HEALTH - The African Mirror

Jan

13

2021

Liverpool striker Salah donates oxygen to support his Egyptian village’s COVID fight

COVID-19

LIVERPOOL striker Mohamed Salah has donated oxygen and an ambulance to his home village in the Egyptian region of Gharbia, helping locals treat people suffering with COVID-19 as the country battles a second wave of infections. The 28-year-old himself tested positive for the coronavirus last November. "We have 14 oxygen cylinders inside the Mohamed Salah Charity Foundation. These help people in the village of Nagrig [Salah's hometown], as well as those from surrounding villages," said Hassan Bakr, the head of the charity. Bakr delivers oxygen cyclinders direct to patients homes. "We also have an ambulance unit built by Mohamed Salah,…

Jan

13

2021

By The African Mirror

Tunisia to lock down for four days from Thursday

COVID-19

TUNISIA will impose a four-day national lockdown from tomorrow along with lesser measures lasting until January 24 to combat a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases, Health Minister Fouzi Mehdi has announced. "The situation is very critical and the vaccination will not come before February," Mehdi said. Other measures will include rotating staffing in-state jobs to reduce people in offices and transport, school closures, longer curfew hours and the removal of all chairs from cafes. On Monday Tunisia announced a new record high for confirmed cases in a day of 3,074 and said the intensive care units in most public hospitals…

Jan

13

2021

By The African Mirror

African countries differ widely in prenatal HIV testing: why it matters

HEALTH

THE introduction of antiretroviral drugs has resulted in a remarkable decline in mother-to-child transmission of HIV. New infections among children declined by 52% worldwide and 55% in sub-Saharan Africa between 2010 and 2019. ANTHONY IDOWU AJAYI, Postdoctoral Research Scientist, African Population and Health Research Center This is why universal screening of all pregnant women for HIV is so important. If all pregnant women were screened and treated, the risk of mother-to-child transmission could be reduced to less than 5%. Fewer than 5,000 children would be infected globally. But despite the wide availability of testing and treatment, 150,000 children were newly…

Jan

18

2021

By The African Mirror

‘Let us be safe and save lives’

COVID-19

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER SOUTH African President Cyril Ramaphosa has used the eulogy to one of the country’s prominent traditional leaders to reinforce the dangers of COVID-19 and the need for South Africans to follow government protocols in order to reduce infection levels. Ramaphosa spoke at the funeral of King Thulare Thulare III, the King of Bapedi, who died of COVID-19 at the age of 40. The funeral was held in Mohlaletsi, in Ga-Sekhukhune, in the Limpopo Province. He said South Africa was in the midst of a second wave of coronavirus infections, far greater and far more destructive than what…

Jan

17

2021

By The African Mirror

Tunisia reports daily record of 4,170 cases

COVID-19

TUNISIA has recorded 4,170 new confirmed coronavirus cases, a record since the start of the pandemic. The country on Thursday imposed a four-day national lockdown and closed schools until Jan. 24 to combat a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases. Other measures included rotating staffing in state jobs to reduce people in offices and transport, longer curfew hours and the removal of all chairs from cafes. Coronavirus cases have been rising fast in Tunisia, which had managed to contain the virus last year. They have now reached 175,065 cases and 5,528 deaths. With intensive care units in most public hospitals full…

Jan

17

2021

By The African Mirror

Push for digital COVID-19 record

COVID-19

MANAS MISHRA and AMRUTA KHANDEKAR MICROSOFT Corp, health insurer Cigna Corp and Mayo Clinic are part of a coalition pushing for digital records of people who get vaccinated against COVID-19. A key aim of the project, called Vaccination Credential Initiative, is to help people store encrypted digital copies of their immunization records in a digital wallet of their choice, the companies said in a joint statement on Thursday. These records could eventually be used, with an individual's consent, by colleges that are trying to re-open or even for entry into concerts in the future, Joan Harvey, an executive at Cigna…

Jan

15

2021

By The African Mirror

COVID-19 stops Zondo Commission

COVID-19

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER COVID-19, the virus that has killed over 34 000 South Africa and infected over 1.2-million has put brakes on the Zondo Commission into state capture. Presiding officer, Deputy Judge President Judge Zondo was forced to stop the hearings after the lunch break because he had come into contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. Zondo, following the government’s COVID-19 protocols, stopped the hearing and has gone into isolation. It is expected that the commission staff that has been in contact with him would also go into isolation. “We are supposed to continue but we are…

Jan

16

2021

By The African Mirror

How African vaccines will be allocated

COVID-19

ALEXANDER WINNING MILLIONS of coronavirus vaccine doses secured by the African Union (AU) will be allocated according to countries' population size, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced. Ramaphosa, who is the current AU chairman, said on Wednesday that vaccines from Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca would be available this year, but he did not specify how much each African country would get. No African countries have begun large-scale coronavirus vaccination campaigns and the AU's 270 million shots, if administered two per person, would still only cover around 10% of the continent's 1.3 billion people. "The Africa CDC has…

Jan

16

2021

By The African Mirror

WHO advices on COVID-19 travel

COVID-19

STEPHANIE NEBEHAY and MICHAEL SHIELDS THE World Health Organization has refrained from advising proof of COVID-19 vaccination or immunity as a condition for international travel, citing "critical unknowns" regarding their efficacy in reducing transmission and limited availability. The WHO's Emergency Committee, composed of 19 independent experts, held its sixth meeting in a year as the global death toll from the pandemic reached two million among more than 90 million cases. The experts issued a series of recommendations, which WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus accepted and sent to the U.N. agency's 194 member states, a statement said. "At the present time,…

Jan

16

2021

By The African Mirror

Kenya Airways plans more pay cuts

COVID-19

KENYA Airways plans further pay cuts for employees of as much as 30% after the airline was hit by the coronavirus pandemic that has caused a slump in air travel, an internal memo has shown. The cuts follow those made in March last year following Kenya's first confirmed COVID-19 case, which prompted the government to suspend domestic and international commercial passenger air travel. The latest cuts, of 5% to 30% for workers with monthly earnings exceeding 45,000 shillings ($409), take effect this month and will run for six to 12 months, the company's CEO Allan Kilavuka said in an internal…