COVID-19 - The African Mirror

Jul

18

2020

Yemen starts forced transfers of Ethiopian migrants, IOM says

COVID-19

TENS of thousands of migrants, mostly Ethiopians, are stranded in Yemen and at least 14,500 have been rounded up and forcibly transferred internally amid fears migrants contribute to the spread of COVID-19, the U.N. migration agency said on Tuesday. Thousands of Saudi-bound Ethiopian workers cross Yemen each month but restrictions aimed at curbing the rapid spread of COVID-19 in the war-ravaged country have cut arrivals. But among those already there, thousands have been bussed or trucked to cities like Aden and Marib where they are now stuck, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said. "It's a very dire situation when…

Jul

18

2020

By The African Mirror

COVID-19: the risk the pandemic poses to SA’s water supply

COVID-19

Household water supplies may fall victim to the COVID-19 pandemic – if users can no longer pay their bills, and municipalities’ revenue streams dry up, experts have warned. “In the short term, there will still be water for people to wash their hands. However, the long term consequences could be devastating if municipalities are not able to fund their ongoing operations while funds for the President’s Infrastructure Investment initiative will also be affected,” says Mike Muller, Chair of the Technical Subcommittee for the Water Institute of Southern Africa (WISA). As the lockdown impacts individuals and companies across the spectrum, prompting…

Aug

01

2020

By The African Mirror

South‌ ‌Africa‌ ‌produces‌ ‌its‌ ‌first‌ ‌ventilators‌ ‌to‌ ‌fight‌ ‌COVID-19

COVID-19

WENDELL ROELF THE first of thousands of South African-designed ventilators rolled off a Cape Town assembly line on Friday, responding to requests from hospitals needing them for severe COVID-19 cases but unable to get them on global markets, officials said. Poorly resourced hospitals across Africa, which is nearing a million cases of COVID-19 -- more than half of them in South Africa -- have struggled to cope with a burgeoning caseload amid a global scramble favouring richer nations in procuring ventilators and protective gear. South Africa, which now has the world's fifth highest infection burden of around 482,169 confirmed cases,…

Aug

09

2020

By The African Mirror

Algeria eases more coronavirus restrictions, including travel curbs and curfew

COVID-19

ALGERIA will further ease its coronavirus lockdown, including shortening an overnight curfew and lifting some travel curbs, the government has announced. In addition, large mosques will be allowed to reopen, along with beaches, entertainment venues, hotels, restaurants and cafes. The North African country has recorded 34,155 coronavirus infections, with 1,282 deaths. The new measures include lifting a travel ban on 29 provinces from Aug. 9 until the end of the month. During that period, a curfew will be shortened and will run from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. from the current 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., the government said. Mosques…

Aug

08

2020

By The African Mirror

Uganda’s prisoner population surges, raising fears of COVID-19 outbreak

COVID-19

ELIAS BIRYABAREMA UGANDA has recorded a 10% increase in the number of people in jail since March, a prison official told Reuters on Friday, with thousands jailed for alleged violations of coronavirus lockdown rules. By imposing one of Africa's strictest lockdowns, the country of 42 million has registered just 1,213 COVID-19 cases and five deaths from the disease, despite crumbling public hospitals, doctors' strikes and corruption scandals. But there have been at least three cases of the novel coronavirus in jails, fuelling concerns it could spread among prisoners. About 30 inmates who feared infection have escaped since the pandemic hit…

Aug

07

2020

By The African Mirror

S.Africa’s funeral parlours turn to makeshift mortuaries as virus deaths rise

COVID-19

EMMA RUMNEY BEHIND Monageng Legae's funeral parlour in the South African township of Soweto sits a refrigerated shipping container made to store chilled goods. Now it stores bodies. Funeral businesses like Legae's Sopema Funerals have taken such measures to cope with the influx of bodies into their morgues as South Africa's coronavirus cases rise above half a million, with deaths at around 9,000. Surrounded by coffins in his showroom and wearing a protective mask and visor, Legae told Reuters that he handled 85 funerals in June and 75 in July, compared with 30 a month this time last year. The…

Aug

07

2020

By The African Mirror

How Nigeria can minimise the COVID-19 devastation

COVID-19

CECILIA RUSSELL Nigerian Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo quipped that Covid-19 meant that the Law Students Association of Nigeria’s virtual town hall meeting was able to attract top speakers - most would not have participated if they had to travel. That, however, was his only light-hearted assessment of the pandemic and its effects on Nigeria. Osinbajo painted a bleak picture as Nigeria faces both an economic and a health crisis along with the rest of the world. “There are many who say nothing like this has ever happened to the world,” he said. The Nigerian government had set up an…

Aug

06

2020

By The African Mirror

Hair scavenged from Nairobi dump ends up in salon amid COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19

THOMAS MUKOYA STYLIST Julia Wanja picks her way delicately through piles of food waste, discarded masks, rubber gloves and other rubbish at Nairobi's Dandora dumpsite, looking for used hair extensions she can clean and resell to customers. The pandemic means fewer clients with less money and she is cutting down on costs by cleaning and reselling hair from the dumpsite. Officials direct trucks to dump their loads depending on where the waste has come from. Domestic and commercial waste - which includes bags of hair extensions discarded by other salons - goes to different sections. Medical waste is usually incinerated.…

Aug

06

2020

By The African Mirror

COVID-19 cases slow in South African hotspot provinces, minister says

COVID-19

THREE South African provinces considered coronavirus hotspots have seen new infections slow in recent weeks, though it is too early to say whether the country's peak has passed, the health minister said on Wednesday. South Africa has the world's fifth highest number of infections, with cases passing 500,000 over the weekend, despite a strict lockdown since late March. On Wednesday the World Health Organisation (WHO) said it was sending a "surge team" of 43 experts to the country to help the Health Ministry with "surveillance and streamlining of epidemiological systems and WHO global COVID-19 response guidelines". Financial hub Gauteng, tourist…

Aug

06

2020

By The African Mirror

What Africa, approaching a million cases, is doing to fight coronavirus

COVID-19

THE World Health Organization has warned the coronavirus pandemic could overwhelm strained public health systems in Africa. On Wednesday, the continent was approaching a million infections and around 21,000 deaths, according to a Reuters tally. Here are measures some countries are taking to curb the virus. SOUTH AFRICA With more cases than any other country on the continent, South Africa imposed a strict lockdown on March 27, closing borders and requiring most people to stay at home except for essential trips. The government also banned the sale of alcohol and cigarettes. The government in May allowed the re-opening of many…