HEALTH - The African Mirror

Jul

31

2020

Zimbabwe government minister died from COVID-19

COVID-19

ZIMBABWE's agriculture minister Perrance Shiri died from the COVID-19 infection, becoming the first senior government official to succumb to the pandemic, President Emmerson Mnangagwa has revealed. Shiri, a retired general who helped plot a coup that ousted Robert Mugabe in 2017, died on Wednesday. The late liberation war veteran was declared a national hero and will be buried on Friday during a closed ceremony. "Now that it is confirmed that Minister Shiri died of COVID-19, we will follow World Health Organisation regulations on how the funeral should proceed," Mnangagwa said during a funeral wake at Shiri's home in Harare. Zimbabwe…

Jul

31

2020

By The African Mirror

IMF approves $171.9 mln to Madagascar to address COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19

THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved $171.9 million of funding to Madagascar, bringing the total COVID-19 emergency support to the country to $337.9 million. "This is the second emergency disbursement since the onset of the pandemic and will help finance the country's urgent balance of payments and fiscal needs," the IMF said in a statement. - Thomson Reuters Foundation ADVERTISEMENT

Jul

31

2020

By The African Mirror

Curfew adjusted by an hour in South Africa to help restaurants

COVID-19

SOUTH Africa will allow struggling sit-down restaurants to serve customers dinner for an extra hour until 10 p.m, Minister of Tourism Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane announced on Thursday. The government had allowed sit-down restaurants to reopen at the end of June after coronavirus restrictions were eased, but it restricted opening hours to 9 p.m (1900 GMT) and banned alcohol sales, which the sector says is damaging to profitability and jobs. Restaurant and bar owners, along with their employees took to the streets on July 22, demanding an end to the curfew and that they should be allowed to sell alcohol. "We believe…

Jul

31

2020

By The African Mirror

Botswana reinstates coronavirus lockdown in capital for two weeks

COVID-19

BOTSWANA's capital city Gaborone has returned to a two-week lockdown from midnight to stem the latest local coronavirus surge in the country, an official said. Under new rules for the capital and surrounding areas, only essential workers would be able to leave home for work, with others only able to leave the house to buy groceries. All gatherings will be banned and hotels, restaurants, gyms and schools will close. Botswana ended a national lockdown on June 15, allowing businesses and schools to reopen under strict conditions, as the country was recording most of its cases at border points from truck…

Jul

30

2020

By The African Mirror

S.African insurer Guardrisk offers to settle with up to 700 virus-hit firms

COVID-19

SOUTH Africa's fourth-largest non-life insurer Guardrisk has opted to settle with up to 700 small business clients who are fighting its decision to reject their claims related to the impact of a coronavirus lockdown, the firm told Reuters. The country's insurers, in line with the industry globally, have declined to pay out under business interruption policies that many firms thought would give them cover because they argue lockdowns were not included in the policies. In an agreement with the regulator, some insurers have offered interim relief payments to affected clients, many of which risk collapse as a result, to keep…

Jul

30

2020

By The African Mirror

Vietnam brings 140 virus-hit workers home on rare rescue flight from Africa

COVID-19

PHUONG NGUYEN A specially converted Vietnam Airlines passenger plane equipped with ventilators and state doctors has returned from Equatorial Guinea to Hanoi, carrying 140 Vietnamese workers infected with COVID-19. The plane, which left on Monday night for 27-hour, 21,000-kilometre (13,000 mile) round trip to the town of Bata in the West African country, arrived in the capital Hanoi, where infected patients were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. "We are all prepared," Pham Ngoc Thach, director of the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases campus just outside Hanoi, told Reuters. "One hundred ventilators, medicine and other equipment for testing and…

Jul

29

2020

By The African Mirror

WHO says COVID-19 pandemic is “one big wave”, not seasonal

COVID-19

EMMA FARGE A World Health Organization official has described the COVID-19 pandemic as "one big wave" and warned against complacency in the northern hemisphere summer since the infection does not share influenza's tendency to follow seasons. WHO officials have been at pains to avoid describing a resurgence of COVID-19 cases like those in Hong Kong as "waves" as this suggests the virus is behaving in ways beyond human control, when in fact concerted action can slow its spread. Margaret Harris repeated that message in a virtual briefing in Geneva. "We are in the first wave. It's going to be one…

Jul

29

2020

By The African Mirror

COVID-19 positive cabinet minister discharged from hospital

COVID-19

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER A South African cabinet minister who spent seven days in hospital after contracting COVID-19, has been discharged. Thembelani “Thulas” Nxesi, the Minister of Employment and Labour, was released from hospital but will not go back to work, the government has announced, revealing that the minister had been confined to a public hospital. “The Minister tested positive for COVID-19 on 17 July 2020 and went into self-quarantine. On 21 July 2020, Minister Nxesi was admitted to hospital for further medical attention and monitoring. Though he has been discharged from hospital, he will remain in self-quarantine until he fully…

Jul

27

2020

By The African Mirror

WHO says COVID-19 by far its worst global health emergency

COVID-19

The new coronavirus pandemic that has infected more than 16 million people is easily the worst global health emergency the World Health Organization (WHO) has faced, its director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday. Only with strict adherence to health measures, from wearing masks to avoiding crowds, would the world manage to beat it, Tedros added at a virtual news briefing in Geneva. "Where these measures are followed, cases go down. Where they are not, cases go up," he said, praising Canada, China, Germany and South Korea for controlling outbreaks. Resurgences of the coronavirus in various regions, including where nations…

Jul

27

2020

By The African Mirror

Morocco shuts down major cities after spike in coronavirus cases

COVID-19

MOROCCO will stop people entering and leaving some of its biggest cities from midnight to contain a surge in COVID-19 cases, the interior and health Ministries has announced. The cities to be locked down include the economic powerhouse of Casablanca as well as Tangier, Marrakech, Fez and Meknes. The country eased a nationwide lockdown a month ago, though international flights are still suspended except special flights by national airlines carrying Moroccans or foreign residents. On Sunday, the health ministry said 633 new COVID-19 cases were recorded, one of the biggest daily rises so far, bringing the total number of confirmed…