Coronavirus - The African Mirror

Aug

2020

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

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

2020

By The African Mirror

What Africa, approaching a million cases, is doing to fight coronavirus

COVID-19

THE World Health Organization has warned the coronavirus pandemic could overwhelm strained public health systems in Africa. On Wednesday, the continent was approaching a million infections and around 21,000 deaths, according to a Reuters tally. Here are measures some countries are taking to curb the virus. SOUTH AFRICA With more cases than any other country on the continent, South Africa imposed a strict lockdown on March 27, closing borders and requiring most people to stay at home except for essential trips. The government also banned the sale of alcohol and cigarettes. The government in May allowed the re-opening of many…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

Uganda’s tough approach curbs COVID-19, even as Africa nears a million cases

NEWS

ELIAS BIRYABAREMA UGANDA's crumbling public hospitals, doctors' strikes and corruption scandals make its success in the fight against the new coronavirus all the more unlikely. But the nation of 42 million people has recorded just over 1,200 cases and five deaths since March, a strikingly low total for such a large country. As the number of cases in Africa approaches one million, Uganda's experience shows what can be accomplished when a government with a firm grip on power acts quickly and enforces a strict lockdown. But its success came at a cost, critics say. Jobs were lost, and economic growth…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

SAB dumps R5-billion investment plans after South Africa alcohol ban

NEWS

SOUTH African Breweries (SAB) has announced the cancellation of R5-billion ($290 million) of planned investments as a result of revenue losses sustained during a nearly three-month ban on alcohol sales during the coronavirus crisis. The South African drinks industry has been among the hardest hit by restrictions, which included a ban on the sale of alcohol to the end of May, which was reinstated last month to free up space in hospitals burdened by what officials said were avoidable alcohol-related injuries. "The cancellation of this planned expenditure is a direct consequence of having lost 12 full trading weeks, which effectively…

Jul

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

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…

Jul

2020

By The African Mirror

N.Korea declares COVID-19 emergency in border town

WORLD

SANGMI CHA and JOSH SMITH NORTH Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared an emergency and a lockdown in a border town after a person suspected of being infected with the novel coronavirus returned from South Korea after illegally crossing the border, state media said on Sunday. If confirmed, it would be the first case officially acknowledged by North Korean authorities. Kim convened an emergency politburo meeting in response to what he called a "critical situation in which the vicious virus could be said to have entered the country", the North's KCNA state news reported. A person who defected to South…

Jul

2020

By The African Mirror

Senegal strengthens coronavirus testing for travellers

COVID-19

SENEGAL is strengthening its coronavirus testing capacity to enable travellers to get tested before leaving the country and testing those arriving in the West African state. Senegal, which depends on tourism for around 4% of GDP, has reported 9,422 cases since the outbreak, with 182 deaths. It lifted a ban on international flights from July 15 but said it will apply the principle of reciprocity to travellers from countries that do not allow citizens from Senegal. Around 1.7 million people holidayed in Senegal in 2019. The health ministry has accredited four testing centres in the capital Dakar, from only one…

Jul

2020

By The African Mirror

Kenyan recycling firm mixes kitchen waste to boost urban farming

ENVIRONMENT

EDWIN WAITA KENYAN urban farmer Francis Wachira credits a soil recycling company with keeping him afloat financially during the coronavirus crisis: it helped him to start producing herbs and vegetables on his tiny Nairobi plot. The locally-owned company, Sprout Organic, mixes animal bone meal, seeds, foliage, dry leaves, twigs and kitchen waste like banana peels, to concoct a composite that is then sold to urban farmers like Wachira to grow food in small spaces. Wachira, 71, used to make a living by renting out tiny tin shacks he built, but the coronavirus pandemic meant his tenants could no longer pay…

Jul

2020

By The African Mirror

15 Zambian MPs, 11 parliamentary staff contract COVID-19

COVID-19

FIFTEEN members of the Zambian parliament and 11 members of staff have tested positive for COVID-19, the health minister has announced. The infection of the MPs and staff comes days after the assembly suspended sittings because a lawmaker had died of the respiratory disease. Zambia's coronavirus cases have surged to 3,856 from 1,632 at the beginning of July, with deaths rising to 136 from 30 over the same period, minister Chitalu Chilufya told reporters. The heavily indebted southern African country, the No. 2 copper producer on the continent, is bracing for an economic contraction of over 4% this year because…