coronavirus infections - The African Mirror

Aug

2021

Five ways Uganda’s health teams provided HIV care in lockdown

UGANDA is currently in a partial country-wide lockdown. The “second wave” of coronavirus infections has been especially unforgiving. There is no household in Uganda I know of that has not been touched by the COVID-19 pandemic. Social media posts are awash with reports of death. Hundreds of lives cut short in their prime. It is no longer a story about the elderly. The frequency of death announcements in the national newspapers is truly unprecedented. HENRY ZAKUMUMPA, Health Systems Researcher, Makerere University Earlier this year, the world watched as funeral pyres burned across India. At the time, the ravages of the…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Music banned on Greece’s Mykonos in new COVID-19 restrictions

WORLD

GREECE banned music in restaurants and bars and restricted movement on its popular holiday island of Mykonos on Saturday after a rise in new coronavirus infections there. Known as the party island of the super-rich, Mykonos is one of Greece's most popular destinations, attracting more than a million visitors each summer, among them Hollywood stars, models and world-famous athletes. Following a "worrying" local outbreak, the Civil Protection Ministry said it was banning music on the island around the clock and would only allow movement between 1 a.m to 6 a.m to those going to and from work, or for health…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Europe sends aid to Tunisia

COVID-19

ITALY, Spain and Switzerland have sent medical aid to Tunisia which is facing its worst health crisis since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, with a sharp rise in deaths, hospitals filled to capacity and a lack of oxygen supplies. Deaths from COVID-19 exceeded 150 per day during the past week in Tunisia, prompting countries including Qatar, Algeria, the UAE, Morocco, Turkey and Kuwait to send aid. Egypt and Saudi Arabia opened an air bridge earlier this week, sending at least 8 planes of aid. France said this week it also planned to send about one million vaccination doses and…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Senegal reports 529 new coronavirus infections

COVID-19

SENEGAL reported 529 coronavirus cases yesterday, a record in new daily cases there since the start of the pandemic, and a sign that a third wave of infections was gaining speed. The growing infection rate has alarmed authorities, but they have stopped short of imposing stringent measures to curb the spread after previous restrictions led to economic hardship that helped to fuel violent protests in March. Senegal has reported 46,179 coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, and 1,194 deaths. So far it has vaccinated close to 600,000 from a total population of around 16 million. Reuters data shows that…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Japan considers ban on Olympic spectators, prepares state of emergency for Tokyo

WORLD

YOSHIFUMI TAKEMOTO and JU-MIN PARK JAPAN is considering banning all spectators from the Olympics, several sources told Reuters on Wednesday, with authorities expected to declare a state of emergency for Tokyo to contain coronavirus infections 16 days before the Games begin. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said his government would decide on new measures to stop the spread of the virus on Thursday. Those measures are expected to determine whether spectators can attend Olympic events. Medical experts have said for weeks that having no spectators at the Olympics would be the least risky option amid widespread public concern that the Games…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

COVID-19

JAPAN is leaning towards allowing domestic spectators at the Olympics despite the pandemic, media reports said, while Australia's second-largest city Melbourne will exit a hard lockdown as planned tomorrow. DEATHS AND INFECTIONS * Eikon users, see COVID-19: MacroVitals for a case tracker and summary of news EUROPE * The European Union's executive body urged caution in the face of calls for a public-private scheme for insuring companies against economic lockdowns in future pandemics. * Some Russian drugmakers say they will only manufacture the single-dose Sputnik Light COVID-19 vaccine for the time being because it is easier to make than Sputnik…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

India ‘on war footing’ as coronavirus infections pass 24 million

WORLD

TANYI MEHTA and SHILPA JAMKHANDIKAR PRIME Minister Narendra Modi sounded the alarm over the rapid spread of COVID-19 through India's vast countryside on Friday, as 4,000 people died from the virus for the third straight day and total infections crossed 24 million. India is in the grip of the highly transmissible B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus, first detected there and now appearing across the globe. Modi said his government was "on a war footing" to try to contain it. "The outbreak is reaching rural areas with great speed," he said, addressing farmers in a virtual conference. "I want to once…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

India COVID cases hold close to record highs as calls widen for national lockdown

WORLD

INDIAN coronavirus infections and deaths held close to record daily highs yesterday, increasing calls for the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lock down the world's second-most populous country. The 366,161 new infections and 3,754 deaths reported by the health ministry were off a little from recent peaks, taking India's tally to 22.66 million with 246,116 deaths as hospitals run out of oxygen and beds and morgues and crematoria overflow. (Graphic on global cases and deaths) https://tmsnrt.rs/34pvUyi Experts have said India's actual figures could be far higher than reported. Sunday's 1.47 million tests for COVID-19 were this month's lowest…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

‘No one should die’: Volunteers provide oxygen as India’s COVID tally nears 20 million

WORLD

ADNAN ABIDI and SHILPA JAMKHANDIKAR INDIA’S tally of coronavirus infections rose on Monday to just short of 20 million, propelled by a 12th straight day of more than 300,000 new cases, as scientists predicted the pandemic could peak in the next couple of days. Total infections since the start of the pandemic have reached 19.93 million, swelled by 368,147 new cases over the past 24 hours, while the death toll rose by 3,417 to 218,959, health ministry data show. At least 3.4 million people are currently being treated. But medical experts say actual numbers could be five to 10 times…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

Indian hospitals turn away patients in COVID-19 ‘tsunami’

WORLD

SANJEEV MIGLANI and MANOJ KUMAR OVERWHELMED hospitals in India begged for oxygen supplies on Saturday as the country's coronavirus infections soared again overnight in a "tsunami" of disease, setting a new world record for cases for the third consecutive day. Max Healthcare, which runs a network of hospitals in north India, tweeted that it had less than two hours of oxygen left while Fortis Healthcare, another big chain, said it was suspending new admissions in Delhi. "We are running on backup, waiting for supplies since morning," Fortis said. India is in the grip of a rampaging second wave of the…