Dlamini had recently been receiving treatment for Covid-19 in South Africa.

Dlamini had been prime minister of Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland, since October 2018.

The tiny landlocked country in southern Africa is one of the last absolute monarchies in the world.

With a population of about one million, the country has recorded 6,768 coronavirus infections and 127 deaths linked to the pandemic, according to the health ministry.

Dlamini announced he had tested positive for coronavirus on 16 November. At the time, he said he was asymptomatic and was feeling well.

A few weeks later, on 1 December, the Eswatini government said Dlamini had been moved to a hospital in South Africa, with the aim of fast-tracking his recovery.

But on Sunday the government said Dlamini died "while under medical care in a hospital in South Africa", without giving more details.

"Government in collaboration with the family will keep the nation informed of subsequent arrangements," Deputy Prime Minister Themba Masuku said in the statement.

Dlamini was among a number world leaders to have contracted Covid-19 during the pandemic, including US President Donald Trump and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

A former banker, Dlamini was a political novice when he was appointed prime minister by King Mswati III.

The head of government's role is limited in Eswatini, where the king names all ministers and controls parliament.

King Mswati III was crowned in 1986 at the age of 18, succeeding his long-serving father King Sobhuza II, who died at the age of 82.

The king rules by decree and has been criticised for the heavy-handed treatment of opponents and for requesting public money to pay for new palaces and luxury cars.

In 2018 he announced he was renaming the country "the Kingdom of Eswatini".

More than 39% of the country's population lived below the poverty line in 2016 and 2017, according to the World Bank.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-55297472.
 
Student parties blamed as South Africa braces for Covid second wave

Health minister says end-of-year mass gatherings are turning into super-spreader events

South Africans have been warned to brace for a second wave of Covid-19 infections that has been blamed on a series of mass end-of-year parties held by students.

Zweli Mkhize, the health minister, said on Monday that numbers of new infections were rising fast and warned that if the trajectory continued health systems would be overwhelmed.

“A new issue and most worrying is … a large number of parties and young people drinking alcohol with no adherence to [social distancing and other measures] … This inevitably leads to super-spreader events … We have to contain these parties and mass gatherings,” Mkhize said.

One event in the south-eastern coastal town of Ballito earlier this month that was attended by more than 1,500 recent school leavers has been blamed for sparking a massive wave of infections.

Almost two-thirds of those present at the “Ballito Rage” festival – a series of parties, concerts and club nights – have tested positive, including hundreds who returned to homes many hundreds of miles from the venue.

Authorities are trying to trace all those who attended the festival, urging them to self-isolate.

Organisers said the event had received the go-ahead from local authorities, and that venues had been inspected by police.

Similar events involving students in Cape Town were blamed for accelerating a second wave of infections in and around the city, a favourite with tourists.

New infections in South Africa are highest in the 15-19 age group, statistics show.

“This age group is highly mobile and the majority of carriers are asymptomatic,” Mkhize said.

South Africa has recorded 861,000 cases of the virus, with 23,276 deaths, according to official statistics. Excess mortality studies suggest a death toll of more than 50,000 due to the outbreak. The president, Cyril Ramaphosa, is due to address the nation on Monday evening.

The disease claimed another high-profile victim over the weekend. The prime minister of Eswatini, which borders South Africa, died on Sunday aged 52 after being hospitalised with Covid. The small kingdom has recorded 127 confirmed deaths so far among 1.2m inhabitants.

“Their Majesties have commanded that I inform the nation of the sad and untimely passing away of His Excellency the Prime Minister Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini. His Excellency passed on this afternoon while under medical care in a hospital in South Africa,” the deputy prime minister, Themba Masuku, said in a statement.

South Africa, the continent’s most industrialised nation, was widely praised for its initial response to the pandemic but criticism has since mounted since as the government has struggled to retain public trust amid allegations of widespread corruption, arbitrary decisions on restrictions and administrative incompetence.

The difficulty – if not outright impossibility – of social distancing in South Africa’s poorer, tightly packed urban areas was an enabler for the spread of the virus in the early months of the outbreak.

Harsh curfews inflicted massive suffering on the very large number of people who do not have regular incomes but rely on day-to-day earnings to pay for basic necessities.

The second wave of infections appears to have been accelerated by events aimed at more prosperous parts of South African society.

There have been more than 2.3m confirmed cases of Covid on the African continent – with more than 2m recoveries and 55,000 deaths cumulatively, according to the World Health Organization.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/14/student-parties-south-africa-covid-second-wave.
 
Number of COVID-19 cases in Africa exceeds 2.389 million, reports WHO

The number of coronavirus-associated deaths amounts to 56,636, with 305 fatalities reported in the past 24 hours
PRETORIA, December 14. /TASS/. As many as 10,520 confirmed coronavirus cases were registered in African countries in the past day, with the overall number of such cases amounting to 2,389,624, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Office for Africa said on Tuesday.

The number of coronavirus-associated deaths amounts to 56,636, with 305 fatalities reported in the past 24 hours. More than two million patients have recovered.

South Africa accounts for the biggest number of Africa’s coronavirus cases and fatalities - 866,127 and 23,451 respectively. Egypt is second after South Africa in terms of coronavirus-associated deaths and cases - 6,943 and 122,086 respectively. As many as 6,659 coronavirus-related deaths were reported from Morocco.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, Ethiopia reports 117,242 cases and 1,809 fatalities. Next are Kenya (92,005 cases and 1,593 deaths) and Nigeria (73,374 cases and 1,197 deaths).

On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 72.8 million people have been infected worldwide and more than 1.6 million deaths have been reported.
Click to expand...

Source: https://tass.com/world/1235411.
 
Africa visit by EU officials set off coronavirus super-spreader fears

October trip showed pandemic adding new strains to a relationship EU leaders had hoped to prioritize.

A visit to Addis Ababa in October by a high-level delegation including EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell was designed to showcase a donation of 7.5 tons of coronavirus testing kits. Instead, it ended up setting off fears of a super-spreader event at the African Union headquarters and among top Ethiopian officials.

Borrell and EU Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarčič, who was also on the trip, were forced to self-isolate after learning that a member of their delegation had tested positive for COVID-19 upon returning from Africa.

At the time, little attention was paid in Europe to the firestorm that news of the infection set off in the Ethiopian capital where Borrell had met senior AU leadership, as well as Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and President Sahle-Work Zewde. Health precautions were taken throughout the trip, but a video of the meeting with Zewde shows Borrell wearing his mask improperly, with his nose exposed. In other meetings, Borrell was pictured not wearing a mask at all.

The events surrounding the visit — and EU-Africa relations in general — came under renewed scrutiny after the surprise, last-minute cancellation by the African side of a planned videoconference summit that was to be held last Wednesday.

The cancellation was not directly related to Lenarčič and Borrell’s visit, but it signaled tensions in EU-Africa relations, and raised questions about the status of an effort by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Council President Charles Michel to overhaul EU foreign policy toward its southern continental neighbor.

Indeed, EU and AU officials and diplomats, as well as outside policy experts, said that the EU effort has been undermined by the pandemic. Apart from disrupting planned meetings, it has intensified competition with China for influence in Africa, and highlighted grievances over current and historic treatment of African countries and officials, particularly in the sphere of public health.

Provocative remarks by two French medical experts last spring about a potential study in Africa on the effects of a tuberculosis vaccine in combatting coronavirus spurred widespread outrage over the suggestion Africans might be used as guinea pigs. It prompted Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Ethiopian director general of the World Health Organization, to declare: “The hangover from a colonial mentality has to stop.”

African leaders have expressed frustration both over Europe being a major source of coronavirus infections in Africa — the index cases in many African countries can be traced to travelers from Europe — and about not getting credit for having managed the pandemic better than wealthier countries, so far at least.

“The response of most African countries to this unprecedented public health threat has been better organized, better informed, and better implemented than many of their Western counterparts,” an analysis in South Africa’s The Mail and Guardian concluded. “Leaders have looked to scientists and public health experts to inform their decisions, and have acted early and with considerable determination ― even though most African governments are operating with just a fraction of the resources available to richer countries.”

African leaders have been more assertive on the world stage, for example, with a group appointed by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who currently holds the rotating chair of the AU, pushing G20 nations to provide financial assistance including debt relief. “The region’s leaders have contrasted what they perceive as a mishandling of the pandemic by the United States and Europe with the record of African health ministries and institutions, including the Africa CDC,” Judd Devermont, director of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies wrote in a paper.

It was amid these tensions that some African officials said they urged Borrell not to visit in October given the resurgence of coronavirus infections in Europe. But the African officials said the Europeans insisted on being present for the arrival of the test kits donated by Germany to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

“We discouraged it,” an AU official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect diplomatic relationships. “He still came.”

The shipment was part of a series of flights under the EU’s “humanitarian air bridge” program. Lenarčič and the EU’s commissioner for international partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, had each accompanied flights to African countries, including Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic and Sudan, but this was Borrell’s first time doing so. EU diplomats view publicizing the program as crucial in its competition with China for influence in Africa. China’s relations with Africa have also been tested by the pandemic, and Beijing has responded by stepping up and drawing attention to its own humanitarian efforts.

But the EU’s desire for a photo-op with the planeload of donated test kits played into a historic narrative of Westerners portraying themselves as saviors rather than oppressors in Africa, said Helen Tilley, a professor of history at Northwestern University who has written extensively about medical and health issues in relations between Europe and Africa.

“It’s the sense of hapless and helpless victims always being the go-to narrative,” Tilley said. “And the usual willingness on the part of powerful diplomats in Europe or North America to ignore culpability to deny that, say, economic policies or trade policies cause some of the poverty that then people swoop in and try to put a Band-aid on.” Tilley said her own research looking at African diplomats working with the World Health Organization found them constantly confronting what she called “the arrogance of ignorance, a constant slap in the face.”

African officials said that rather than getting a quick official notification of the contact risk, they only learned about the infection in the EU delegation when Borrell tweeted about it. After seeing Borrell’s tweet, the AU official said, “We forced the EU to formally confirm … No one was happy.”

AU officials say a total of five people were infected as a result of the visit, including one case in Addis Ababa — but those numbers were impossible to confirm. The EU institutions have a spotty record in responding to potential cluster outbreaks. One European who was on the trip said there was no official notification about the positive case to the EU travelers.

EU officials flatly disputed the African account, saying they were never urged not to travel. “We didn’t receive any request not to show up,” an EU official close to Lenarčič said.

“No one discouraged us,” a Commission official said. “Obviously we were there. We were received.”

The Commission official said that the Ethiopian government, the AU, as well as the EU delegations to Ethiopia and the AU, were notified about the positive COVID case in the delegation on October 13 as soon as the EU was aware. The Ethiopian government did not respond to requests for comment.

The EU side say they suspect its delegation member most likely was infected in Africa. EU officials stressed that in accordance with normal protocol all members of the delegation were tested prior to leaving Brussels, and anyone who had tested positive would have been barred from traveling. Similarly, they said that all travelers were tested again upon return, which is when the single positive case was discovered. Borrell and Lenarčič tested negative each time, the official said.

Still, the previously unreported diplomatic contretemps forms part of the backdrop of events that led to the cancellation of the EU-AU videoconference summit, and illustrates the EU’s struggle to improve the geopolitical relationship.

The summit scheduled for last Wednesday had already been downgraded twice — from initial plans to hold a full summit involving all 55 AU heads of state and government plus their entourages and all 27 on the EU side, to a smaller in-person meeting, and then to a virtual meeting.

“They wanted a whole big jamboree,” the AU official said. “They wanted everybody to come to Brussels.”

Even as the health situation made a large gathering highly unlikely, Michel, who is the EU’s official host of such gatherings and regards relations with Africa as a personal priority, had resisted postponing and instead pushed for plans for an event with strict health precautions. Other EU officials were similarly reluctant to cancel, especially because China organized its own annual summit with African leaders via videoconference in June. EU officials felt they were already playing catch-up.

But when the AU shifted some of its own gatherings to a virtual format, that made it hard for leaders to justify traveling to Brussels. As a solution to that dilemma, Ramaphosa, the South African president, sent a confidential letter to Michel asking for a videoconference involving a select group of AU and EU leadership to be held instead.

But on the night before the event, Ramaphosa called it off altogether, saying too many members of the AU’s “bureau” — five heads of state and government representing North, South, East, West and Central Africa— had scheduling conflicts. A spokesman for the Council said only that there were “agenda problems.”

In fact, neither explanation holds up. Awkwardly, one diary complication seemed to be that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi was in France to receive the republic’s highest civilian honor from French President Emmanuel Macron.

One EU diplomat who monitored the developments said the summit likely fell apart as a combined result of the reluctance in Brussels to accept cancellation of the in-person meeting, and the ambivalence among African leaders about participating in a virtual meeting with no concrete outcomes expected.

Devermont said African leaders likely perceived the EU to be just going through the motions. “‘How do we still check the box on the African engagement?’ is not the pathway to a successful outcome,” he said.

The AU official said there was no lack of interest on the African side. “Of course we wanted to have the meeting,” the official said. “The commitments are there. Unfortunately, of course, COVID has upset agendas … 2020 has been that kind of year.”
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.politico.eu/article/african-union-says-eu-visit-set-off-super-spreader-fears/.
 
Second COVID-19 wave hits West & Central Africa as weather cools

BAMAKO/DAKAR (Reuters) - A second wave of coronavirus infections is hitting West and Central Africa, and experts are warning it could be worse than the first as cooler weather descends on a region where most countries cannot afford a vaccine.


Nigeria, Niger, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Mali, Togo and Democratic Republic of Congo are all at or near record levels of infection, data compiled by Reuters shows. Infections in Senegal are also rising fast.

Compared to the United States and Europe, the region has so far been spared the worst of the pandemic. West and Central African countries are reporting between dozens and a few hundred new daily cases -- still only a fraction of the more than 600,000 cases reported globally each day -- although testing rates in Africa are among the lowest in the world.

But as temperatures drop, and governments struggle to enforce months-long restrictions, some experts fear this surge will be worse than the first.

Mali reported a record 155 new cases on Dec. 7, compared to fewer than 20 a month earlier. The health ministry ordered test kits a month ago, anticipating that it would need about 500 a day. They are now getting through five times that.

“We could run out of testing shortly, within 10 days,” said Akory Ag Iknane, director general of the National Institute of Public Health.

Mali’s government said last week that it would enforce compulsory mask wearing and strengthen screening at airports.

Many worry it will not be enough.

“Any little advantage the virus can get will help it, whether it’s a drop in temperature or humidity. It can affect the rates of transmission,” said Mohammad Sajadi, associate professor at the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland in the United States.

Many African countries lack the financial clout to secure vaccine purchase agreements with drug companies. Some could wait months if not years for access to vaccines through the World Health Organization’s COVAX programme - unlike richer nations where inoculations are already underway.

OXYGEN SHORTAGE
Scientists say a light first wave in West and Central Africa was likely due to multiple factors, including younger populations and a quick response to the outbreak. Governments shut borders early, made face masks mandatory and closed markets.

However, the economic toll was brutal for countries where millions rely on daily cash from informal jobs. Governments were forced to reopen airports. On the street, strict measures slipped.

At the beginning of November, Congo was reporting about 20 new cases a day. On Wednesday it reported a record 345.

In the capital Kinshasa, home to around 12 million people, most do not wear masks in public. The government has imposed new rules, including mandatory mask wearing, a ban on large groups, and a curfew.

“The hospitals have patients in large numbers exceeding the number of patients we had at the end of the first wave,” said the COVID-19 response chief, Jean-Jacques Muyembe, in a Dec. 5 statement.

Oxygen, key in treating severe cases, is in short supply, he said. One oxygen plant is having problems because of spotty electricity.

In Mauritania, a desert nation abutting North Africa, new cases hit a record 296 on Dec. 15, up from about 20 a day in early November.

The government closed schools until January and imposed a nightly curfew.

But many, including mathematician Toka Diagana, said the problem ran deeper.

“What good is a curfew if we are unable to change our habits: drinking tea from the same glasses, unnecessary gatherings, eating in groups?” he said in a Facebook post.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/hea...central-africa-as-weather-cools-idUSL1N2IV1KW.
 
South Africa identifies new coronavirus strain causing surge in cases

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa has identified a new variant of the coronavirus that is driving a second wave of infections, the health minister said on Friday, days after Britain said it had also found a new variant of the virus boosting cases.

“We have convened this public briefing today to announce that a variant of the SARS-COV-2 Virus - currently termed 501.V2 Variant - has been identified by our genomics scientists here in South Africa,” Minister of Health Zweli Mkhize tweeted.

“The evidence that has been collated, therefore, strongly suggests that the current second wave we are experiencing is being driven by this new variant,” Mkhize added.

South Africa has recorded the highest number of coronavirus infections in Africa, approaching the 900,000 mark, with over 20,000 related deaths. A resurgence in cases saw the government tighten restrictions on society this week.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday it was in touch with the South African researchers who identified the new variant.

The global body added there was no indication there were changes in the way the new strain of the virus was behaving.

“We are working with them with our SARS-COV-2 Virus evolution working group. They are growing the virus in the country and they’re working with researchers to determine any changes in the behaviour of the virus itself in terms of transmission,” WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove told a news conference in Geneva.

South African health authorities said the new variant seemed to spread faster than the previous iteration, but that it was too early to tell its severity and whether current vaccines would work against it.

“In the UK they have also identified a new variant ... there are quite a few similarities between the two lineages ... there are also a similar number of mutations” said Prof Tulio de Oliviera, a member of government’s genomics consortium in a televised briefing.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...s-strain-causing-surge-in-cases-idUSKBN28S2HH.
 
Africa hits 2.5 million coronavirus cases as new variant detected in south

The total number of coronavirus cases in Africa crossed 2.5 million on Saturday, according to a Reuters tally, as a second wave of infections hits the continent.

Countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Mauritania, Ghana and Ivory Coast have seen a sharp rise in cases and are reporting near record levels of infection, according to a Reuters tally.

Quick measures including travel restrictions and border closures enabled countries in Africa to limit the spread when first cases were reported in March. But the economic impact of the measures prompted governments to ease them.

As people relax their guards and ditch social distancing measures, infections have spiked.

According to a Reuters analysis, Africa has reported about 454,000 new cases in the past 30 days, nearly 18 per cent of its reported total of 2.5 million cases.

South Africa remains the worst-affected African country with 912,477 cases and 24,539 deaths. The country has seen a sharp spike in infections since the start of December.

The South African government said on Friday it had identified a new variant of the coronavirus that is driving a second wave of infections.

Governments across the region are imposing lockdowns, curfews and restricting gatherings ahead of Christmas celebrations.

Nigeria on Friday ordered schools to shut indefinitely, banned concerts, carnivals and street parties, and ordered some civil servants to work from home in its commercial capital, Lagos.

The Democratic Republic of Congo announced a curfew and other measures, including the mandatory wearing of masks in public spaces.

As developed countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom start vaccinating their people, most poorer African countries are depending on the World Health Organization’s COVAX program, which aims to deliver at least two billion vaccine doses by the end of 2021.

However according to a Reuters report this week, the scheme faces a “very high” risk of failure, potentially leaving nations that are home to billions of people with no access to vaccines until as late as 2024, internal documents say.
Click to expand...

Source: https://globalnews.ca/news/7533368/coronavirus-africa-cases-2-5-mill/.
 
South Africa’s Mediclinic Sees Capacity Strain With Second Wave

(Bloomberg) -- South Africa’s Mediclinic International Plc said it’s struggling with capacity constraints as the country experiences a second wave of coronavirus infections.

Patients seeking care within Mediclinic hospitals are exceeding previous numbers during the first peak, Gerrit de Villiers, a group general manager said in a statement. Demand in many intensive care and high care units have reached capacity, the company said.

Mediclinic said coronavirus patients had climbed from less than 100 admissions to more than 500 in a month in its facilities across the Western Cape.

“This dramatic increase in numbers within the Western Cape has placed very heavy strain on available healthcare resources including staff, equipment and available beds to provide intensive treatment for seriously ill patients,” it said. Elective or non-emergency surgery has been canceled.

Mediclinic said it is increasing beds available to Covid-19 patients and reallocating resources.

There were 10,939 new virus cases and 254 more deaths in South Africa on Saturday, according to the Health Department.

South Africa Says Second Covid Wave Driven by New Virus Strain
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/south-a...es-capacity-strain-with-second-wave-1.1539268.
 
South Africa detects new variant of coronavirus

A new variant of the coronavirus has been detected in South Africa, the health Ministry announced Friday night. This could explain the speed of transmission of this second wave, which also affects younger patients.

This "501.V2 variant" of the virus has been identified by South African researchers and reported to the World Health Organization, health minister, Zwelini Mkhize, said in a statement.

The team has sequenced hundreds of samples from across the country since the start of the pandemic in March. "They have noticed that a particular variant dominates the results of the last two months," according to the statement.

Doctors in South Africa have also noted a shift in the epidemiological landscape, with more younger patients, without co-morbidities, developing severe forms of the disease.

All the elements "strongly indicate that the second wave we are going through is carried by this new variant," the minister added.

The team of South African researchers, led by Professor Tulio de Oliveira of the KRISP Centre, University of Kwazulu-Natal, shared their observations with the scientific community.

It also alerted the United Kingdom to the identification of the South African variant, which allowed British researchers "to study their own samples and find a similar variant", potentially implicated in the galloping transmission observed in some areas of the country, according to the minister.

Previous mutations of SARS CoV2 have already been observed and reported around the world.

Zwelini Mkhize said he did not expect a second wave so quickly. In addition to the possible acceleration of transmissions linked to this variant, he said "no reason to panic."
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.africanews.com/2020/12/21/south-africa-detects-new-variant-of-coronavirus/.
 
Nigeria extends mandate of COVID-19 task force

President Muhammadu Buhari urges Nigerians to be vigilant, stay safe as festive season approaches

ANKARA

The Nigerian president on Tuesday extended the mandate of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 till the end of March 2021 as the West African country faces a second wave of coronavirus.

The task force was established by Muhammadu Buhari on March 9, 2020 to coordinate and oversee Nigeria's multi-sectoral inter-governmental efforts to contain the spread of the novel virus.

In a series of tweets, Buhari said he took the decision because of a surge in the number of cases, and to procure vaccines.

Nigeria has recorded more than of 78,790 COVID-19 infections and 1,227 related deaths across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

"Nigeria cannot afford to lose the gains of the last nine months," he said. "I have critically evaluated the situation and remain convinced that urgent measures have to be taken to halt the spread of the coronavirus and the attendant fatalities."

Buhari urged all citizens to be vigilant and stay safe as the festive season approaches. "Non-essential trips and large social gatherings should be avoided or shelved completely."

In a statement, the NCDC said it is escalating its ongoing public communication efforts through a new campaign themed #CelebrateResponsibly.

"In the last two weeks, there has been a rapid increase in the number of COVID-19 cases across the country. On the 17th of December, a record daily number of 1,145 new confirmed cases was recorded.

"This increase is as a result of a convergence of circumstances which includes increased local and international travels, business and religious activities with minimal compliance with COVID-19 safety measures by the members of the public," it said.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/nigeria-extends-mandate-of-covid-19-task-force/2085514.
 
Senegalese Women Equip Remote Clinics with Solar Power

KAOLACK, SENEGAL - An organization run by women in Senegal, ElleSolaire, was supplying solar panels to light up country homes that are off the power grid. But with the outbreak of the coronavirus, and health care stretched, ElleSolaire has switched to providing the panels to underequipped, remote health clinics, where women are often forced to give birth in the dark.

Senegalese women adorned in colorful wax fabric clothes laugh and dance around in the village of Tiamene Diogo. They are celebrating because the local clinic that provides prenatal care will soon have electric lights and fans.

Head nurse Issaka Dia says with more than 2,500 people from six villages, there are about eight births each month, many of which he attends to at night using only the light from his mobile phone.

He says he’s so happy. He feels like they can now work day and night, even in the heat.

The remote region in western Senegal is off the electric grid, so the clinic will be powered by the sun.

Since 2018, the woman-run ElleSolaire has been installing solar power in rural households.

With the coronavirus pandemic stretching health care, the company began equipping remote clinics. 

Kelly Lavelle is the founder and executive director.

“We’ve been just amazed at the reception," said Lavelle. "The reception we’ve seen today is a point in case. It’s sad in a way that we’ve had to wait for COVID to hit for us to stop and think about the health clinics. But I’m really pleased that we’ve managed to pivot this into an opportunity.”

The organization also provides new skills for women like Jeanne Thiaw, ElleSolaire’s women’s coordinator. She used to scrape by with child care and cleaning jobs.

She says that although she could pay the rent before, she could not feed her family because she didn’t have the means.

Since the onset of COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, Thiaw and her co-workers have installed solar-powered lights, fans, and mobile phone chargers at 23 remote clinics.

More than one million Senegalese lack access to power, according to USAID, and the World Health Organization says rates of maternal mortality are high.

Oumar Samb is a project evaluator with Senegal’s Ministry of Women, Family and Child Protection.

He says when women arrive to give birth in the night or in the day and all the machines are down, it’s obviously a danger for the woman in labor and for the newborn. Access to solar energy for these rural women can be lifesaving, he says.

And that, say the women, is progress worth celebrating.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.voanews.com/africa/senegalese-women-equip-remote-clinics-solar-power.
 
Africa needs about $9 billion for COVID-19 vaccines, access is big problem -Afreximbank

NAIROBI, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Africa needs about $9 billion to finance enough of COVID-19 vaccines to halt the pandemic on the continent, but a bigger problem is accessing that supply amid the global race for doses, an African Export Import Bank official said on Wednesday.

Hippolyte Fofack, Afreximbank chief economist, told Reuters the Cairo-based bank and other development finance institutions are working with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to obtain vaccines for the novel coronavirus.

But African nations cannot compete with wealthier governments that have secured huge supplies of inoculations, he said.

“If the supply of COVID-19 vaccines is left to (the) market, many developing countries will be essentially rationed out of it, Africa included,” he said. “The key constraint is the supply of vaccines. Even if Africa had 100 billion dollars, we will not be able to access enough doses.”

He said African countries will need to ask wealthy governments for excess vaccines.

Afreximbank estimates that Africa will need to spend about $5.8 billion on purchasing vaccines and about $3.3 billion to deliver them to reach the target of vaccinating at least 60% of 1.3 billion Africans beginning in 2021.

Some funding will come from COVAX, a global alliance co-led by the World Health Organisation that aims to secure fair access to COVID-19 vaccines for poor countries.

COVAX said last week it had agreements in place for nearly 2 billion doses, with the first deliveries due in early 2021, but it was unclear how many of those would go to African countries.

South Africa said earlier this month it expects to receive its first batch of vaccines from COVAX in the second quarter of 2021.

Fofack said he hopes that vaccinations will begin on the continent in the second quarter of 2021. (Reporting by Omar Mohammed Editing by Maggie Fick and Steve Orlofsky)
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/hea...cess-is-big-problem-afreximbank-idUSL8N2J32GZ.
 
South African health workers stretched as COVID-19 infections near 1 million

JOHANNESBURG/CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Matron Annamarie Odendaal has cancelled all staff holiday on the COVID-19 ward at the private Arwyp Medical Centre in Johannesburg as a second wave of the coronavirus threatens to overwhelm South Africa’s health system.

“I called them back because we are in a peak period now, so it’s not easy for the staff because they also want to go back to their family members,” she told Reuters on the ward on Christmas Day.

“Sometimes they are tired but they never say ‘I can’t come to work’. The patient is really always first for them.”

A confluence of school holidays, public laxity and a new, potentially more infectious variant of the virus has left authorities scrambling to counter an earlier-than-expected resurgence of infections that saw new daily cases spike nearly seven-fold from a month ago to top 14,305 on Dec. 24.

Amid the beeps of monitors and ventilators, 60-year-old Odendaal said the situation was getting worse as hospital beds filled up quickly.

Several countries, including Britain which has found the mutant variant in cases linked to South Africa, have banned flights from the country, disrupting holiday travel plans and frustrating tour operators.

The latest data showed the infection tally so far rising to 968,563 on Thursday. If the trajectory continues, South Africa would breach the million mark as early as Sunday, a Reuters tally showed.

South Africa has recorded 25,983 deaths, the highest figure on the continent.

EMOTIONAL TOLL
At Cape Town’s Groote Schuur public hospital, where the world’s first human-to-human heart transplant was performed in 1967, intensive care nurse Verna Collins said she was physically and emotionally drained.

“We thought we were at the end in October, early November, and now this dark cloud is circling again, so emotionally it takes a lot out of the nursing staff,” Collins said outside the hospital on a brief break from the COVID-19 ICU ward, which has reached capacity.

Dressed in theatre scrubs and a red Santa hat, the mother of one said she had been scheduled to work on Christmas Day but several of her workmates had had to cancel their holiday plans after being called back.

Private hospital group Mediclinic said the number of patients seeking care at its hospitals in Western Cape and rising incidents in KwaZulu Natal and Gauteng had already exceeded those in the first peak and the majority of its ICU and high care units were operating at full capacity.

“With the new strain we saw that the patients are not recovering so easy and this is a problem,” said matron Odendaal.

During the first wave earlier this year, her hospital had fewer ICU patients, but now “they do not respond well under treatment so they do end up in ICU 90% of the times.”
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-safrica-idUSKBN28Z0R0.
 
South Africa hits 1 million coronavirus cases as new variant spreads rapidly

President Cyril Ramaphosa expected to announce new restrictions in attempt to slow the surge

South Africa’s Covid-19 surge has taken the country to more than 1 million confirmed cases as president Cyril Ramaphosa called an emergency meeting of the national coronavirus command council.

The country’s new variant of the coronavirus, 501.V2, is more contagious and has quickly become dominant in many areas of the resurgence, according to experts.

With South Africa’s hospitals reaching capacity and no sign of the new surge reaching a peak, Ramaphosa is expected to announce a return to restrictive measures designed to slow the spread of the disease.

“We are not helpless in the face of this variant,” infectious disease specialist, Dr Richard Lessells told Associated Press. “We can change our behaviour to give the virus less opportunities to spread.” He said it was most important to avoid contact with others in indoor, enclosed spaces.

South Africa announced a cumulative total of 1,004,431 confirmed cases of Covid-19 on Sunday evening. That number includes 26,735 deaths in a country of 60 million people.

“One million cases is a serious milestone, but the true number of cases and deaths is almost certainly much higher,” Lessells said.

“We have seen the new variant spread rapidly,” he said, pointing out that genomic sequencing shows it has become dominant in the coastal provinces of Western Cape, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. It is not yet certain if the variant is as dominant in the inland Gauteng province, which includes Johannesburg and is the country’s most populous province.

“As people return from holidays at coastal areas, we can expect them to bring the variant with them,” said Lessells. “We can also expect travellers to take the variant with them across the borders to other African countries.”

Mediclinic International, among the top three private hospital networks in the country, said on Sunday that a severe rise in cases had placed a very heavy strain on available healthcare resources including staff, equipment and beds to provide intensive treatment for seriously ill patients.

“The numbers of patients seeking care within our hospitals has exceeded previous numbers during the first peak and the majority of our ICU and high-care units are operating at capacity,” the company said, referring to the Western Cape province.

The mutation of the Covid-19 virus has made it bind more efficiently to cells within our bodies, say experts.

Vaccinations have not yet reached South Africa, although Ramaphosa has said that he expects 10% of the country’s 60 million people to be inoculated in the first months of 2021.

South Africa’s seven-day rolling average of daily new cases has nearly doubled over the past two weeks from 10.24 new cases per 100,000 people on 12 December to 19.86 new cases per 100,000 people on 26 December. The number of deaths has also nearly doubled with the seven-day rolling average of daily deaths in South Africa has risen over the past two weeks from 0.25 deaths per 100,000 people on 12 December to 0.48 deaths per 100,000 people on 26 December.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...lion-coronavirus-cases-as-new-variant-spreads.
 
As South Africa's virus spikes, president bans liquor sales

JOHANNESBURG -- South African President Cyril Ramaphosa reimposed a ban on alcohol sales and ordered the closure of all bars Monday as part of new restrictions to help the country battle a resurgence of the coronavirus, including a new variant.

Ramaphosa also announced the closure of all beaches and public swimming pools in the country's infection hotspots, which include Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban and several coastal areas. In addition, South Africa is extending its nighttime curfew by four hours, requiring all residents must be at home from 9 p.m. until 6 a.m., the president said.

"Reckless behaviour due to alcohol intoxication has contributed to increased transmission. Alcohol-related accidents and violence are putting pressure on our hospital emergency units," Ramaphosa said in a nationwide address.

"As we had to in the early days of the lockdown, we now have to flatten the curve to protect the capacity of our healthcare system to enable it to respond effectively to this new wave of infections," he said.

Ramaphosa said the ban on selling alcohol and other new restrictions would take effect at midnight. They include the mandatory wearing of masks in public, and anyone found not wearing a mask in a public place will be subject to a fine or a criminal charge punishable by a possible jail sentence, the president said.

Ramaphosa said the increased restrictions are necessary because of a surge in COVID-19 infections which has pushed South Africa's total confirmed virus cases past 1 million.

"Nearly 27,000 South Africans are known to have died from COVID-19. The number of new coronavirus infections is climbing at an unprecedented rate," he said. "More than 50,000 new cases have been reported since Christmas Eve."

Ramaphosa announced the new measures after a Cabinet meeting and an emergency meeting of the National Coronavirus Command Council. He said the new restrictions would be reviewed in a few weeks and a relaxation would only be considered when the numbers of new cases and hospitalizations decrease.

The country surpassed the 1 million mark in confirmed virus cases on Sunday night, when authorities reported that the country's total cases during the pandemic had reached 1,004,413, including 26,735 deaths.

Like Britain, South Africa is battling a variant of COVID-19 that medical experts think is more infectious than the original. The variant has become dominant in many parts of the country, according to experts.

The South African Medical Association, which represents nurses and other health workers as well as doctors, warned Monday that the health system was on the verge of being overwhelmed by the combination of higher numbers of COVID-19 patients and people needing urgent care from alcohol-related incidents. Many holiday gatherings involve high levels of alcohol consumption, which in turn often lead to increased trauma cases.

"To alleviate the pressure on the system during this time of the year, where we only have skeleton staff working, especially in the public sector, as well as in the private sector, we are asking for stricter restrictions regarding social gatherings," Angelique Coetzee, chairwoman of the medical association told The Associated Press.

"South Africa has got a history of very high alcohol abuse and binge drinking, especially over the weekends. In certain areas that leads to a lot of trauma cases, assaults, motor vehicle accidents and domestic violence," she said.

The medical association has called on the government to impose stricter restrictions on the sale of alcohol, especially where large gatherings are concerned.

When South Africa previously had a total ban on liquor sales, trauma cases in hospitals dropped by as much as 60%, according to government statistics. When the ban on alcohol sales was lifted, trauma cases went back up to previous levels.

Amid a resurgence of COVID-19 in early December, South Africa limited sales of alcohol to Monday through Thursday between the hours of 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The country also has a nightly 11 p.m.-4 a.m. curfew.

Various alcohol traders had pleaded with the government to avoid a total ban on alcohol sales, citing the economic damage it would cause. South Africa's alcohol industry was among those hardest hit when the country imposed a hard lockdown during April and May that also banned all liquor sales.

South Africa's 7-day rolling average of confirmed daily cases has risen over the past two weeks from 11.18 new cases per 100,000 people on Dec. 13 to 19.87 new cases per 100,000 people on Dec. 27.

The 7-day rolling average of daily deaths in the country has risen over the past two weeks from 0.26 deaths per 100,000 people on Dec. 13 to 0.49 deaths per 100,000 people on Dec. 27.

Ramaphosa urged people to avoid gatherings for New Year's Eve. Instead, he asked all South Africans to light candles.

"I will light a candle in Cape Town at exactly midnight on New Year's Eve in memory of those who have lost their lives and in tribute to those who are on the frontline working to save our lives and protect us from harm," he said. "I ask that you join me wherever you are in this very important symbolic gesture."
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coron...-spikes-president-bans-liquor-sales-1.5246583.
 
Coronavirus – South Africa: WHO scales up support to reinforce Eastern Cape Province COVID-19 response

The Nelson Mandela Metro and the Sarah Baartman Districts, two of the six health districts in the Eastern Cape Province have been reporting upward increase of confirmed COVID-19 cases during first three weeks of November. These were attributed to among others poor adherence to social distancing, inappropriate mask-wearing and other challenging hygiene practices. Most were also traced to local universities, schools and attendance of large gatherings.

In Port Elizabeth, the WHO Representative in South Africa, Dr Kaluwa joined the Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize and the Eastern Cape MEC of Health Ms Sindiswa Gomba in their oversight visit of the affected districts and:

Received status update from the local senior health officials and the Mayor of Sarah Baartman Municipality, Cr Khunjuzwa Eunice Kekana. At the time there were 4,991 active cases in Nelson Mandela Metro, with 437 new cases and 15 deaths reported a day before the oversight visit. The incidence risk for Nelson Mandela Bay was 374/100000 of the population and the mortality rate stood at 4.1% on the day of the provided update with 166 health workers in isolation. The update was also attended by senior health officials and doctors from the two districts as well as delegations of municipal representatives and religious and traditional leaders.
Inspected the newly renovated 100-bed Covid-19 ward at Dora Nginza Hospital to can, amongst others:
Cope with the anticipated increase in the number of patients from the affected Districts,
Implement strict infection prevention and control (IPC) measures to minimize healthcare-associated transmission of COVID-19 among the healthcare workers.
In East London, Dr Kaluwa, in committing to help limit and interrupt further on going COVID-19 transmission in Nelson Mandela Metro and Sarah Baartman Districts, he repurposed additional staff to the Province to support monitoring and effectiveness of the Provincial and Districts responses, bolster risk communication and community engagement, strengthen infection and prevention measures, promotion of uptake of community targeted testing and heightening of contact tracing.

He introduced the repurposed staff to the Eastern Cape Province’s Member of the Executive on Health (MEC), Ms Sindiswa Gomba, and her senior management team leading the Province’s COVID-19 response. Ms Gomba extended her gratitude to Dr Kaluwa and WHO for availing needed technical and material support dedicated to strengthen the response in the affected districts. According to her, the support will also contribute to strengthening the ongoing provincial response activities; and assist affected districts with development of local level interventions including building capacities to identify strengths and gaps that would inform and guide response priorities to control the ongoing rise of case”.

Dr Kaluwa shared his appreciation of the Province’s acceptance of WHO support. He also acknowledged the Province’s effort in stepping up its response effort including measures to protect and save the lives of high-risk groups.

Acting Head of Eastern Cape Department of Health, Dr Sibongile Zungu, said her team was ready for the WHO surge team. “We have been working with WHO experts in the province and additional dedicated ones to the affected Districts are welcomed. On the ground we know they will strengthen the response including transfer of skills to the local health staff, intensifying contact tracing, daily community mobilization, ensuring the readiness of health facilities, and dealing with cluster outbreaks.”

Before introducing additional staff to the Province’s leadership, Dr Kaluwa, held a meeting with them and shared the importance of their deployment to the province. He advised them to work closely with their respective counterparts and ensure that they transfer skills and at the same time also be ready to learn. The staff would be deployed immediately to the two affected districts and while others would remain at provincial level focusing on coordination of the response and monitoring other districts situations ensuring rapid interventions are implemented as triggered by the evolution of the respective situation.

The situation in the Eastern Cape has also received attention of the National Government to work closely with the provincial government, municipalities and other institutions in the Province to ensure that the outbreak is contained and managed.

The Eastern Cape Province visit by Dr Kaluwa followed on four others he has already undertaken to KwaZulu Natal, North West, Free State and Gauteng Provinces where the WHO COVID-19 Response technical experts are deployed. In these provinces, he continued to meet with senior officials and WHO deployees. Emerging from these meetings are that WHO’s continued support and the deployed technical experts are valuable. The provinces have seen improvements in the implementation of the Incident Management System (coordination of the COVID-19 response), practice of Infection Prevention and Control in health facilities, conducting surveillance and contact tracing, addressing communities risk of exposure and reducing impact of COVID-19, operation of isolation and quarantine site and execution of referral mechanisms.

With WHO support, all provinces have completed their COVID-19 Intra-action Reviews which informed their respective COVID-19 Resurgence Plan.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of WHO Regional Office for Africa.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.africanews.com/2020/12/...orce-eastern-cape-province-covid-19-response/.
 
Covid-19 takes its toll on African economy

Africa has so far been spared the worst of the coronavirus pandemic in terms of cases and deaths but its economy has not been so lucky, especially the poorer, smaller countries dependent on a single resource or sector.

The spread of the disease has also picked up speed in recent weeks, stoking concerns that worse is to come.

Here are some key features of the pandemic's economic impact on Africa:

- Historic recession -
For 2020, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that the economy of sub-Saharan Africa will shrink 3.0 percent, "the worst outcome on record". However, it should then grow 3.1 percent next year -- although this is a much slower pace than elsewhere in the world.

In terms of per capita income, it has fallen 5.3 percent and back to 2013 levels in the space of just a few months.

Abebe Aemro Selassie, the head of the IMF's African division, highlighted the fact that unlike in the 2008-09 global financial crisis, sub-Saharan countries were in a much worse budgetary position, with fewer resources available to face the crisis than their wealthier peers.

- Different countries, different impact -
African countries can be classified as three economic types:

-- Diversified, such as in West Africa, with Ivory Coast, Senegal and Ghana. In the east, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

In these economies, activity has slowed significantly but they are still managing to grow, the IMF says.

-- Oil producers such as Algeria, Angola and Nigeria. They have suffered very badly from the plunge in crude prices, especially in the early months of the crisis.

Since then, prices have firmed slowly to arrive back at around $50 per barrel.

-- Tourism-dependent countries such as Morocco, Tunisia and the Seychelles. The pandemic has brought travel to a virtual standstill, grounding airlines, which are struggling to survive.

"The crisis has confirmed the differences between diversified countries and the exporters of industrial raw materials but has also impacted North African countries which were in a growth rebound thanks to tourism since 2016," noted Clement Gillet, economist with Societe Generale.

Standing on its own, South Africa, the continent's second-biggest economy, has been hit the worst given that it was already in recession before the crisis hit.

Its economy is expected to shrink 8.0 percent this year.

- Raising funds -
Again, the picture is mixed when it comes to how different countries manage debt and raise fresh funds.

On the one hand, there is Zambia, which is heavily dependent on mining and became the first country to default on its debt last month, while Ivory Coast only two weeks later easily raised funds on the market.

Since then, "the financial markets have found their appetite for risk again, and especially for African debt, but investors are going to be much more careful about the details" and quality of the issuers, said Gillet.

Another important source of funds for African countries is remittances from their foreign workers and inevitably this has also suffered in the pandemic.

According to the World Bank, such remittances are expected to fall 14 percent to about $470 billion going into 2021.

"The impact of Covid-19 is pervasive when viewed through a migration lens as it affects migrants and their families who rely on remittances," said Mamta Murthi, Vice President for Human Development and Chair of the Migration Steering Group at the World Bank.

- Debt -
G20 countries have already put in place a moratorium on interest payments for some 47 countries, most of them in Africa.

The G20 has also said its members are ready to re-negotiate some of the debt itself but such moves have limits.

"Firstly, about 40 percent of African debt is accounted for by the private sector," and not by governments, noted Kako Nubukpo, an economist and a former minister of Togo.

"Certain countries, such as Benin, with a lot of private sector debt, oppose the moratorium because they fear that when they return to the market to raise fresh funds their risk premium will explode," he said.

But Senegal on the other hand has welcomed the debt service moratorium, he added.

At the same time, Gillet noted the profile of Africa's creditors has changed, "which makes any restructuring agreement very complicated".

"Up until the end of the 1990s, you could get all the creditors around a table," he said.

"But now you have the debt owed to China, which is not part of the Paris Club (of state creditors), then the debt owed to the private-sector lenders (the London Club of bankers), and then above all the debt raised on the markets."
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.africanews.com/2020/12/30/covid-19-takes-its-toll-on-african-economy/.
 
Increased testing needed as Africa sees rise in coronavirus cases

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — As a result of holiday gatherings, African officials warn of a resurgence of COVID-19 on the continent and urge increased testing to combat it.

The level of testing across the continent is considerably less than what health experts say is needed to effectively control the spread of the disease.

Africa makes up about 3.3% of the global total of confirmed virus cases, but this is believed to be just a fraction of the actual cases on the continent of 1.3 billion people.

When the pandemic began only two of Africa’s 54 countries had laboratories to test for the disease. Now virtually every one of the continent’s countries can carry out the tests. Together Africa’s countries have conducted at least 25 million COVID-19 tests, with a recent increase of 3%, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Compared to the small amount of testing at the beginning of the pandemic, Africa CDC Director John Nkengasong has said the increased testing is “good progress and we continue to be hopeful of this.”

The distribution of the tests, however, is very uneven. Just 10 countries — South Africa, Morocco, Ethiopia, Egypt, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Rwanda and Cameroon — are carrying out more than 70% of the continent’s testing. To make the testing more widespread, 2.7 million additional tests have been procured by member states, the Africa CDC said some weeks ago.

Increased testing is needed to help Africa locate where cases are rising and where additional medical responses are needed. And, when they become available to Africa, where vaccines should go.

Africa’s rural areas have even less testing than its cities, where most hospitals and clinics are located. More testing is needed in rural areas, said Nkengasong, especially as urban Africans travel to remote areas to unite with their families as the New Year approaches.

Rapid antigen tests would dramatically boost the ability to test in Africa’s remote, rural areas, according to the Africa CDC and WHO.

The rapid tests look for antigens, or proteins found on the surface of the virus. They are generally considered less accurate — though much faster — than PCR tests, which are higher-grade genetic tests. PCR tests require processing with specialty lab equipment and chemicals and it can take several days before patients get the results.

In contrast, the rapid antigen tests can provide results at the testing site in less than 30 minutes.

The World Health Organization and its partners announced in September that 120 million of the rapid tests would be made available to help Africa’s poor and middle-income countries test at levels closer to those of richer countries, which are deemed necessary to effectively fight the spread of COVID-19.

“Once we begin to use the antigen test more broadly, it will become a game-changer aspect of the way we do testing for the across the continent, especially in the remote areas and especially during this holiday period,” said Nkengasong.

Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO’s regional director for Africa, has said that many cases remain unrecorded in Africa, because of the lack of testing, which has focused on travelers, patients and direct contacts. Few African countries have been able to do adequate community testing to find where the disease is concentrated and at what level.

Laboratory capacity for testing in African nations is lower than in most countries, according to WHO, calling testing volumes sub-optimal due to limited supplies of PCR test kits, which can be expensive.

“The global demand has put a strain on the supplies, with delays and some of the countries have inadequate infrastructure for setting up labs with molecular testing capacity for PCR diagnosis of COVID-19,” according to the WHO.

Prof. Pontiano Kaleebu, who heads an agency in charge of testing for the coronavirus in Uganda, said in many African countries people cannot afford the tests.

Testing fees in Uganda range from $65 to $100, and the service is not available in many remote areas.

“Sometimes people keep saying, ‘Where do I go? What do I do?’” he said, referring to patients who need to take a COVID-19 test but lack the money or don’t know of a nearby testing facility.

According to Ugandan government guidelines, hospitals are ordered to isolate patients who show COVID-19 symptoms on admission, but others on routine visits to health facilities aren’t necessarily tested and must pay out of pocket if they wish to be tested.

Officials standing guard at hospital entrances conduct temperature checks and desultorily take notes, but some visitors can pass through undetected when the guards are tired or have gone for a lunch break.

Uganda, which has tested over 736,000 samples for COVID-19, has reported nearly 34,000 cases and 248 deaths as of Dec. 30.

“If we had all the resources, we would test more,” Kaleebu said.

The World Health Organization recommends that countries should not be finding more than about 5% of all cases they test to be positive, suggesting that above that threshold they aren’t testing widely enough.

In Africa, the positivity ranges from 2.3% to more than 40%, according to Our World in Data, which compiles data from Johns Hopkins University. In Europe, however, the range is similar, from 5% to more than 30% in some countries.

However, when looking at the tests carried out per 1,000 people, African countries are on the low end ranging from 0 to the highest in Morocco at 119 tests per 1,000 people, according to the data.

In efforts to track the level of infections in communities, countries such as South Africa and Ghana are testing for the prevalence of COVID-19 in sewage water.

In South Africa, which has conducted more than 5.6 million tests, the Water Research Commission at wastewater treatment plants found COVID-19 fragments in sewage, mainly human feces, which corresponded with official numbers on the prevalence of the virus, especially in hotspot areas.

Water samples are drawn from water treatment facilities serving residential and commercial areas, but the research has been widened to include non-sewered areas in South Africa’s poor and overcrowded informal settlements.

“In South Africa, the number of COVID-19 patients are most likely underestimated, mainly due to the limitations regarding testing and also due to the likely large number of asymptomatic individuals,” said Jay Bhagwan, executive manager for water use and waste management of the Water Research Commission.

“If we can rapidly expand the wastewater surveillance program in South Africa, the sector will have a tool that provides valuable additional information about the spread of the virus as a complement to health surveillance.”
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/increased-testing-needed-as-africa-sees-rise-in-coronavirus-cases.
 
To honour the victims of coronavirus and health care workers on the front line, South Africans lit candles on New Year's Eve rather than partying, heeding a call by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

South Africa has the most coronavirus cases on the continent and has more than one million infections since the outbreak in March, with some 28,000 deaths. The country also has a new variant of the virus which is more contagious.

“This year has been very tough for most people, and it hit too close to home for me when I lost my aunt,” said Lieschen Burger, who said she will be spending a quiet night at home with her family. She said they will pray that 2021 will be a better, healthy year for all.

Ramaphosa called on the nation to celebrate New Year’s Eve differently.

“Let us each light a candle in memory of those who have lost their lives, in tribute to those on the frontline who are working tirelessly to protect us from harm, in appreciation of the great sacrifices that have been made this past year, and in the confidence that the year ahead will bring health, peace and hope to our people,” Ramaphosa said in a televised address to the nation that he called a “family chat.”

During the speech, he announced a stricter curfew, banned alcohol sales and made mask-wearing mandatory following the spike in cases.

Annual New Year’s Eve celebrations have been canceled, including Johannesburg’s annual raucous dance party that attracts thousands. Instead, the mayor of South Africa's largest city will light a candle on the landmark Nelson Mandela Bridge.

Beaches where crowds usually gather on New Year's Day have been closed.

"2020 did not like us. But President Ramaphosa (did say as a nation we've been here before," said Johannesburg mayor Geoff Makhubo.

"Against all odds, you succeeded as a nation. There is a resilience of our nation as South Africans."

The pandemic has also hit South Africa's economy hard and many have lost their jobs.

“I have not had an income since the lockdown (in April). My wife is the only one earning an income and that is not easy on the family," said Riva Reddy who lost his job in the transport industry.

“I have started selling curry, rice, and samoosas just to make some money."

He said he would pray for a job in 2021.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.africanews.com/2021/01/01/south-africa-remembers-covid-victims-on-new-year-s-eve/.
 
'Overwhelmed' Zimbabwe tightens COVID-19 restrictions, orders most businesses closed

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe extended a nationwide curfew, banned gatherings and ordered non-essential businesses closed for a month on Saturday in an effort to curb a surge in coronavirus infections.

Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, who is also health minister, said some of the tighter restrictions were effective immediately and included a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew and a ban on inter-city travel. From Tuesday, non-essential businesses would also be suspended, he said.

“People must stay at home save for buying food and medicines or transporting sick relatives,” Chiwenga told a news conference.

The country had recorded 1,342 COVID-19 cases and 29 deaths in one week, the higest to date, he said.

“Only essential services are to remain open such as hospitals, pharmacies and supermarkets, with only essential staff allowed to come to work,” Chiwenga said, adding such services would have reduced hours and be subject to the night curfew.

Earlier on Saturday, government spokesman Nick Mangwana wrote on Twitter that “we are being overwhelmed and overrun by this virus”.

Chiwenga said air travel was still allowed, with arrivals and returning residents being required to present certificates showing themselves to be free of COVID-19.

Zimbabwe first introduced a tough lockdown in March but had gradually eased the restrictions. It has recorded a total of 14,084 cases and 369 deaths.

Last week, the government postponed the re-opening of schools planned for Monday, due to a surge in coronavirus infections and a tropical storm that swept through the region.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/hea...s-orders-most-businesses-closed-idUSL8N2JD0B7.
 
S.Africa trying to get COVID-19 vaccines as soon as February, minister says

JOHANNESBURG, Jan 3 (Reuters) - South Africa is trying to get COVID-19 vaccines as soon as February, but the timing will depend on bilateral negotiations with pharmaceutical companies, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said on Sunday.

Mkhize added at a news conference that the government’s aim was to vaccinate a minimum of 67% of the country’s population of roughly 60 million people to reach herd immunity.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/hea...-soon-as-february-minister-says-idUSL8N2JE0C1.
 
JOHANNESBURG, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- The death toll in South Africa due to COVID-19 on Monday surpassed the 30,000 mark to reach 30,011, said Health Minister Zweli Mkhize.

This came after 434 fatalities were recorded over the past 24 hours.

Both Western (157) and Eastern Cape (133) continued recording more deaths than other provinces.

A total of 12,601 new infections were detected during the same period, which brought the cumulative number of confirmed cases to 1,113,349.

These figures mean South Africa has registered the most infections and fatalities compared to other nations in Africa.

Tighter lockdown measures to curb the spread of infections in the second wave were re-introduced last week, including a ban on alcohol sale and gatherings as well as the closure of beaches.
Click to expand...

Source: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-01/05/c_139641640.htm.
 
African Union Member States (55) reporting COVID-19 cases (2,852,010) deaths (67,928), and recoveries (2,359,506) by region:

Central (76,040 cases; 1,493 deaths; 68,286 recoveries): Burundi (833; 2; 687), Cameroon (26,848; 448; 24,892), CAR (4,963; 63; 4,873), Chad (2,229; 104; 1,724), Congo (7,107; 108; 5,846), DRC (18,152; 599; 14,723), Equatorial Guinea (5,279; 86; 5,143), Gabon (9,605; 66; 9,415), Sao Tome & Principe (1,024; 17; 983)

Eastern (326,542; 6,047; 256,514): Comoros (864; 13; 732), Djibouti (5,846; 61; 5,747), Eritrea (1,363; 3; 694), Ethiopia (125,919; 1,950; 112,610), Kenya (96,908; 1,686; 79,257), Madagascar (17,767; 262; 17,228), Mauritius (527; 10; 496), Rwanda (8,848; 105; 6,816), Seychelles (322; 1; 222), Somalia (4,714; 130; 3,612), South Sudan (3,589; 63; 3,131), Sudan (23,316; 1,468; 13,524), Tanzania (509; 21; 178), Uganda (36,050; 274; 12,267)

Northern (946,591; 24,924; 793,756): Algeria (101,975; 2,777; 67,999), Egypt (143,464; 7,863; 114,601), Libya (101,975; 1,521; 75,288), Mauritania (14,875; 360; 12,377), Morocco (443,802; 7,538; 414,972), Tunisia (144,796; 4,862; 108,491), Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (34; 3; 28)

Southern (1,249,423; 32,140; 1,018,597): Angola (17,684; 408; 11,266), Botswana (15,440; 45; 12,481), Eswatini (10,138; 244; 7,123), Lesotho (3,206; 65; 1,496), Malawi (6,935; 196; 5,718), Mozambique (19,463; 171; 16,828), Namibia (25,386; 218; 21,167), South Africa (1,113,349; 30,011; 911,573), Zambia (21,993; 398; 19,229), Zimbabwe (15,829; 384; 11,716)

Western (250,414; 3,324; 222,353): Benin (3,251, 44; 3,061), Burkina Faso (7,126; 86; 5,300), Cape Verde (11,949; 113; 11,597), Côte d'Ivoire (22,800; 138; 22,145), Gambia (3,800; 124; 3,669), Ghana (55,168; 335; 53,928), Guinea (13,799; 81; 13,186), Guinea-Bissau (2,447; 44; 2,378), Liberia (1,800; 83; 1,406), Mali (7,260; 279; 4,994), Niger (3,465; 110; 1,986), Nigeria (91,351; 1,318; 75,699), Senegal (19,803; 424; 17,615), Sierra Leone (2,673; 76; 1,910), Togo (3,722; 69; 3,479)

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.africanews.com/2021/01/...covid-19-cases-as-of-5-january-2021-9-am-eat/.
 
Nigeria aims to get 42 million COVID-19 vaccines through COVAX scheme

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria hopes to get 42 million COVID-19 vaccines to cover one-fifth of its population through the global COVAX scheme, said Faisal Shuaib, head of the country’s primary healthcare agency, on Tuesday.

Shuaib said the batch of vaccines would come as part of Nigeria’s plan to inoculate 40% of the population this year, with another 30% in 2022. By the end of January, 100,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine are expected to arrive, he said.

The COVAX scheme was set up to provide vaccines to poorer countries such as Nigeria, whose 200 million people and poor infrastructure pose a daunting challenge to medical officials rolling out the vaccinations as the West African country battles a second, larger spike in coronavirus cases.

Nigeria, where officials recorded low coronavirus numbers through much of 2020, had 1,204 new cases on Monday, its highest ever, as total confirmed cases edged closer to 100,000. (Graphic: tmsnrt.rs/34pvUyi)

Nigeria will first inoculate frontline health workers, first responders, national leaders, people vulnerable to coronavirus and the elderly, Shuaib said during a regular COVID-19 briefing in the capital Abuja.

He also underscored popular resistance to vaccines and said Nigeria must educate people on their importance.

“We fear what we don’t understand,” said Shuaib.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-nigeria-idUSKBN29B0VE.
 
(Bloomberg) -- The resurgence of South Africa’s coronavirus outbreak coincided with a record number of excess deaths in the third week of December, suggesting a far higher death toll from Covid-19 than reflected in the latest health ministry data.

Weekly natural excess deaths, a measure of mortality exceeding historical averages, reached 6,974 by Dec. 23, the highest in 2020 and more than the previous peak of 6,933 recorded at the height of the first wave of the outbreak in July, the South African Medical Research Council said in a weekly report published on Wednesday. Overall, between May 6 and Dec. 29, there were 71,778 more deaths from natural causes than would have been expected.

The health ministry recorded a total of 31,368 Covid-19 deaths as of Wednesday. The latest excess deaths figures strongly suggest that “a significant proportion of the current excess mortality being observed in South Africa is likely to be attributable to Covid-19,” the report said.

The report also showed a steep rise in the percentage change between the estimated number of deaths from natural causes and the predicted number based on historical data -- a measure known as the P-Score -- in almost all of South Africa’s nine provinces. Eastern Cape, which has been hardest hit by the coronavirus in terms of total confirmed deaths, registered a 145% change in the week to Dec. 23, while KwaZulu-Natal had a 132% rise.

Tracking excess mortality is widely seen as way to gage the full scale of fatalities from Covid-19. It includes those suspected of having the coronavirus who died without being tested, as well as people who died of other causes after being unable to seek treatment because hospitals were swamped.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/south-africa-excess-deaths-reach-record-as-covid-resurges-1.1545097.
 
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases across African continent has registered 2,950,109, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said on Friday.

The continental disease control and prevention agency said in a statement that the coronavirus pandemic death toll recorded 70,553 while a total of 2,414,219 people infected with COVID-19 have recovered across Africa as of Friday.

The most affected African countries in terms of the number of infections include South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, and Tunisia, figures from the Africa CDC showed.

South Africa currently has the most coronavirus cases, with 1,170,590.

Morocco comes next with 448,678 confirmed COVID-19 cases, followed by Tunisia with 152, 254 confirmed cases and Egypt with 146,809 confirmed cases, according to the Africa CDC.
Click to expand...

Source: https://dailynewsegypt.com/2021/01/...onfirmed-coronavirus-cases-pass-2-95-million/.
 
With more COVID-19 infections recorded over the past 24 hours, the number of total cases in Africa now stands at 2.98 million, according to an Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) update late Saturday.

At least 71,463 patients have died so far and 2.43 million have recovered, said the Ethiopian-based organization.

Southern Africa, with 1.34 million cases and 34,789 deaths, remains the continent’s worst-hit region. However, it also accounts for the highest number of recoveries, at over 1 million.

Some 973,979 cases have been reported in North Africa, 331,558 in East Africa, 260,204 in West Africa, and 77,344 in Central Africa.

South Africa, the worst-hit country on the continent, has registered 1.21 million cases with 32,824 deaths and 956,712 recoveries, said the country's Health Ministry late Saturday.

“The first batch of 1.5 million doses of coronavirus vaccines, which will reach our shores this month, will be reserved for our healthcare workers across the spectrum, including doctors, nurses, general workers and security staff from both the public and private sectors,” tweeted South African Health Minister Zweli Mkhize on Saturday.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/coronavirus-infections-in-africa-cross-29m-mark/2104756.
 
NAIROBI, KENYA -- The African Union has secured close to 300 million COVID-19 vaccine doses in the largest such agreement yet for Africa, a continental official said Tuesday.

Nicaise Ndembi, senior science adviser for the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told The Associated Press in an interview that the current AU chair, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, is expected to announce the news on Wednesday.

The 300 million doses are being secured independently of the global COVAX effort aimed at distributing COVID-19 vaccines to lower-income countries, Ndembi said.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/official-africa-secures-close-to-300-million-vaccine-doses-1.5263790.
 
The total number of coronavirus cases in Africa has reached over 3.1 million, according to an Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention update on Wednesday.

The death toll in the continent rose to more than 74,440, while the number of recoveries surpassed 2.5 million.

By region, Southern Africa has recorded over 1.42 million cases, with 36,984 deaths and more than 1.14 million recoveries.

Some 994,860 cases have so far been reported in North Africa, 337,164 in East Africa, 269,932 in West Africa, and 79,045 in Central Africa.

South Africa, the hardest-hit country on the continent, reported 755 new deaths, bringing the total number of fatalities to 34,334, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced late Tuesday.

Mkhize said 13,105 new infections were also detected, pushing the country’s overall count to nearly 1.26 million.

Meanwhile, Cameroon Health Minister Manaouda Malachie on Wednesday visited the reception and screening systems.

On Wednesday, Cameroon Health Minister Manaouda Malachie inspected the screening system for COVID-19 in the capital Yaounde ahead of African Nations Championship (CHAN) tournament.

The country is set to host the football tournament on Jan. 16-Feb. 7, 2021.

The stadium occupancy rates during matches have been set at 25% for all group matches, including the opening match, and 50% for the semi-finals and finals. ​​​​​
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/coronavirus-cases-in-africa-rise-to-over-31m/2108700.
 
South Africa’s decision to shut its land borders was preceded by a week of pandemonium as hundreds of thousands of foreigners tried to return to work after the December holidays.

Beitbridge, the only legal road crossing between Zimbabwe and South Africa -- and southern Africa’s busiest inland border post -- was the worst affected. People waited, not always patiently, for as long as four days in lines of traffic that stretched miles from the border gate with delays caused by the need to produce a certificate showing a negative test for Covid-19.

Without restrooms or restaurants, they relied on unmasked vendors selling homemade traditional street food, while the scrubby roadside bush made do as a communal and unhygienic restroom with little social distancing on the Zimbabwean side of the border.

The chaos was a demonstration of the disruption and economic damage the coronavirus is wreaking as South Africa battles to contain the spread of the coronavirus, which has infected more than 1.2 million people in the country and killed more than 33,000. In addition to delaying people from returning to work, the congestion curbed trade at Beitbridge, a key gateway to the rest of the continent for goods trucked from South Africa or its ports.

“It is on the trade route,” said Trudi Hartzenberg, executive director of the Tralac Trade Law Center in Stellenbosch, South Africa. “The transport and development corridors, going into the region and a single border closure has a knock-on, or a regional impact, which can be quite significant.”

The snarl-up meant that some reached South African immigration authorities after their coronavirus test certificates, which have to be presented within three days of having being taken, had expired. Many had to spend days mingling with unmasked street vendors.

“This is my fourth day in the line and my certificate will have expired even if we get through today,” said Wilson Ncube, 32, a boilermaker driving back to Johannesburg with his wife after visiting family in Zimbabwe. “I’m already late for work, and if I need to wait another 24 hours after being retested my boss is going to be” angry, he said.

For more on the border chaos, click here

Calls to Zimbabwe’s immigration department and South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs weren’t answered.

On average, Beitbridge processes about 25,000 people a day, according to Zimbabwe’s immigration department, but that number rises dramatically in January. Many of the 2 to 3 million Zimbabweans working in South Africa return home in December and the rush back to work in early January sees numbers spike. Adding to the congestion, both countries shut the border to private vehicles soon after nightfall to speed the processing of buses and trucks. Over 1,000 of them cross daily, customs officials said, mostly 40-ton rigs ferrying supplies to and from South African ports.

Trucks were backed up over 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) on the Zimbabwean side of the border on Jan. 8, while four lanes of private vehicles extended in a line for 3 kilometers. Soon after nightfall, movement of private vehicles ground to a standstill after the gates shut. It would take them between 35 and 72 hours to cross the Limpopo River into the South African customs and immigration facility.

South Africa’s main Lebombo border post with Mozambique suffered worse congestion, at least for truckers, after a new coronavirus testing regime saw the operations shut down periodically for sterilization. A line of trucks extended 21 kilometers on both sides of the border.

At Beitbridge, the interminable wait to enter Zimbabwe’s expanded border post ended on entering the gates and encountering a vast and almost empty car park. Travelers were processed rapidly and social distancing and mask wearing enforced. Vehicles then sat on the the 382-meter (1,253-foot) bridge over the Limpopo for as long as an hour as it shook under the weight of heavy trucks rumbling across.

Aside from workers being late for their jobs, truckers spoke of missing shipping deadlines at ports.

“If I’m going to make it, I’ll have to drive through for another 24 hours straight without sleep,” said Jonathan Sando, from the cab of a Freightliner truck hauling 40 tons of granite destined for Italy. “It’s not fun, this job.”

On the night of Jan. 11 South African President Cyril Ramaphosa brought the chaos to a halt by announcing that 20 of South Africa’s land border posts would be closed until Feb. 15 to almost all travelers with the exception of those hauling freight.

In doing so he stranded a substantial portion of South Africa’s workforce.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...s-closing-of-southern-africa-s-busiest-border.
 
African Union Member States (55) reporting COVID-19 cases (3,147,303) deaths (75,750), and recoveries (2,565,752) by region:

Central (80,015 cases; 1,528 deaths; 69,593 recoveries): Burundi (1,062; 2; 773), Cameroon (27,336; 451; 25,542), CAR (4,973; 63; 4,873), Chad (2,709; 109; 2,033), Congo (7,217; 108; 5,846), DRC (20,478; 626; 14,770), Equatorial Guinea (5,316; 86; 5,169), Gabon (9,819; 66; 9,597), Sao Tome & Principe (1,105; 17; 990)

Eastern (338,856; 6,326; 264,547): Comoros (1,341; 33; 989), Djibouti (5,891; 61; 5,808), Eritrea (1,596; 6; 934), Ethiopia (129,455; 2,006; 114,567), Kenya (98,555; 1,720; 81,667), Madagascar (18,001; 267; 17,447), Mauritius (545; 10; 514), Rwanda (10,122; 128; 6,974), Seychelles (612; 1; 326), Somalia (4,744; 130; 3,666), South Sudan (3,670; 63; 3,181), Sudan (25,730; 1,576; 15,240), Tanzania (509; 21; 178), Uganda (38,085; 304; 13,083)

Northern (1,002,464; 26,450; 840,437): Algeria (102,860; 2,819; 69,791), Egypt (152,719; 8,362; 120,312), Libya (107,434; 1,645; 84,245), Mauritania (15,794; 395; 14,008), Morocco (455,055; 7,810; 429,278), Tunisia (168,568; 5,415; 122,775), Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (34; 4; 28)

Southern (1,452,862; 37,908; 1,155,701): Angola (18,425; 424; 15,631), Botswana (16,768; 59; 13,310), Eswatini (12,124; 332; 7,986), Lesotho (6,356; 89; 1,621), Malawi (9,991; 275; 5,864), Mozambique (24,269; 211; 18,352), Namibia (29,570; 275; 25,845), South Africa (1,278,303; 35,140; 1,030,930), Zambia (32,800; 514; 22,504), Zimbabwe (24,256; 589; 13,658)

Western (273,106; 3,538; 235,447): Benin (3,413, 46; 3,245), Burkina Faso (8,546; 93; 6,119), Cape Verde (12,592; 115; 11,900), Côte d'Ivoire (24,369; 140; 22,856), Gambia (3,890; 126; 3,681), Ghana (56,981; 341; 55,236), Guinea (14,051; 81; 13,301), Guinea-Bissau (2,478; 45; 2,400), Liberia (1,877; 84; 1,697), Mali (7,738; 303; 5,374), Niger (3,998; 136; 2,631), Nigeria (103,999; 1,382; 82,555), Senegal (22,178; 496; 18,756), Sierra Leone (2,887; 77; 2,013), Togo (4,109; 73; 3,683)
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.africanews.com/2021/01/...ovid-19-cases-as-of-14-january-2021-6-pm-eat/.
 
African Union Member States (55) reporting COVID-19 cases (3,180,132), deaths (76,792), and recoveries (2,597,000) by region:

Central (80,211 cases; 1,531 deaths; 69,637 recoveries): Burundi (1,103; 2; 773), Cameroon (27,336; 451; 25,542), CAR (4,973; 63; 4,873), Chad (2,773; 110; 2,073), Congo (7,217; 108; 5,846), DRC (20,555; 628; 14,774), Equatorial Guinea (5,316; 86; 5,169), Gabon (9,819; 66; 9,597), Sao Tome Principe (1,119; 17; 990)

Eastern (340,121; 6,344; 265,438): Comoros (1,403; 38; 1,010), Djibouti (5,903; 61; 5,816), Eritrea (1,805; 6; 1,014), Ethiopia (129,922; 2,008; 114,749), Kenya (98,859; 1,726; 82,195), Madagascar (18,001; 267; 17,447), Mauritius (547; 10; 516), Rwanda (10,316; 133; 6,974), Seychelles (627; 1; 360), Somalia (4,744; 130; 3,675), South Sudan (3,670; 63; 3,181), Sudan (25,730; 1,576; 15,240), Tanzania (509; 21; 178), Uganda (38,085; 304; 13,083)

Northern (1,008,041; 26,626; 846,058): Algeria (103,127; 2.822; 69,992), Egypt (153,741; 8,421; 121,072), Libya (108,017; 1,651; 85,068), Mauritania (15,893; 396; 14,121), Morocco (456,334; 7,854; 431,167), Tunisia (170,895; 5,478; 124,610), Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (34; 4; 28)

Southern (1,476,181; 38,712; 1,177,902): Angola (18.613; 426; 16,008), Botswana (17,365; 71; 13,519), Eswatini (12,327; 335; 8,076), Lesotho (6,356; 89; 1,621), Malawi (10,494; 285; 5,903), Mozambique (25,004; 216; 18,371), Namibia (29,570; 275; 25,845), South Africa (1,296,806; 35,852; 1,049,740), Zambia (34,278; 527, 24,105), Zimbabwe (25,368; 636; 14,714)

Western (275,578; 3,579; 237,965): Benin (3,413, 46; 3,245), Burkina Faso (8,809; 97; 6,877), Cape Verde (12,664; 115; 11,989), Cöte d'Ivoire (24,578; 140; 22,856), Gambia (3.893; 127; 3,689), Ghana (56,981; 341; 55,236), Guinea (14,065; 81; 13,318), Guinea-Bissau (2,478; 45; 2,400), Liberia (1,882; 84; 1, 701), Mali (7,759; 305; 5,414), Niger (4,058; 137; 2,750), Nigeria (105,478; 1,405; 83,830), Senegal (22,396; 506; 18,908), Sierra Leone (2,959; 77; 2,048), Togo (4,165; 73; 3,704)
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.africanews.com/2021/01/...ovid-19-cases-as-of-15-january-2021-6-pm-eat/.
 
African Union Member States (55) reporting COVID-19 cases (3,235,198) deaths (78,313), and recoveries (2,649,520) by region:

Central (81,810 cases; 1,544 deaths; 71,118 recoveries): Burundi (1,185; 2; 773), Cameroon (28,010; 455; 26,861), CAR (4,973; 63; 4,873), Chad (2,855; 111; 2,107), Congo (7,709; 114; 5,860), DRC (20,693; 630; 14,804), Equatorial Guinea (5,356; 86; 5,189), Gabon (9,899; 66; 9,658), Sao Tome & Principe (1,130; 17; 993)

Eastern (342,043; 6,378; 268,368): Comoros (1,577; 41; 1,069), Djibouti (5,903; 61; 5,819), Eritrea (1,877; 6; 1,073), Ethiopia (130,772; 2,029; 116,045), Kenya (99,082; 1,728; 83,324), Madagascar (18,001; 267; 17,447), Mauritius (547; 10; 516), Rwanda (10,850; 140; 7,193), Seychelles (696; 2; 525), Somalia (4,744; 130; 3,675), South Sudan (3,670; 63; 3,181), Sudan (25,730; 1,576; 15,240), Tanzania (509; 21; 178), Uganda (38,085; 304; 13,083)

Northern (1,019,264; 26,941; 853,982): Algeria (103,611; 2,831; 70,373), Egypt (155,507; 8,527; 122,291), Libya (108,017; 1,651; 85,068), Mauritania (15,999; 401; 14,431), Morocco (458,865; 7,911; 433,937), Tunisia (177,231; 5,616; 127,854), Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (34; 4; 28)

Southern (1,511,696; 39,840; 1,215,386): Angola (18,765; 431; 16,225), Botswana (17,365; 71; 13,519), Eswatini (12,736; 360; 8,076), Lesotho (6,371; 93; 1,635), Malawi (11,785; 300; 5,992), Mozambique (25,862; 234; 18,515), Namibia (30,198; 280; 26,468), South Africa (1,325,659; 36,851; 1,083,978), Zambia (36,074; 537, 25,106), Zimbabwe (26,881; 683**; 15,872)

Western (280,385; 3,610; 240,666): Benin (3,413, 46; 3,245), Burkina Faso (9,000; 101; 7,102), Cape Verde (12,901; 119; 12,134), Côte d'Ivoire (24,856; 141; 23,104), Gambia (3,893; 127; 3,689), Ghana (56,981; 341; 55,236), Guinea (14,098; 81; 13,320), Guinea-Bissau (2,478; 45; 2,400), Liberia (1,887; 84; 1,701), Mali (7,823; 308; 5,531), Niger (4,132; 138; 2,951), Nigeria (108,943; 1,420; 85,367), Senegal (22,738; 509; 19,052), Sierra Leone (2,970; 77; 2,071), Togo (4,272; 73; 3,763)
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.africanews.com/2021/01/...ovid-19-cases-as-of-17-january-2021-9-am-eat/.
 
PRETORIA

South Africa reported 344 new coronavirus related deaths, pushing the national death toll to 37,449 the highest on the continent, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced late Monday.

Mkhize said they detected 9,010 new cases of the virus after conducting 39,901 tests, in a 24-hour period, pushing the total number of confirmed cases across the country to 1,346,936.

This is the lowest number of new daily infections recorded since Dec. 29. South Africa, which is currently experiencing its second wave, has been reporting between 12,000-15,000 cases daily.

The Coastal city of KwaZulu-Natal and tourism hub Western Cape continue to have the highest number of deaths and infections reported.

Africa’s most developed economy has so far conducted 7.6 million tests since the virus was first detected last March. The top doctor said at least 1,117,452 people have recovered from the deadly respiratory illness, representing a recovery rate of 83%.

South Africa, currently battling its second wave of COVID-19, has the highest number of infections and deaths on the continent and is the sixteenth most affected country globally.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/safrica-reports-9-010-new-covid-19-cases-344-deaths/2114551.
 
South Africa’s Covid-19 Epidemic May Have Passed Second Peak

(Bloomberg) -- South Africa’s coronavirus epidemic may have passed a second peak after new cases started to fall over the last week, according to Health Minister Zweli Mkhize.

A resurgence led by a more transmissible new variant of the virus led to a far more severe wave than the initial one seen in July, he said in a televised address. However, a 23% week-on-week drop in the number of reported new infections is cause for optimism, he said.

The decline “could be attributable to many factors, including enhanced physical distancing facilitated by lockdown regulations,” Mkhize said. “Having said that, the health-care system continues to experience significant strain.”

South African Covid-19 cases began to accelerate again in November and by the middle of the following month genomic scientists announced the discovery of a mutation that was behind the surge. President Cyril Ramaphosa went on to introduce stricter lockdown rules, including a ban on alcohol sales and a 9 p.m. curfew.

The new variant “can attach to human cells more efficiently” than its predecessor, yet data show it is not more likely to cause hospitalization or death, according to Salim Abdool Karim, co-chair of the Covid-19 ministerial advisory committee. Studies into its resistance to newly approved vaccines have yet to be completed, he said at the briefing.

Hospital admissions continue to rise, increasing by 18% on Jan. 16 compared with a week earlier, Mkhize said. Many health workers have reported a shortage of critical-care beds, oxygen and staff as the virus ripped through the country.

(Updates with health minister comment in third paragraph)
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/south-africa-s-covid-19-epidemic-may-have-passed-second-peak-1.1550464.
 
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Africa’s coronavirus case fatality rate has risen alarmingly to 2.5%, higher than the global level of 2.2%, the head of the continent’s disease control body said on Thursday.

Earlier in the pandemic, Africa’s rate had been below the global average, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) head John Nkengasong told reporters.

“The case fatality rate is beginning to be very worrying and concerning for all of us,” he said, without giving a reason for the increase.

The number of African nations with a rate of deaths-per-cases higher than the global average is growing, he added. There are 21 countries on the continent with a rate above 3%, including Egypt, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sudan.

The initially lower case fatality level in Africa may have been due to lower testing rates and a youthful population, experts said last year.

Despite Nkengasong’s concern, the World Health Organisation’s Africa head Matshidiso Moeti told an online news conference that Africa’s case fatality rate was not dramatically worse than other regions.

She said higher rates were probably due to the challenges African countries most severely affected by the second wave – notably South Africa where a more infectious variant has been detected – were facing in providing care for infected people.

Over the past week, cases around the continent decreased by nearly 7% compared to the previous week while deaths increased 10%, according to Africa CDC data.

With a population of more than 1.3 billion, Africa has recorded 81,000 COVID-19 deaths, representing 4% of fatalities globally from the coronavirus, Nkengasong told reporters.

Africa has recorded 3.3 million infections in total.

The continent reported 207,000 new cases in the past week, with South Africa alone reporting 100,000 of those, Nkengasong said.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...ity-rate-surpasses-global-level-idUKKBN29Q16F.
 
COVID-19: Why Uganda needs to rethink social distancing guidelines

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda which some public health experts heralded as shining examples for its handling of coronavirus has had a “dramatic” increase in deaths and cases. What some have described as “rapid increase” in Covid-19 infection rates has prompted appeals to people to adhere to public health guidelines.

There is concern about the effectiveness of the Infection Prevention Control (IPC) as well as Public health and social measures (PHSMs) introduced in mid-March 2020 to curb the virus. Uganda had by the time of filing this report registered 317 deaths due to COVID-19.

There were 38,534 confirmed cases, while over 13,400 persons had recovered.

According to the January 20th epidemiology statistics from Africa Centre for Disease Control (CDC), Uganda is among the 38 countries in Africa reporting 40 Covid-19 cases per one million populations per day.

Uganda’s case fatality ratio is currently estimates at 2%. The increase in cases and deaths continue to occur despite studies indicating that most Ugandans are aware, knowledgeable and understand how the virus is transmitted and spread.

A study on citizens’ knowledge, attitudes and practices related to Covid-19 found that 8 out of ten Ugandan’s or 80% know how the virus can be transmitted.

It found that the awareness was high across most of Uganda though little lower in rural areas. Twaweza Sauti Za Wanainchi survey findings were not different from the one conducted by Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) between July and August 2020.

Apart from awareness about the COVID-19 awareness levels, the UBOS Uganda High-Frequency Phone Survey on COVID-19 (UHFPS) found that a big share of respondents thought that existing lockdowns measures were effective in curbing the spread of COVID-19.

The increase in cases and deaths amidst high knowledge about infection transmission and prevention measures is puzzling health ministry officials and scientists.

Some experts suggest that the pandemic fatigue’ is setting in among some Ugandans tired of social distancing and wearing masks.

The Presidential Advisor on Epidemics, Dr. Monica Musenero said in an interview that complacency is one of the biggest concerns hampering the COVID-19control of transmission efforts.

“In fact for some people it is becoming normal for one to die of COVID-19. They attend burials without observing social distancing, they don’t put on masks and so the risk transmission is high” said Musenero

Wilson Winstons Muhwezi, an Associate Professor of Behavioural Sciences at, Makerere University’s College of Health Sciences said it is important that message against complacency continues to be spread.

“I recall reading recently in a newspaper that was tracing how HIV and how one of the most prominent Ugandans Philly Bogoley Lutaya announced that he had HIV people had doubts. They thought he was acting out; he had been given money. So it’s very important fellow Ugandans that we take our own safety very seriously and adhere to the guidelines” he said

Prof. Mukwanason A. Hyuha, an economist with Centre for Critical Thinking and Alternative Analysis in December wrote a paper warning about the fact that many Ugandans were not wearing masks and adhering to the public health and social measures (PHSMs) for slowing transmission of COVID-19.

“I often attend funeral, wedding, du’a and other ceremonies while wearing my mask, observing social distancing, avoiding shaking hands and touching my mouth, eyes and nose), and so on. However, I have always observed that only a small minority of the attendants of such events do observe the SOPs—a percentage in the region of 5-10% or less” wrote Hyuha

According to Hyuha, to many of his village mates back in Butaleja the fear about dying of COVID-19 is not very scary as it were at the time COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic.

“In fact, a few people even have had the guts to tell me to my face that “If you do not die of COVID-19, you will still eventually die of old age or something else—So, why so strict with SOPs?” he said

For Hyuha and behavioral expert, Wilson Winstons Muhwezi, there shouldn’t be room for complacency about COVID-19 prevention measures. “It will take extreme behavior change by accepting the inconveniences that prevention guidelines throw on us to be able to survive this challenge” advised Professor Muhwezi

In April last year, scientists from several universities in Uganda including Makerere University published an article in the Frontiers in Public Health Journal warning about the misconceptions on COVID-19 risk among Ugandan men. The study found that men in Uganda perceived themselves to be at greater risk than women they also associated COVID-19 with “the white” race.

Professor Hyuha said most of those misconceptions still persist especially in rural areas and therefore need to be demystified through communication messages.

Biological Science Versus Social Science Debate In COVID-19 Response

Almost a year since the Health Ministry and the National COVID-19 task force instituted the the prevention guidelines providing for social distancing, wearing face masks and generally limiting public gatherings, social scientists say those have not helped to stem the infections.

They say the government seemed to have underestimated the role of social scientists in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Professor Hyuha says social scientists would play to sensitize and persuade communities to strictly observe the SOPs and related issues.

“Most likely, it was assumed (wrongly in my opinion) that the scientists would do everything necessary, including working on sensitisation and society’s mindset change” said Hyuha

This week, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Makerere released a study about Strengthening Public Health Responses to COVID-19. Among the findings was the fact that the procedures adopted to prevent COVID-19 infections were more based on biological sciences but largely lacked aspects of social sciences.

Professor Kikooma Julius, Deputy Dean at College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Makerere University said the challenge with response to the pandemic has been coming from the way human beings conduct themselves. He says aspects like individuals’ social issues, their politics and others were not thought about when COVID19 regulations were designed.

“This pandemic is not just a snapshot in our lives. What we are learning is that we are in this thing for quite a while. And if we are in this thing for a quite a while, we cannot rely on measures that were thought in a snapshot way. That is why you see that that even when they came up with lock down measures, they were thinking in terms of three weeks, and then they kept on increasing and that is a challenge” said Kikooma

What Options as cases surge?

Some experts interviewed for this story say there may be need for stricter measures to enforce the COVID-19 measure while others say that people are simply tired of the masks and social distancing measures.

Prof. Dennis Byarugaba, who heads the National Flu Surveillance Group recently told journalists in Kampala said that enforcement of COVID-19 prevention measures could be an option since many people are not abiding.

“We are a little bit used to being pushed to do things we are supposed to do. We probably might move into the next stage where probably the government should come up and ensure that the enforcement of government comes in very strongly to ensure that our public is safe.” Suggested Professor Byarugaba

Dr. Monica Musenero, a field epidemiologist with experience in combating virus like Marburg and Ebola in Uganda and West Africa said now that Ugandans are not adhering, the only hope is that Uganda gets hold of vaccines against the virus.

She explained that unlike Ebola which does not spread when a person is seriously sick, the control COVID-19 becomes complicated because those infected with coronavirus spread it even when they have not shown any signs and symptoms.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.independent.co.ug/covid-19-why-uganda-needs-to-rethink-social-distancing-guidelines/.
 
PRETORIA, January 26. /TASS/. More than 34,000 confirmed coronavirus cases were registered in African countries in the past two days, with the overall number of such cases exceeding 3.45 million, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Office for Africa said on Tuesday.

The overall number of COVID-19 cases in Africa currently stands at 3,453,148, with 34,638 cases confirmed during the past two days. The number of coronavirus-associated deaths amounts to 85,850, with 1,233 fatalities registered in the past 48 hours. More than 2.7 million patients have recovered.

South Africa accounts for the biggest number of Africa’s coronavirus cases and fatalities - 1,417,537 and 41,117 respectively. Egypt is second after South Africa in terms of coronavirus-associated deaths and cases - 9,012 and 162,486, respectively. As many as 8,172 coronavirus-related deaths were reported from Morocco.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, Ethiopia is second after South Africa in terms of coronavirus cases (134,132 cases and 2,071 fatalities). Next are Nigeria (122,996 cases and 1,507 deaths), and Kenya (100,052 cases and 1,744 deaths).
Click to expand...

Source: https://tass.com/world/1249071.
 
Southern Africa caught in COVID-19 surge

The coronavirus pandemic has struck southern Africa harder than any other region on the continent. DW looks at stories from South Africa to Tanzania that shed light on how different countries are battling the disease.

Southern Africa welcomed news on Thursday that the African Union (AU) had secured an additional 400 million doses of coronavirus vaccines for its member states. South Africa is set to receive its first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine on Monday after approving it for emergency use. However, there is still little cause for celebration as the region's healthcare systems begin to wilt under the strain of the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. The devastating reality of the pandemic is playing out differently in these five southern African countries.

South Africa: Busting vaccine myths

The South African government says it is expecting the first consignment of one million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the Serum Institute of India on February 1. It's good news for the country, which has the highest number of officially recorded COVID-19 cases and deaths on the continent and is also currently dealing with a new, more infectious variant of the virus.

Frontline healthcare workers are expected to be given first priority.

"We are still on course because the issue was to target in January and we haven't got any reason to worry about that change," Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said.

56357124_7.jpg

But the rise in myths concerning the much-anticipated roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine is increasingly becoming a headache for authorities. One popular new conspiracy theory claims that the vaccines will be used to trace people through the 5G mobile network.

"It's really an issue of educating people as to why vaccines are probably our only way out," says Shabir Madhi, a professor of vaccinology at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.

These myths, which are primarily spread via social media, seem to be gaining more followers every day. South African resident Davie Mashudu says he no longer trusts the vaccine is safe. "To me I don't think the vaccine should be made compulsory for COVID-19," he told DW. "I won't take the vaccine."
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.dw.com/en/southern-africa-caught-in-covid-19-surge/a-56372105.
 
Rwanda ranked first in Africa, sixth globally in Covid-19 management

Rwanda has been ranked first in Africa and sixth globally in managing the Covid-19 pandemic and making the information accessible to the public.

The Australian think tank Lowy Institute ranked a total of 98 countries globally gauging their level in terms of average performance in managing the pandemic within 36 weeks when they recorded their 100th Coronavirus case.

Rwanda has increased its testing capacity, with over 4,000 daily tests and up to 853,238 in total by Wednesday. It has recorded a total of 14,529 Covid-19 cases with 9,234 recoveries.

It has recorded up to 183 deaths, which is 1.3 percent of the people infected.

The report revealed that smaller populations, cohesive societies and capable institutions were big factors in successfully dealing with the pandemic.

The study measured a number of key indicators including confirmed cases, deaths, cases per million people and deaths per million people.

Fourteen-day rolling averages of new daily figures were calculated using confirmed indicators like confirmed cases, deaths, cases per million people, deaths per million people, the proportion of tests and tests per thousand people.

Togo was the second country in Africa ranking at position 15 globally followed by Tunisia at 21st, Mozambique at 26, Malawi at 27, Zambia at 29 and Uganda at 30.

Tanzania and Burundi, alongside China, were among countries not ranked due to a lack of publicly available data on testing.

The top three countries that depicted the highest level in this pandemic management are New Zealand, Vietnam and Taiwan respectively.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.africanews.com/2021/01/...africa-sixth-globally-in-covid-19-management/.
 
PORTLAND, Ore. — The Oregon Health Authority reported 19 new COVID-19-related deaths on Saturday, raising the state's death toll to 1,957. State health officials also reported 707 new cases, both confirmed and presumptive, in the state. There have been a total of 142,416 cases of the coronavirus diagnosed in Oregon since the pandemic began.

Hospitalizations across the state continued to decline on Saturday. In its daily report, the OHA said there were 280 people in the hospital due to the virus--eight fewer than yesterday. Of those patients, 67 people are in Intensive Care Unit beds, which is one less than yesterday's report.
Click to expand...

Source: https://katu.com/news/local/oregon-reports-19-new-coronavirus-deaths-as-total-nears-2000.
 
Africa Union Member States (55) reporting COVID-19 cases (3,555,356), deaths (90,529) and recoveries (3,037,832) by region:
Central (87,718 cases; 1,604 deaths; 73,940 recoveries): Burundi (1,613; 2; 1,155), Cameroon (29,617; 462; 28,045), CAR (4,989; 63; 4,908), Chad (3,321; 117; 2,372), Congo (7,887; 118; 5,860), DRC (22,771; 671; 15,031), Equatorial Guinea (5,516; 86; 5,286), Gabon (10,748; 68; 10,260), Sao Tome and Principe (1,256; 17; 1,023)
Eastern (360,223; 6,835; 287,779): Comoros (2,718; 90; 1,678), Djibouti (5,932; 63; 5,845), Eritrea (2,135; 7; 1,594), Ethiopia (137,021; 2,091; 122,588), Kenya (100,675; 1,755; 83,855), Madagascar (18,743; 279; 17,930), Mauritius (569; 10; 528), Rwanda (15,118; 193; 9,804), Seychelles (1,186; 4; 987), Somalia (4,784; 130; 3,700), South Sudan (3,929; 64; 3,613), Sudan (27,371; 1,804; 21,300), Tanzania* (509; 21; 178), Uganda (39,533; 324; 14,179)
Northern (1,085,885; 29,397; 921,565): Algeria (107,030; 2,890; 73,152), Egypt (165,418; 9,263; 129,293), Libya (118,631; 1,877; 98,706), Mauritania (16,608; 422; 15,596), Morocco (470,691; 8,259; 448,628), Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (39; 6; 30)
Southern (1,698,226; 48,645; 1,478,936): Angola (19,782; 464; 18,015), Botswana (21,293; 134; 17,198), Eswatini (15,666; 562; 10,238), Lesotho (8,664; 172; 2,552), Malawi (23,497; 687; 8,318), Mozambique (38,654; 367; 23,955), Namibia (33,944; 352; 32,378), South Africa (1,449,236; 43,951; 1,292,921), Zambia (54,217; 763; 48,000), Zimbabwe (33,273; 1,193; 25,361)
Western (323,304; 4,048; 275,612): Benin (3,786; 48; 3,398), Burkina Faso (10,580; 120; 9,052), Cabo Verde (13,981; 133; 13,103), Côte d'Ivoire (28,178; 152; 25,818), Gambia (4,090; 128; 3,792), Ghana (65,427; 405; 60,357), Guinea (14,475; 82; 14,064), Guinea Bissau (2,614; 45; 2,421), Liberia (1,939; 84; 1,760), Mali (8,069; 330; 5,937), Niger (4,516; 159; 3,726), Nigeria (130,557; 1,578; 103,712), Senegal (26,523; 628; 21,970), Sierra Leone (3,528; 79; 2,278), Togo (5,041; 77; 4,224)
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.africanews.com/2021/01/...ovid-19-cases-as-of-31-january-2021-6-pm-eat/.
 
Number of COVID-19 cases in Africa exceeds 3.58 million, reports WHO
The number of coronavirus-associated deaths amounts to 91,472, with 517 fatalities registered in the past 72 hours
PRETORIA, February 2. /TASS/. More than 12,000 confirmed coronavirus cases were registered in African countries in the past day, with the overall number of such cases exceeding 3.58 million, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Office for Africa said on Tuesday.

The overall number of COVID-19 cases in Africa currently stands at 3,581,491, with 12,346 cases confirmed during the past day. The number of coronavirus-associated deaths amounts to 91,472, with 517 fatalities registered in the past 72 hours. More than three million patients have recovered.

South Africa accounts for the biggest number of Africa’s coronavirus cases and fatalities - 1,456,309 and 44,399, respectively. Egypt is second after South Africa in terms of coronavirus-associated deaths and cases - 9,360 and 166,492, respectively. As many as 8,287 coronavirus-related deaths were reported from Morocco.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, Ethiopia is second after South Africa in terms of coronavirus cases (138,384 cases and 2,103 fatalities). Next are Nigeria (131,918 cases and 1,607 deaths), and Kenya (100,856 cases and 1,766 deaths).
Click to expand...

Source: https://tass.com/world/1251901.
 
KAMPALA — Uganda has ordered 18 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and up to 40% of the shipments are expected to arrive by the end of March, the government said on Tuesday, though the manufacturer said no deal had been reached on volumes or pricing yet.

Uganda has so far reported 39,651 COVID-19 cases and 325 deaths – a much lower toll than in most countries due to what experts attribute to years of experience battling other viral outbreaks such as HIV AIDS and Ebola.

Its economy, however, is reeling from the impact of the measures put in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

The vaccine shots will be procured from the Serum Institute of India, the government said in a statement detailing cabinet deliberations at a sitting held on Monday.

But on Wednesday, a spokesman for the Serum Institute of India told Reuters that the institute has not yet signed any deal with Uganda.

“While discussions are ongoing, there has been no finalization of price or volumes,” the spokesman said.

The institute is supplying doses of the vaccine to Brazil, Saudi Arabia and South Africa at $5.25 per dose.

The Ugandan government statement said each person would receive two doses separated by 28 days, and Uganda is purchasing the vaccine from the manufacturer at $7 per dose.

The first doses will be used to vaccinate people aged 50 years and above, people with underlying health conditions, health workers, security personnel, teachers and other essential social service providers, the Ugandan statement said.

Uganda is also set to receive an extra 3.5 million doses of the same vaccine, developed with Oxford University, from COVAX, the scheme set up by WHO to facilitate vaccine access by poor and middle-income countries, which will be received by early next month, the government said.

Last week, Uganda announced it had begun conducting clinical trials of a domestically developed drug to cure COVID-19 infections, after nearly a year of research by local scientists. (Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Duncan Miriri, Alison Williams, William Maclean)
Click to expand...

Source: https://nationalpost.com/pmn/health...es-of-astrazenecas-covid-19-vaccine-govt-says.
 
100,000 Zimbabweans will get free Covid vaccination, thanks to China

About 100,000 Zimbabweans will be vaccinated against Covid-19 courtesy of a donation by China, expected within a week.

The 100,000 are drawn from front-line workers, the elderly and people with underlying illnesses. Zimbabwe will receive about 200,000 doses of the two-shot Sinopharm vaccine.

The front-line workers in Zimbabwe are nurses, police and the army. They make up the majority of the civil service of about 350,000.

Addressing the nation on Thursday, President Emmerson Mnangagwa thanked Chinese leader Xi Jinping “for taking a leading role in contributing to our national vaccine deployment strategy”.

Speaking during a virtual World Cancer Day commemoration, Zimbabwe's vice-president Constantino Chiwenga said the vaccination programme would be optional and free, because life should not be bought.

“The government of Zimbabwe will roll out Covid-19 vaccines for free, to all our citizens who may wish to be vaccinated,” he said.

Chiwenga’s statement is a major climbdown from an initial revelation by finance minister Mthuli Ncube that “private citizens” would have to buy vaccines.

One of the leading voices in the fight against Covid-19 in Zimbabwe, medical professor Solwayo Ngwenya, said the donation was most welcome.

At policy level, Zimbabwe has resolved to put more emphasis on vaccinating the population ahead of testing because of the cost factor. A Covid-19 Test costs between $50 and $60, which is beyond the reach of many. Comparatively, a vaccine's estimated price range is $3-$7 per dosage. The target by the ministry of health and childcare with the help of donor partners is to vaccinate 10 million people, about two-thirds of the population.

“The Covid-19 vaccines which have been scientifically ascertained to be safe will be made available soon,” added Mnangagwa.

The MDC Alliance’s Fadzayi Mahere has called for transparency around the rolling out of the vaccine.

“This is the basic minimum we expect of those who collect our taxes. We demand that the vaccination roll out programme be made public. It must be transparent, evidence-based and free of any form of corruption. Health care is our constitutional right,” she said.

Since the outbreak in March last year, Zimbabwe has registered 39,964 cases and 1,269 deaths.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/af...l-get-free-covid-vaccination-thanks-to-china/.
 
PRETORIA, February 6. /TASS/. African nations have recorded 17,575 new cases of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of infections to 3,645,017, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Office for Africa said on Saturday.).

The coronavirus-related death toll has topped 94,204 across African nations after the rise of 590 deaths in the past 24 hours. A total of 3.1 million recoveries have been reported.

South Africa accounts for a majority of coronavirus cases and deaths across Africa, 1,470,516 and 45,902 respectively. The death toll in Egypt climbed to 9,560, and 168,597 cases have been confirmed. Morocco recorded 8,368 deaths from coronavirus.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, Ethiopia is ranked second to South Africa (140,883 cases and 2,136 deaths) and is followed by Nigeria (137,654 and 1,641) and Kenia (101,534 cases and 1,776 deaths).
Click to expand...

Source: https://tass.com/society/1253437.
 
Africa Union Member States (55) reporting COVID-19 cases (3,656,459), deaths (94,725) and recoveries (3,164,456) by region:

Central (91,510 cases; 1,639 deaths; 76,595 recoveries): Burundi (1,717; 2; 1,155), Cameroon (31,394; 474; 29,501), CAR (4,995; 63; 4,908), Chad (3,473; 125; 2,849), Congo (8,060; 122; 5,860), DRC (23,485; 679; 15,107), Equatorial Guinea (5,578; 86; 5,358), Gabon (11,457; 71; 10,797), Sao Tome and Principe (1,351; 17; 1,060)

Eastern (368,957; 6,992; 295,357): Comoros (3,086; 108; 2,334), Djibouti (5,941; 63; 5,852), Eritrea (2,326; 7; 1,719), Ethiopia (141,453; 2,145; 125,531), Kenya (101,690; 1,776; 84,302), Madagascar (19,065; 281; 18,215), Mauritius (584; 10; 540), Rwanda (16,337; 217; 12,047), Seychelles (1,436; 6; 1,113), Somalia (4,854; 134; 3,720), South Sudan (4,355; 66; 3,663), Sudan (27,500; 1,831; 21,794), Tanzania** (509; 21; 178), Uganda (39,821; 327; 14,349)

Northern (1,108,734; 30,427; 952,698): Algeria (108,760; 2,911; 74,508), Egypt (169,106; 9,604; 132,054), Libya (122,894; 1,936; 103,312), Mauritania (16,792; 425; 15,985), Morocco (474,966; 8,381; 453,921), Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (40; 6; 33), Tunisia (216,176; 7,162; 172,885)

Southern (1,744,571; 51,409; 1,546,011): Angola (20,062; 475; 18,475), Botswana (23,503; 163; 19,574), Eswatini (16,181; 604; 11,469), Lesotho (9,380; 183; 2,706), Malawi (26,875; 837; 11,348), Mozambique (44,112; 451; 26,790), Namibia (34,844; 371; 33,359), South Africa (1,473,700; 46,180; 1,340,497), Zambia (61,427; 829; 53,410), Zimbabwe (34,487; 1,316; 28,383)

Western (342,687; 4,258; 293,795): Benin (4,193; 55; 3,563), Burkina Faso (11,227; 134; 10,040), Cabo Verde (14,380; 135; 13,684), Côte d'Ivoire (29,567; 162; 27,773), Gambia (4,184; 132; 3,876), Ghana (70,046; 449; 63,502), Guinea (14,665; 84; 14,320), Guinea Bissau (2,772; 46; 2,427), Liberia (1,956; 84; 1,770), Mali (8,160; 338; 6,054), Niger (4,598; 165; 3,950), Nigeria (139,242; 1,641; 112,557), Senegal (28,489; 675; 23,292), Sierra Leone (3,772; 79; 2,452), Togo (5,436; 79; 4,535)
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/535...covid-19-cases-as-of-7-february-2021-9-am-eat.
 
Nigeria’s health authorities have confirmed 20 more COVID-19 deaths and 206 new infections in the last 24 hours as the country is experiencing the second wave of the pandemic.

“Till date [Sunday], 139,748 cases have been confirmed, 113,525 cases have been discharged and 1,667 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory,” Nigeria's Centre for Disease Control announced in its latest update.

Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos remains the most affected state with a tally of 343 COVID-19-related deaths and 51,685 infections.

It is followed by the country’s federal capital, Abuja, with 128 deaths and 17,824 infections, according to the center.

On Wednesday, Nigerian authorities announced that the country will receive about 80 million doses of coronavirus vaccines this year.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/latest-on-...ia-confirms-20-deaths-within-24-hours/2137267.
 
At a time when COVID-19 cases in the country and elsewhere have reached unprecedented levels, the Federal Government and the United Nations System in Nigeria have agreed to further strengthen collaboration to ensure that Nigerians have access to timely, sustained, uninterrupted supply of affordable COVID-19 vaccines of assured quality.

At a recent strategic meeting to discuss finalization of the national vaccine deployment plans, Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Enahire and UN Resident Coordinator, Mr Edward Kallon promised to “use all platforms, including the expansion of the One UN Basket Fund for COVID-19 as well as bilateral and multilateral and private sector engagements, to ensure vaccine security and equitable access for all Nigerians”.

They hailed the development and approval of safe and effective vaccines less than a year after the emergence of a new virus as a stunning scientific achievement, and a much-needed source of hope. They jointly expressed their resolve to ensure that Nigeria gets the most potent and efficacious vaccines.

As the country prepares to receive the much-awaited first batch of vaccines through the WHO-led COVAX facility, the Government and UN have called on all stakeholders in the country to join ongoing efforts to boost public acceptance and confidence in COVID-19 vaccine safety.

They stressed the need to step-up high-level advocacy, strengthen leadership and coordination at the highest Federal and State level, and accelerate preparedness for effective and efficient vaccine delivery, including provisions to reach inaccessible areas. Said Dr Ehanire, “vaccine shortages, even for a short period of time, might increase risk of vaccine preventable diseases, including COVID-19, to surge and cause morbidity and mortality among vulnerable persons”.

Earlier, on 20 August 2020, His Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari issued a public statement joining the urgent global call for a People’s Vaccine Against COVID-19. “Now is not the time to allow interests of the wealthiest corporations and governments to be placed above the universal needs to save lives,” proclaimed President Buhari.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.africanews.com/2021/02/...-ensure-covid-19-vaccine-security-and-equity/.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

The Bald Eagle
South Africa (138 & 285/5) defeat Australia (212 & 207) by 5 wickets in the final to clinch the World Test Championship 2023/25 title
16 17 18
Replies
1K
Views
30K
wrongun
W
The Bald Eagle
South Africa (183/9) secure an 11-run victory against Pakistan (172/8) in the 1st T20I to go 1-0 up in the 3-match series
13 14 15
Replies
1K
Views
22K
BouncerGuy
BouncerGuy
MenInG
Pakistan tour of South Africa (2024/25) -Discussion Thread
Replies
42
Views
3K
Nikhil_cric
N
J
Hubris is still India's problem in Australia
Replies
55
Views
1K
RexRex
RexRex
BouncerGuy
South Africa (163/6) defeat England (156/6) in a thrilling encounter by 7 runs in Super 8 Group 2 clash of ICC T20 World Cup 2024
5 6 7
Replies
489
Views
8K
GillEdits
G
Back
Top