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Aug
16
2020
By The African Mirror
Facing COVID-19 and climate threats, Nairobi ramps up green efforts

Facing COVID-19 and climate threats, Nairobi ramps up green efforts

COVID-19
WESLEY LANGAT PETER Njeru used to live in central Nairobi's rundown Michuki Memorial Park because he had nowhere else to go. Now the 28-year-old is restoring and guarding the green space, one of about 200 jobless former park residents hired to help with the work. "This park was my home with other street families, though people were dumping here illegally," he said, noting that he used to collect and sell plastic bottles and metal scraps to buy food. But after being evicted in 2017, he was hired for a few months to help clear trash in the park - and…
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Aug
21
2020
By The African Mirror
Nigeria considers using private firms for coronavirus tests after foreign flights resume

Nigeria considers using private firms for coronavirus tests after foreign flights resume

COVID-19
ALEXIS AKWAGYIRAM NIGERIA is considering partnerships between state governments and private firms to ramp up testing and tracing of coronavirus cases after international flights resume this month, the head of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said. Nigeria will reopen its airports for international flights from August 29. They have been closed since March 23 to all but essential overseas flights to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa's most populous country. State governments are responsible for testing and tracing but the influx of travellers will increase the pressure on already stretched authorities in Nigeria, which has had 50,488…
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Aug
21
2020
By The African Mirror
Africa beginning to “bend the curve” of coronavirus – Africa CDC

Africa beginning to “bend the curve” of coronavirus – Africa CDC

COVID-19
ELIAS BIRYABAREMA and GEORGE OBULUTSA AFRICA is beginning to slowly "bend the curve" of COVID-19 infections as measures like mask-wearing and social distancing slow down the spread of the pandemic on the continent, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Although the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak was slow in Africa in the early stages of the pandemic, the rate of infection gradually accelerated especially in South Africa, which now accounts for more than half of its caseload of more than 1.1 million. On average, there were signs of a decline in new infections across Africa over…
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Aug
21
2020
By The African Mirror
Nigeria’s wet markets thrive despite coronavirus pandemic

Nigeria’s wet markets thrive despite coronavirus pandemic

COVID-19
ANGELA UKOMADU and LIBBY GEORGE JUST a few months after Epe Fish Market was under lockdown to stem the spread of the new coronavirus, vendors at the site in the southern Nigerian state of Lagos are back buying, selling and trading animals. A vendor descales an endangered pangolin with a machete. Nearby, grasscutter rodents are skinned. Most of the sellers wear masks. Experts say COVID-19, which has killed around 1,000 people in Nigeria, jumped from animals to humans, possibly at a wet market in China. But few in Epe were worried. "We are not afraid of it because the coronavirus…
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Aug
21
2020
By The African Mirror
Nigeria to deny entry to countries that bar Nigerians – minister

Nigeria to deny entry to countries that bar Nigerians – minister

COVID-19
NIGERIA will bar entry to citizens of countries that do not allow in Nigerians due to coronavirus restrictions, Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika has announced. "The principle of reciprocity will be applied," Sirika told reporters. "If you ban us from coming to your country, the same will apply the other way." Nigeria earlier this week announced plans to resume international flights on August 29. All but essential international flights were halted in late March in an attempt to stem the spread of the virus. The resumption will begin with four flights daily to both Lagos and Abuja, but Sirika said that…
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Aug
21
2020
By The African Mirror
Singing is no more of a COVID-19 risk than talking but volume matters, UK study finds

Singing is no more of a COVID-19 risk than talking but volume matters, UK study finds

COVID-19
SINGING no more risky than speaking when it comes to the possibility of spreading the new coronavirus, British scientists said on Thursday, adding that volume is the most important risk factor. Last week, the British government changed its guidance to allow professionals and non-professionals to resume singing rehearsals and performance, bringing the required social distancing into line with usual COVID-19 rules and removing the need for extra mitigations. That decision was informed by a study by scientists based at the University of Bristol, who examined the amount of aerosols and droplets generated by 25 professional singers who did singing, speaking,…
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Aug
20
2020
By The African Mirror
Homes to policing: Lockdown photos document South Africa inequality

Homes to policing: Lockdown photos document South Africa inequality

COVID-19
KIM HARRISBERG A security officer holds a shotgun against his body in inner-city Johannesburg, eyeing a homeless man carrying a bag of food on his shoulders as he vacates the area. The photo captures one of a multitude of everyday inequalities that South African photographer Gulshan Khan has been documenting during the coronavirus pandemic. From heavy-handed policing to abandoned buildings-turned-homeless shelters, Khan is using her online following and recent international awards recognition to spotlight the spatial and racial divide across the country. "Race classification and segregation under apartheid demolished so much of our rich heritage and my photography interrogates the…
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Aug
20
2020
By The African Mirror
Zambia’s vice president tests positive for COVID-19

Zambia’s vice president tests positive for COVID-19

COVID-19
ZAMBIA’S vice president Inonge Mutukwa has tested positive for the coronavirus, the presidency said in a statement, which also said her condition was stable and she was in self-isolation at home. "The vice president has some mild symptoms that are being managed appropriately ... She is in high spirits and working virtually ..." the statement said. - Thomson Reuters Foundation.
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Aug
19
2020
By The African Mirror
Final journey for hero doctor, who died so others can live

Final journey for hero doctor, who died so others can live

COVID-19
AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER DRESSED in the green and blue hazmat suits, the protective gear usually worn in hospital theatres during the battle to save lives, they lined the passage in a special guard of honour.  The spotless floors gleamed and the eyes of the health workers were wet with heartbreak tears. The eerie silence was only punctuated by the soft singing, through the masks, of Amazing Grace.  At the end of the long passage, a stretcher, pulled by a figure dressed in white/green, emerges. The emotional health workers nod and wave as they stretcher slowly goes past them. This is…
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Aug
19
2020
By The African Mirror
South African smokers empty shops of cigarettes after ban lifted

South African smokers empty shops of cigarettes after ban lifted

COVID-19
TUMELO MODIBA and PROMIT MUKHERJEE IN the latest wave of panic-buying triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, South African smokers snapped up all the cigarettes they could lay their hands on after the lifting of a five-month ban designed to curb the spread of the coronavirus. As part of a broader easing of restrictions, President Cyril Ramaphosa on Saturday announced the end of a ban on sales of tobacco products and alcohol, effective from midnight on Monday. Customers, wary of shortages or future bans, bought whatever they could on Tuesday, in scenes reminiscent of panic-buying of groceries at the start of…
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