COVID-19 - The African Mirror

Oct

19

2020

Lots of support for South African Health Minister infected with COVID-19

NEWS, COVID-19

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER THERE has been an outpouring of support for South African Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize, who has gone into quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19. World Health Organisation Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and South African president Cyril Ramaphosa have led a torrent of good wishes for Mkhize, who has tested positive together with his wife May. Ghebreyesus wished the Mkhize’s swift and easy recoveries. Ramaphosa also wished the couple a speedy recovery. “The President wishes the Mkhizes a safe and restful recovery and joins the Minister in calling on all South Africans to remain careful…

Oct

19

2020

By The African Mirror

Serum Institute, Bharat Biotech to begin trial of intranasal COVID-19 vaccine

COVID-19

SERUM Institute of India and Bharat Biotech are expected to pursue late-stage clinical trials of intranasal COVID-19 vaccines in the coming months once they receive regulatory approval, India's health minister has announced. Dr Harsh Vardhan said the late stage trial generally involves thousands of participants, sometimes 30,000 to 40,000. Of the vaccines currently in Phase 3 trials, all are administered by injection, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). On Saturday, India's Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said they have received renewed approval to conduct late-stage clinical trials in India of the Russian COVID-19…

Oct

19

2020

By The African Mirror

Ghana football stars test positive for COVID-19

COVID-19

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER JORDAN Ayew, Ghana’s international and Crystal Palace striker has tested positive for COVID-19 and has gone into self-isolation. Ayew has become the third Ghana international to rest positive after spending the international break at home. Bernard Mensah, who plays for Turkish side Besiktas and Gideon Mensah, who turns out for Spanish side Vitoria Guimares, also tested positive. Ayew confirmed on his Twitter handle that he would be out of action for a while. “Sadly, I have tested positive for Covid-19 & have begun my quarantine in line with health guidance. Thankfully, I am feeling fine & do…

Oct

18

2020

By The African Mirror

Divided world is failing COVID-19 test, says frustrated

COVID-19

SERGIO GONCALVES A divided world has failed to rise to the challenge of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said and warned concerted action was needed to prevent millions of people being pushed into poverty and hunger. The former Portuguese prime minister said far more could have been done if countries had worked together to combat the disease, which has killed more than one million people. "The COVID-19 pandemic is a major global challenge for the entire international community, for multilateralism and for me, as secretary-general of the United Nations," Guterres told Portuguese news agency Lusa. "Unfortunately…

Oct

18

2020

By The African Mirror

Remdesivir questioned by WHO trial; women take virus more seriously than men

COVID-19

NANCY LAPID THE following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. Large WHO trial casts doubt on remdesivir and other drugs In a blow to one of the few drugs being used to treat COVID-19, the World Health Organization (WHO) said interim trial results suggest that Gilead's remdesivir was no better than a placebo at limiting severely ill patients' need for mechanical ventilation, the length of their hospital stay, or their risk of death. The trial involved 11,266…

Oct

17

2020

By The African Mirror

South Africa’s coronavirus cases cross 700,000, says health ministry

COVID-19

SOUTH African coronavirus cases reported since the first infection in early March surpassed 700,000, the health ministry has announced, amid fears of an impending second wave as the nation battles an economic recession. Some 2,019 new cases were identified, taking the total to 700,203 the ministry said. There have been 18,370 deaths in South Africa, while 629,260 people have recovered from COVID-19 and 4,505,553 have been tested. The health ministry had recently warned of a second wave of the pandemic in the country of 58 million people if citizens and authorities become complacent and stop taking precautions. After a sharp…

Oct

17

2020

By The African Mirror

COVID-19 job losses: Malawi migrants return empty-handed from South Africa

COVID-19

CHARLES PENSULO SIPHAT SIMALI imagined that when she finally got back to Malawi she would return with pride and enough earnings from South Africa to support her two children and start a small business. Instead, the 28-year-old former domestic worker was bussed home empty-handed and shamefaced, one of a thousand to return last month after mass job losses in South Africa's lockdown. Nearly 10,000 Malawians have made the long journey home from South Africa since May, according to Malawi's Department of Disaster Management Affairs, with more due in coming months as the coronavirus eats deeper into the world economy. "I…

Oct

17

2020

By The African Mirror

Nearly 200 at school in Nigeria’s Lagos test positive for COVID-19

COVID-19

A total of 181 students and staff at a private boarding school in the Nigerian capital Lagos have tested positive for coronavirus, according to state health authorities. Authorities said there had been a "minor but significant" outbreak among the 441 staff and students at the school in the suburb of Lekki and said most of the now-quarantined positive cases were asymptomatic. Lagos State Commissioner for Health Akin Abayomi said in a statement posted on Twitter that the cases came to light after a 14-year-old girl fell sick on October 3. She tested positive for COVID-19 on October 6, prompting state…

Oct

16

2020

By The African Mirror

WHO vaccine drive bedevilled by a familiar question: who pays if things go wrong?

COVID-19

FRANCESCO GUARASCIO WHO foots the bill if people in poor countries fall sick with unexpected side-effects from coronavirus vaccines? It's not clear and that's a big problem in the battle to beat COVID-19. The World Health Organization (WHO) has so far left the question of financial claims unresolved as it seeks to ensure shots are fairly distributed around the world, according to confidential documents reviewed by Reuters and six people familiar with discussions. A similar situation emerged during the H1N1 swine flu pandemic in 2009-10. Back then, fears about potential compensation costs stymied the WHO's efforts to get vaccines to…

Oct

15

2020

By The African Mirror

South Africa’s Biovac in talks to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines

COVID-19

WENDELL ROELF and ALEXANDER WINNING A South African company part-owned by the government is in talks with the global COVID-19 vaccine distribution scheme and pharmaceutical companies to produce some of the vaccines the country needs to protect itself against the disease. The Biovac Institute, a Cape Town-based joint venture between the government and private sector, could produce up to 30 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines per year, depending on the technology involved, Chief Executive Morena Makhoana told Reuters. Depending on whether the vaccines require a one- or two-dose regimen, that could be enough for a quarter or half of South…