HEALTH - The African Mirror

Jul

23

2020

Africa’s confirmed COVID-19 cases exceed 750,000

COVID-19

TOTAL confirmed coronavirus cases in Africa have passed 750,000, a Reuters tally of government and World Health Organization data showed on Wednesday. The tally showed the continent had 751,151 cases, 15,721 deaths and 407,461 recoveries. Cases crossed the 500,000 mark on July 8. The virus hit Africa later than other continents and transmission rates are lower than elsewhere. Still, this could translate into a prolonged, years-long outbreak, WHO said in May. Most countries on the continent have imposed restrictions on public gatherings and international travel and introduced curfews among other steps meant to curb the spread of the virus. Although…

Jul

20

2020

By The African Mirror

First human trial of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine shows promise

COVID-19

ASTRAZENECA's experimental COVID-19 vaccine was safe and produced an immune response in early-stage clinical trials in healthy volunteers, data has shown, with the strongest response seen in people who received two doses. The vaccine, called AZD1222 and being developed by AstraZeneca and scientists at Britain's University of Oxford, did not prompt any serious side effects and elicited antibody and T-cell immune responses, according to trial results published in The Lancet medical journal. "There is still much work to be done before we can confirm if our vaccine will help manage the COVID-19 pandemic, but these early results hold promise," vaccine…

Jul

20

2020

By The African Mirror

Ethiopian farmers slaughter thousands of chicks as COVID hits demand

COVID-19

KUMERRA GEMECHU ETHIOPIAN poultry farmers have destroyed hundreds of thousands of chicks, as the sector reels from a collapse in demand from the hotel sector because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ethiopia's movement restrictions to try to contain the novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, has led hotels in Addis Ababa to reduce operations or even to close, removing a major source of demand for poultry products. Government data was not available but EthioChicken, one of the biggest suppliers of poultry products in Addis Ababa, said it had to kill nearly 650,000 chicks in five weeks over May and June and estimated…

Jul

18

2020

By The African Mirror

Yemen starts forced transfers of Ethiopian migrants, IOM says

COVID-19

TENS of thousands of migrants, mostly Ethiopians, are stranded in Yemen and at least 14,500 have been rounded up and forcibly transferred internally amid fears migrants contribute to the spread of COVID-19, the U.N. migration agency said on Tuesday. Thousands of Saudi-bound Ethiopian workers cross Yemen each month but restrictions aimed at curbing the rapid spread of COVID-19 in the war-ravaged country have cut arrivals. But among those already there, thousands have been bussed or trucked to cities like Aden and Marib where they are now stuck, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said. "It's a very dire situation when…

Jul

18

2020

By The African Mirror

COVID-19: the risk the pandemic poses to SA’s water supply

COVID-19

Household water supplies may fall victim to the COVID-19 pandemic – if users can no longer pay their bills, and municipalities’ revenue streams dry up, experts have warned. “In the short term, there will still be water for people to wash their hands. However, the long term consequences could be devastating if municipalities are not able to fund their ongoing operations while funds for the President’s Infrastructure Investment initiative will also be affected,” says Mike Muller, Chair of the Technical Subcommittee for the Water Institute of Southern Africa (WISA). As the lockdown impacts individuals and companies across the spectrum, prompting…

Aug

01

2020

By The African Mirror

South‌ ‌Africa‌ ‌produces‌ ‌its‌ ‌first‌ ‌ventilators‌ ‌to‌ ‌fight‌ ‌COVID-19

COVID-19

WENDELL ROELF THE first of thousands of South African-designed ventilators rolled off a Cape Town assembly line on Friday, responding to requests from hospitals needing them for severe COVID-19 cases but unable to get them on global markets, officials said. Poorly resourced hospitals across Africa, which is nearing a million cases of COVID-19 -- more than half of them in South Africa -- have struggled to cope with a burgeoning caseload amid a global scramble favouring richer nations in procuring ventilators and protective gear. South Africa, which now has the world's fifth highest infection burden of around 482,169 confirmed cases,…

Aug

09

2020

By The African Mirror

Algeria eases more coronavirus restrictions, including travel curbs and curfew

COVID-19

ALGERIA will further ease its coronavirus lockdown, including shortening an overnight curfew and lifting some travel curbs, the government has announced. In addition, large mosques will be allowed to reopen, along with beaches, entertainment venues, hotels, restaurants and cafes. The North African country has recorded 34,155 coronavirus infections, with 1,282 deaths. The new measures include lifting a travel ban on 29 provinces from Aug. 9 until the end of the month. During that period, a curfew will be shortened and will run from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. from the current 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., the government said. Mosques…

Aug

08

2020

By The African Mirror

Uganda’s prisoner population surges, raising fears of COVID-19 outbreak

COVID-19

ELIAS BIRYABAREMA UGANDA has recorded a 10% increase in the number of people in jail since March, a prison official told Reuters on Friday, with thousands jailed for alleged violations of coronavirus lockdown rules. By imposing one of Africa's strictest lockdowns, the country of 42 million has registered just 1,213 COVID-19 cases and five deaths from the disease, despite crumbling public hospitals, doctors' strikes and corruption scandals. But there have been at least three cases of the novel coronavirus in jails, fuelling concerns it could spread among prisoners. About 30 inmates who feared infection have escaped since the pandemic hit…

Aug

07

2020

By The African Mirror

S.Africa’s funeral parlours turn to makeshift mortuaries as virus deaths rise

COVID-19

EMMA RUMNEY BEHIND Monageng Legae's funeral parlour in the South African township of Soweto sits a refrigerated shipping container made to store chilled goods. Now it stores bodies. Funeral businesses like Legae's Sopema Funerals have taken such measures to cope with the influx of bodies into their morgues as South Africa's coronavirus cases rise above half a million, with deaths at around 9,000. Surrounded by coffins in his showroom and wearing a protective mask and visor, Legae told Reuters that he handled 85 funerals in June and 75 in July, compared with 30 a month this time last year. The…

Aug

07

2020

By The African Mirror

How Nigeria can minimise the COVID-19 devastation

COVID-19

CECILIA RUSSELL Nigerian Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo quipped that Covid-19 meant that the Law Students Association of Nigeria’s virtual town hall meeting was able to attract top speakers - most would not have participated if they had to travel. That, however, was his only light-hearted assessment of the pandemic and its effects on Nigeria. Osinbajo painted a bleak picture as Nigeria faces both an economic and a health crisis along with the rest of the world. “There are many who say nothing like this has ever happened to the world,” he said. The Nigerian government had set up an…