COVID-19 - The African Mirror

Dec

17

2020

Top coach Pitso Mosimane tests positive for COVID-19

COVID-19

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER EGYPTIAN giants Al-Ahly’s multi-trophy winning coach Pitso Mosimane has tested positive for COVID-19 and has gone into self-isolation. Mosimane, the former coach of South Africa Mamelodi Sundowns, won the elusive treble with Al-Ahly. He won the CAF Champions League, the Egyptian Premier League title and the Egyptian Cup with Al-Ahly. In a statement, the club said: “Mosimane will follow the ministry of health’s protocol for Covid-19 and will be self-isolated at home.” Mosimane is set to miss his team’s match against Ghazi El Mahalla on Friday. Yesterday, Al Ahly’s first team players underwent a rapid COVID-19 test…

Dec

16

2020

By The African Mirror

New kinds of loans and bonds could fill $28 bln COVID funding gap: WHO

COVID-19

STEPHANIE NEBEHAY and EMMA FARGE THE World Health Organization is looking at new financial instruments to help to fill a $28 billion funding shortfall for tools to fight COVID-19, a senior official said on Tuesday. The WHO and GAVI vaccine alliance aim to provide poor and middle-income countries with diagnostic tests, drugs and vaccines through a fund known as the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, set up last April. Bruce Aylward, a senior WHO adviser and its ACT coordinator, said that new financing mechanisms - including concessional loans and catastrophe bonds - were discussed at a meeting of the…

Dec

15

2020

By The African Mirror

Nurse gets New York’s first COVID-19 vaccine as U.S. rollout begins

COVID-19

JONATHAN ALLEN and GABRIELLA BORTER NEW YORK has inoculated its first healthcare worker, an intensive care unit nurse in Queens, with the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, marking a pivotal turn in the U.S. effort to control the deadly virus. Sandra Lindsay, an ICU nurse, was given the vaccine at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens, New York, an early epicentre of the country's COVID-19 outbreak, receiving applause on a live stream with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. "It didn't feel any different from taking any other vaccine," Lindsay said. "I feel hopeful today, relieved. I feel like healing is coming.…

Dec

15

2020

By The African Mirror

How COVID-19 upended informal workers worldwide

COVID-19

JOHN SURICO ABOUT half of the wage earners in Colombia found themselves in the informal economy last year—working unregulated jobs with flexibility, but also, minimal social protection. Yet although rates have steadily declined, informality has remained a weakness. “Before the pandemic, we were in a fragile situation, economically,” says Mauricio Quiñones Domínguez, a Medellín-based economist. Then COVID-19 hit. The hard-hit country, previously strapped with one of the highest unemployment rates in Latin America, has seen joblessness soar to an unprecedented 21.2% (It now hovers around 16%, although ‘real’ unemployment could be higher.) Informality is expected to follow, reversing years’ worth…

Dec

14

2020

By The African Mirror

South Africa bans super-spreader events, closes beaches in response to spike in COVID-19 second wave infections

COVID-19

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER SOUTH Africa has announced extraordinary festive season restrictions, banning “super-spreader” events, closing beaches in the Eastern Cape and restricting alcohol sales in response to a big spike in the second wave of COVID-19 infections. President Cyril Ramaphosa. SA president Cyril Ramaphosa announced the new tougher measures in a special address to the nation. Ramaphosa said two new areas - the Sarah Baartman and the Garden Route - have been designated as COVID-19 hotspots, because of the sharp spike in infections. The Nelson Mandela Bay was declared a hotspot on December 3. He said the new restrictions include: …

Dec

14

2020

By The African Mirror

African Union chair pays tribute to the Prime Minister of eSwatini

COVID-19

CYRIL Ramaphosa, the Chair of the African Union and President of South Africa, has paid a warm tribute to Ambrose Dlamini, the Prime Minister of eSwatini who has become the first sitting head of state or government to succumb to COVID-19. Ramaphosa expressed his deep condolences to the government and people of the Kingdom of eSwatini. Dlamini (52) passed away on Sunday, during treatment for COVID-19 in a South African hospital.. Ramaphosa said: “Today, all South Africans and compatriots across our continent bow our heads in sadness at the passing of a leader who took pride in leading and representing…

Dec

14

2020

By The African Mirror

Algeria’s first appearance since COVID-19 hospitalisation

COVID-19

ALGERIAN President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has made his first appearance since he was flown to a hospital in Germany 47 days ago after testing positive for the novel coronavirus, saying he is recovering and will be back home soon. Tebboune, 75, who appeared in a video on Twitter and a broadcast on state television, said he is expected to make a complete recovery within three weeks at the latest. "I'm recovering...I will recover my physical capacities in a week, two weeks or three weeks," he said. "We will soon be in the country to continue building a new Algeria". - Thomson…

Dec

14

2020

By The African Mirror

Labor group seeks help for hundreds of thousands of seafarers stranded by COVID

COVID-19

MATTHEW LAVIETES HUNDREDS of thousands of seafarers around the world are stranded at sea due to coronavirus travel restrictions, unable to go home or get medical care, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said on Tuesday, calling on nations to address their plight. Many shipping and transport workers have been at sea as long as 17 months or longer, as COVID-19-related restrictions make it almost impossible to rotate crews, the United Nations' labor agency said. The ILO adopted a resolution asking nations to take action by providing medical care to seafarers in need, waiving visa or documentation requirements and designating seafarers…

Sep

30

2021

By The African Mirror

Could COVID-19 result in a “Brain Gain” for Africa?

COVID-19

CONRAD ONYANGO THE continent's brightest science students are engaging far more with their African alma-maters, bolstering the quality of academic literature as the COVID-19 pandemic creates new demand for high-end medical research and raising the possibility of a "brain gain" as top students return to the continent. The Africa Risk-Reward Index 2021, shows the continent is experiencing increased public-private sector funding towards research and development, a trend that could significantly boost African universities’ capacity to retain their best students and increase their competitiveness against global peers. “The ‘brain drain’ has historically not only weighed on academic output but has also…

Sep

30

2021

By The African Mirror

Poland sends over 100,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to Egypt

COVID-19

POLAND sent over 100,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to Egypt, the Polish foreign ministry said on Wednesday. "More than 100,000 COVID-19 vaccines are on their way from Warsaw to Cairo. The donation of vaccines to Egypt is an expression of solidarity with an important partner of Poland in North Africa," the ministry said on Twitter. Poland has earlier sent surplus vaccine doses to countries such as Australia, Spain, Norway, Ukraine or Taiwan. Around 60% of Poles are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to figures from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control Vaccine Tracker. Demand for the…