COVID-19 - The African Mirror

Oct

01

2020

South Africa opens borders to Africans but bars tourists from high-risk countries

COVID-19

TIM COCKS and ALEXANDER WINNING SOUTH Africa will not allow tourists from countries with higher coronavirus infection and death rates, including Britain, the United States and France, to enter when its borders open up from today, ministers have announced. But business travellers with scarce and critical skills including diplomats and investors from countries considered "high-risk", which also include the Netherlands, Russia and India, can enter, Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said. "We will review the data every two weeks," Pandor told a news conference, saying the government would be guided by epidemiological data when deciding which countries were deemed high-risk. President…

Oct

01

2020

By The African Mirror

U.N. chief: time for national plans to help fund global COVID-19 vaccine effort

COVID-19

MICHELLE NICHOLS and STEPHANIE NEBEHAY UNITED Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says it is time for countries to start using money from their national COVID-19 recovery and response plans to help fund the World Health Organization's global vaccine plan. The Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator programme and its COVAX facility has so far received $3 billion but needs another $35 billion. It aims to deliver two billion doses of coronavirus vaccines by the end of next year, 245 million treatments and 500 million tests. "The ACT-Accelerator provides the only safe and certain way to re-open the global economy as quickly…

Oct

01

2020

By The African Mirror

Russia to supply Egypt with COVID-19 vaccine in expansion push

COVID-19

RUSSIA has clinched a deal with Egypt to supply it with 25 million doses of its Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, as Moscow seeks to take a leading global role in fighting the pandemic. Russia's sovereign wealth fund, RDIF, said on Wednesday it had agreed to supply the vaccine doses to Egypt via Pharco, which it described as one of the country's leading pharmaceutical groups. "The agreement between RDIF and Pharco will help Egypt obtain an efficient and safe vaccine, Sputnik V, for almost 25% of its population," RDIF chief executive Kirill Dmitriev said in a statement. The deal follows earlier…

Oct

02

2020

By The African Mirror

South Africa ends foreign travel ban, but airports deserted amid selective curbs

COVID-19

PROMIT MUKHERJEE and TUMELO MODIBA TRAFFIC through South Africa's main airport was minimal despite international flights resuming after a six-month ban, with last-minute government curbs leaving many would-be tourists unable to enter the country. The government announced on Wednesday it would not allow visitors from countries with currently higher coronavirus infection and death rates than South Africa. That announcement, coming 12 days after President Cyril Ramaphosa said the country would re-open its borders, effectively cut out most of the tourist traffic that underpins its struggling economy. The government also said it would revise the list of banned countries every two…

Oct

03

2020

By The African Mirror

Tunisia reports daily coronavirus record of 1308 cases

COVID-19

TUNISIA recorded 1,308 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Wednesday, the health ministry has said, a record since the start of the pandemic, prompting the government to impose a night curfew in two governorates. The total number of cases has jumped to around 20,000 compared with roughly 1,000 cases before the country's borders were opened on June 27. The total number of deaths has reached 271, the Health Ministry said. Hichem Mechichi, Tunisia's Prime Minister-designate. The authorities on Thursday imposed a night curfew in Sousse and Monastir, two coastal governorates, to curb the increase in infections, amid fears that hospitals will…

Oct

03

2020

By The African Mirror

Nigeria to reopen federal government schools from October 12

COVID-19

NIGERIA will allow federal government schools to reopen from October 12, while schools run by states and private owners may open on their own timetables, the education minister has announced. New COVID-19 cases in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, have steadily fallen in recent weeks, according to official data. The education minister, Adamu Adamu, said the drop spurred the decision to reopen schools. "Since the beginning of September 2020, we have witnessed a considerable decline in the rate of infections," Adamu said in a statement. The Oct 12 date affects 104 federal institutes known as Unity colleges. The reopening of…

Oct

06

2020

By The African Mirror

One in 10 may have caught COVID, as world heads into “difficult period” – WHO

COVID-19

STEPHANIE NEBEHAY and EMMA FARGE ROUGHLY one in 10 people may have been infected with the coronavirus, leaving the vast majority of the world's population vulnerable to the COVID-19 disease it causes, the World Health Organization has said. Mike Ryan, the WHO's top emergency expert, was addressing the agency's Executive Board, where the United States made a thinly veiled swipe at China for what it called a "failure" to provide accurate and timely information on the outbreak. But Zhang Yang of China's National Health Commission, said: "China has always been transparent and responsible to fulfil our international obligations." China maintained…

Oct

06

2020

By The African Mirror

Maradona has been tested for coronavirus

COVID-19

ARGENTINE soccer legend Diego Maradona has been tested for COVID-19, his lawyer has revealed on Twitter. The man who led Argentina to the World Cup in 1986 took the test after he came into close contact last Friday with Facundo Contin, a player who tested positive for the virus less than a day later. The results of the former striker's test are expected within 24 hours, his lawyer Matias Morla said. Morla shared a photo of a medical worker swabbing Maradona. "In compliance with protocols and to put Diego and his family's mind at rest, Maradona was tested at his…

Oct

05

2020

By The African Mirror

Algeria takes further measures to ease coronavirus restrictions

COVID-19

ALGERIA will take further steps to ease the coronavirus lockdown including reopening schools and universities after a fall in the number of daily injections, the government said on Sunday. Under the new measures, schools and universities will reopen on October 21 and November 22 respectively, the government said in a statement after a cabinet meeting. The North African country has eased restrictions relating to the novel coronavirus, including resuming public transportation as well as reopening some businesses, mosques and leisure venues. It has so far reported 52,136 cases and 1,760 deaths. - Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Oct

05

2020

By The African Mirror

Tunisia to ban gatherings, cut public-sector work hours due to pandemic

COVID-19

TUNISIAN authorities will ban all gatherings and reduce working hours for employees in the public sector in order to stop the rapid spread of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi has announced. The decision was taken amid strong fears that hospitals in the North African nation will be unable to cope with a high number of patients because of the shortage of intensive-care beds. The total number of coronavirus cases has jumped to more than 20,000 compared with roughly 1,000 cases before the country's borders were reopened on June 27. In a speech announcing the latest measures to combat the…