COVID-19 - The African Mirror

Aug

06

2020

Gambia coronavirus cases surge 60% in a week

COVID-19

COVID-19 cases in Gambia, mainland Africa's smallest country, have surged over 60% in the last seven days to nearly 800 cases, health ministry data showed on Wednesday. Authorities attributed the rise to people relaxing their guard on protective measures that had so far kept Gambia's case total the lowest in Africa. Testing has also increased in the country, where the number of deaths is 16. "There is increased enforcement of mask-wearing and other measures across the country," government spokesman Ebrima Sankareh said. Gambia will increase police, paramilitary, marine and immigration presence on its border as scores of Senegalese return from…

Aug

04

2020

By The African Mirror

There may never be a ‘silver bullet’ for COVID-19, WHO warns

COVID-19

MICHAEL SHIELDS and EMMA FARGE THE World Health Organization warned on Monday that, despite strong hopes for a vaccine, there might never be a "silver bullet" for COVID-19, and the road to normality would be long. More than 18.14 million people around the world are reported to have been infected with the disease and 688,080 have died, according to a Reuters tally, with some nations that thought they were over the worst experiencing a resurgence. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and WHO emergencies head Mike Ryan exhorted all nations to rigorously enforce health measures such as mask-wearing, social distancing, hand-washing…

Aug

04

2020

By The African Mirror

Three Gambian ministers test positive for COVID-19

COVID-19

THREE cabinet ministers in Gambia have tested positive for COVID-19, the presidency said, in a further sign the virus is ripping though the corridors of power after the nation's vice president tested positive last week. President Adama Barrow is in self-isolation for the next two weeks, the presidency said last week after Vice President Isatou Touray tested positive. Now, finance minister Mambureh Njie, energy minister Fafa Sanyang and agriculture minister Amie Fabureh have also been infected by the virus, the presidency said in a statement late on Sunday. The statement gave no detail on the state of the ministers' health.…

Aug

01

2020

By The African Mirror

Namibia to close schools, limit public gatherings as COVID-19

COVID-19

NAMIBIAN schools will be suspended for the second time in four months next week, while limits on public gatherings will be tightened further to 100 from 250 amid surging cases, President Hage Geingob said. In a televised speech on Friday, Geingob said the decision to suspend schools from Aug. 4 for 28 days came after considering the risks associated with the spread of the virus. The measure affects early childhood development, pre-primary, primary and the first two grades of high school. Namibia has 2,129 confirmed cases and 10 deaths with the country's rate of daily new cases now the fourth…

Aug

12

2020

By The African Mirror

Germany says Russian COVID-19 vaccine has not been sufficiently tested

COVID-19

GERMAN Health Minister Jens Spahn says Russia's COVID-19 vaccine had not been sufficiently tested, adding the aim was to have a safe product rather than just being first to start vaccinating people. President Vladimir Putin announced on Tuesday that Russia had become the first country to grant regulatory approval to a COVID-19 vaccine after less than two months of human testing. Moscow's decision to grant approval before final trials have been completed has raised concerns among some experts. "It can be dangerous to start vaccinating millions, if not billions, of people too early because it could pretty much kill the…

Aug

11

2020

By The African Mirror

As coronavirus steals jobs, urban Kenyans look to their rural families

COVID-19

CAROLINE WAMBUI IN the last three months, teacher Faith Njeri has been a regular customer at a courier service office in Nairobi, collecting parcels sent from her village three hours drive north of the capital. When the coronavirus pandemic closed the private school where she taught, "I was left jobless," she said. Efforts to feed her family by washing clothes failed "as people avoided any intrusions in their homes for fear of getting infected with the virus." With three hungry children and no alternatives, she called her parents in her home village, asking them to send food to keep the…

Aug

11

2020

By The African Mirror

Namibia to auction fishing quota to raise money for COVID-19 medicines

COVID-19

NYASHA NYAUNGWA THE Namibian government will for the first time auction its 60% share of the country's annual horse mackerel and hake output to the highest bidder by the end of October, as it scrambles to raise funds for equipment and medicines to fight the coronavirus pandemic, according to a government letter seen by Reuters. The government's 60% quota is normally reserved for state-owned company Fishcor, which has been caught up in a corruption scandal. "Government is in need of financial resources on an emergency basis with a view to mitigate the effects of COVID-19," Albert Kawana, the minister of…

Aug

10

2020

By The African Mirror

Covid19 and the provision of water and sanitation services to informal settlements

COVID-19

NEIL MACLEOD Recently, as a result of the Covid19 pandemic, there has been a recognition in South Africa of the importance of access to water and sanitation for residents living in informal settlements, together with hygiene education. However, the solutions adopted have been reactive to date, contradict stated government policy when it comes to both sanitation and water, and are not sustainable. The water and sanitation solutions currently adopted in South Africa make use of fixed water tanks that are filled by tankers and provide sanitation using communal chemical toilets. Ironically, while bucket toilets provided by the public sector are…

Aug

13

2020

By The African Mirror

Seven African countries to start testing for COVID-19 antibodies

COVID-19

GIULIA PARAVICINI SEVEN African countries will start administering coronavirus antibody tests from next week, as part of efforts to understand the extent of the outbreak on the continent. "Liberia, Sierra Leone, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Nigeria, Morocco are the first set of countries that committed to it," said John Nkengasong, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, based in Addis Ababa. Western governments are using antibody tests to find out how many of their citizens have been infected, in the hope that will help them reopen their economies. Africa has so far conducted 9.4 million coronavirus tests, a…

Aug

14

2020

By The African Mirror

South African speakeasies boost calls for end to COVID booze ban

COVID-19

TANISHA HEIDEBERG and EMMA RUMNEY IN an Italian bistro in an upmarket Johannesburg neighbourhood, smiling patrons chat at candle-lit tables in a scene reminiscent of less-troubled times before the COVID-19 pandemic. But there's no alcohol on the menu. Instead, diners order red or white "coffee" served in grey mugs, the tell-tale sign of a modern-day South African speakeasy. Under one of the world's strictest lockdowns, South Africa banned alcohol to lower hospital admissions for injuries from drink-related violence and accidents and ease the burden on healthworkers facing the worst coronavirus outbreak in Africa. But businesses from wine makers to restaurants…