HEALTH - The African Mirror

Dec

21

2020

Coronavirus new variant – genomics researcher answers key questions

COVID-19

A new variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19, is thought to be driving increased transmission of the disease in parts of the UK. The government has placed some regions including London under new, stricter coronavirus restrictions, known as Tier 4. People in Tier 4 areas will not be able to gather with anyone outside their household for Christmas, while those in the rest of the country can only gather on Christmas Day itself. LUCY VAN DORP, Senior Research Fellow, Microbial Genomics, UCL Boris Johnson, the prime minister, and his chief scientific advisors said that the new variant could…

Dec

21

2020

By The African Mirror

El Salvador bans travelers from U.K., South Africa

COVID-19

EL SALAVDOR has banned travelers who have been in the United Kingdom or South Africa in the last 30 days or whose flights included a layover in those countries, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has revealed on Twitter.. London and southeast England may stay under tighter curbs for some time to stem a fast-spreading new coronavirus strain, Britain's health minister suggested on Sunday, as COVID-19 cases surged by a record number for one day. - Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Dec

21

2020

By The African Mirror

Germany plans to restrict flights to and from Britain, South Africa

COVID-19

GERMANY plans to impose restrictions on flights from and to Britain and South Africa after the two countries reported identifying a new coronavirus strain, a government spokesman has said. He said that the government was working on new travel rules and was in contact with European Union partners. - Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Dec

20

2020

By The African Mirror

As COVID-19 vaccines launch, digital certificates seen deepening inequalities

COVID-19

RINA CHANDRAN AS COVID-19 vaccines are rolled out worldwide, a push for identity proofs and digital certificates risks excluding poorer and vulnerable groups from vaccination and the benefits that come with it, according to rights experts. India announced guidelines this week for the first phase of vaccinations for about 300 million people, requiring eligible recipients to first register online with photo-identity documents, including the Aadhaar digital ID. Meanwhile, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the lobby group of the world's airlines, said it would launch a digital health travel pass early next year that will include passengers' COVID-19 vaccination data. But insisting on a…

Dec

20

2020

By The African Mirror

COVID-19 immunity and reinfection: why it’s still essential to take precautions

COVID-19

WITH some viruses, once you have been infected and have developed antibodies, you will be immune to that virus for life. Past infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, does not, as far as is known at this stage, guarantee protection against future infections. It’s not absolutely clear whether this virus may become dormant and, upon reactivation, cause a recurrence of infection. Caroline Southey, editor of The Conversation Africa, asked Sehaam Khan and Saurabh Sinha to explain. SEHAAM KHAN, Professor (Microbiology & Molecular Virology) and Executive Dean: Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Johannesburg, University of Johannesburg SAURABH SINHA,…

Dec

19

2020

By The African Mirror

COVAX programme doubles global vaccine supply deals to 2 billion doses

COVID-19

STEPHANIE NEBEHAY and KATE KELLAND THE COVAX alliance which aims to secure fair access to COVID-19 vaccines for poor countries said on Friday it now had agreements in place for nearly 2 billion doses, roughly doubling its supply, with the first deliveries due in early 2021. The initiative, co-led by the GAVI vaccine alliance, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), said it aimed to deliver 1.3 billion doses of approved vaccines next year to 92 eligible low- and middle-income economies. All 190 economies that have signed up to COVAX will "have access to…

Dec

19

2020

By The African Mirror

South Africa identifies new coronavirus strain causing surge in cases

COVID-19

SOUTH Africa has identified a new variant of the coronavirus that is driving a second wave of infections, the health minister has announced, days after Britain said it had also found a new variant of the virus boosting cases. "We have convened this public briefing today to announce that a variant of the SARS-COV-2 Virus - currently termed 501.V2 Variant - has been identified by our genomics scientists here in South Africa," Minister of Health Zweli Mkhize tweeted. Health Minister Dr. Zweli Mkhize. Photo: GCIS "The evidence that has been collated, therefore, strongly suggests that the current second wave we…

Dec

19

2020

By The African Mirror

WHO investigators heading to China in early January to probe virus

COVID-19

WORLD Health Organization (WHO) is to send an international team led by the U.N. agency to China in the first week of January to investigate the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. Mike Ryan, WHO's top emergency expert, said international experts would go to the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the first cases of COVID-19 were detected last December. "We still don't have a take-off date because we are working on the logistics around visas and flights. We do expect the team to be going there in the first week of January. There will be quarantine arrangements," Ryan told a…

Dec

18

2020

By The African Mirror

Second COVID-19 wave hits West & Central Africa as weather cools

COVID-19

PAUL LORGERIE and EDWARD McALLISTER A second wave of coronavirus infections is hitting West and Central Africa, and experts are warning it could be worse than the first as cooler weather descends on a region where most countries cannot afford a vaccine. Nigeria, Niger, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Mali, Togo and Democratic Republic of Congo are all at or near record levels of infection, data compiled by Reuters shows. Infections in Senegal are also rising fast. Compared to the United States and Europe, the region has so far been spared the worst of the pandemic. West and Central African countries are…

Dec

18

2020

By The African Mirror

Namibia, Uruguay and U.S. Virgin Islands removed from England’s safe list

COVID-19

ENGLAND will remove Uruguay, Namibia and the U.S. Virgin Islands from its safe travel corridor list meaning arriving passengers will have to self-isolate from this weekend, British transport minister Grant Shapps has announced. People arriving in England from 4 a.m. Saturday from those destinations will be required to quarantine, he said. "Providing certainty to those travelling over Xmas, we will only make emergency removals to the #TravelCorridor list if needed for the next two weeks," Shapps said on Twitter, adding the next scheduled changes would be on January 7. - Thomson Reuters Foundation.