HEALTH - The African Mirror

Mar

22

2022

SA lifts curbs, cautions Covid-19 is not over

COVID-19

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER BUOYED by low infection rates and better management of the pandemic, South Africa has announced the end of the state of disaster and a significant relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions on social and economic activity. SA President Cyril Ramaphosa said the state of disaster, which was imposed with the onset of COVID-19, would be replaced by health regulations designed to help South Africans live with the pandemic. Ramaphosa announced the following changes: Masks should only be worn indoors. In office, shops and public transport.Both indoor and outdoor venues can now take up to 50 percent of their capacity…

Mar

23

2022

By The African Mirror

COVID: a two-year journey through lockdowns, lives lost and life-saving research

COVID-19

IT'S been two years since the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, and its disease, COVID-19 were declared a global public health emergency. During this period, there have been over 433 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, including over 6 million deaths, reported to the World Health Organization. The pandemic changed life across the globe, through lockdowns, sickness and lives lost. It also sparked life-saving research and analysis. The Conversation Africa brings you some of the highlights of its coverage of variants, vaccines, lockdowns and their effects over the period – and what what’s been learned about health systems, policy making and humanity. Authors…

Mar

18

2022

By The African Mirror

WHO says global rise in COVID cases is ‘tip of the iceberg’

COVID-19

JENNIFER RIGBY and MANAS MISHRA FIGURES showing a global rise in COVID-19 cases could herald a much bigger problem as some countries also report a drop in testing rates, the WHO said, warning nations to remain vigilant against the virus. After more than a month of decline, COVID cases started to increase around the world last week, the WHO said, with lockdowns in Asia and China's Jilin province battling to contain an outbreak. A combination of factors was causing the increases, including the highly transmissible Omicron variant and its BA.2 sublineage, and the lifting of public health and social measures,…

Mar

18

2022

By The African Mirror

WTO chief welcomes COVID shot patent plan, drugmakers balk

COVID-19

LUDWIG BURGER and PHILIP BLENKINSOP THE World Trade Organization (WTO) praised a provisional deal to waive patent rights for COVID-19 vaccines after more than a year of deadlock, though drugmakers said the move risked undermining the industry's ability to respond to future health crises. The United States, the European Union, India and South Africa agreed on Tuesday on key elements for a waiver. It now needs the backing of the 164 members of the WTO, which takes decisions based on consensus, so rejection by just one country could still block an accord. "This is a major step forward," WTO Director-General…

Mar

17

2022

By The African Mirror

The coronavirus in Nigeria has its own family history: keeping track is vital

COVID-19

NIGERIA recorded its first case of SARS-CoV-2 on 27 February 2020, and within five months at least one case had been reported in all states across the country. Author OLUBUSUYI MOSES ADEWUMI, Virologist , University of Ibadan By 11 March 2020, SARS-CoV-2 had infected over 100,000 people in at least 100 countries. The World Health Organisation consequently declared it a pandemic. Building on the success of Nigeria’s response to Ebola, the Nigerian government immediately activated a national Incident Control Centre. This was to enable routine surveillance, diagnosis, and prompt reporting of COVID-19 cases. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control swiftly…

Mar

16

2022

By The African Mirror

Masks, PCR tests no longer needed in Namibia as COVID cases fall

COVID-19

THE wearing of masks in public in Namibia and negative PCR tests for vaccinated visitors are no longer required, President Hage Geingob said on Tuesday, as active COVID-19 cases fall to just a couple of hundred. Infections peaked at more than 30,000 per month in June 2021 but the southern African country has averaged 14 cases per day during the last seven days, with the total active cases at 222. "Wearing of masks in public places is no longer mandatory," Geingob said in a televised briefing. People in closed spaces such as on public transport or in indoor public meetings…

Mar

15

2022

By The African Mirror

Wins, missteps and lessons: African experts reflect on two years of COVID response

COVID-19

ON 11 March 2020, just months after the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus was first identified in China, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 to be a public health emergency of international concern. Over the next two years, COVID-19 would go on to infect nearly half a billion people, killing over 6 million around the world. Governments introduced strict lockdowns with stay-at-home orders that shut down the global economy. Now, most of the world is opening up. The Conversation Africa spoke to public health experts based in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa to get their take on the biggest lessons so far. The…

Mar

12

2022

By The African Mirror

Kenya lifts remaining COVID restrictions

COVID-19

KENYA lifted its remaining COVID-19 restrictions, including a ban on large indoor gatherings such as religious services and a requirement to present a negative COVID-19 test for arriving air passengers. Though Kenyans should continue heeding public health measures such as handwashing and social distancing, face masks are no longer mandatory in public and all quarantine measures for confirmed COVID-19 cases are halted with immediate effect, Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe told a news conference. For the past month the East African country's COVID-19 test positivity rate has remained below 1%, he added, attributing this to the rising number of Kenyans opting…

Mar

11

2022

By The African Mirror

Africa CDC has MOU with Pfizer for supplies of COVID-19 pill

COVID-19

AFRICA'S top public health agency has agreed on a memorandum of understanding with Pfizer to bring supplies of the pharmaceutical firm's Paxlovid antiviral COVID-19 pills to the continent, its director said on Thursday. Data from a mid-to-late stage study in November showed Paxlovid was nearly 90% effective in preventing hospitalisations and deaths compared to placebo, in adults at high risk of severe illness. John Nkengasong, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), also said it was still talking to Merck about obtaining supplies of its molnupiravir COVID pill and a call was scheduled for this week about that.…

Mar

10

2022

By The African Mirror

SA’s Aspen signs deal to package and sell J&J COVID vaccine

COVID-19

SOUTH AFRICAN drugmaker Aspen Pharmacare concluded an agreement with Johnson & Johnson to package, sell and distribute the American group's COVID-19 vaccines under its own brand in Africa. In November Aspen entered into talks with J&J for a licensing deal that would give it freedom to sell and distribute the vaccine under its own brand. The agreement also allows Aspen to "discuss the expansion of the agreement to include any new versions of the drug substance, such as those developed for new variants or a different formulation for administration as a booster", Aspen said in a statement. J&J had contracted Aspen…