COVID-19 outbreak - The African Mirror

Jul

2021

Brazil’s Bolsonaro shuffles cabinet, recreates labour ministry

ANTHONY BOADLE BRAZILIAN President Jair Bolsonaro has appointed centre-right Senator Ciro Nogueira as his chief of staff x to shore up waning political support in Congress and recreated the labour ministry to deal with record unemployment. Nogueira, a leader of the Progressives Party (PP) to which lower house speaker Arthur Lira also belongs, will be Bolsonaro's closest aide and minister, replacing a retired general. His appointment is aimed at improving the far-right president's relations with Congress, where there have been dozens of requests for his impeachment as his popularity drops during the world's second-deadliest COVID-19 outbreak. A Senate investigation has…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Lions tour in jeopardy after management member tests COVID-19 positive

COVID-19

MARK GLEESON THE British & Irish Lions tour of South Africa was thrown into jeopardy today when a member of the Lions' tour management tested positive for COVID-19 as infections continue to spread across South African rugby. A statement from the Lions said the individual and four close contacts – including two players and two members of staff – were being isolated and assessed at the team hotel, and that all other members of the touring party had been PCR-tested. If they test positive, then Wednesday's tour match against the Sharks in Johannesburg is likely to be called off. The…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

IMF mission says Ghana economy rebounding

BUSINESS

RODRIGO CAMPOS A country mission of the International Monetary Fund says Ghana has managed its COVID-19 outbreak very effectively and its economy is rebounding with the support of strong policies. "Policy interventions in 2020 were also critical to safeguard livelihoods and paved the way for a faster rebound of economic activity," said Carlo Sdralevich, the mission head, in a statement following virtual meetings ended on May 12. He said last year's government actions to contain the pandemic also exacerbated pre-existing budget constraints and public debt vulnerabilities. "The 2021 budget's recent policy pivot towards fiscal consolidation is an important step in…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

Raising fears after Uganda detects Indian Covid variant

NEWS

ELIAS BIRYABAREMA UGANDA has detected the Indian variant of the novel coronavirus, igniting fears the East African nation could suffer a resurgence of cases just when its outbreak has waned, a senior health official has disclosed. "Yes, we have got one individual who has that variant," Pontiano Kaleebu, head of the government-run Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) told Reuters. The variant, he said, had been detected in recent days on a Ugandan who had returned from a visit to India. He did not immediately have further information. Health Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Ainebyoona told Reuters the country's coronavirus task-force would discuss…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

Fear of COVID-19 stalks Delhi slum dwellers with no safety net

WORLD

MUKESH SHARMA KNEELING on the ground to knead dough in the tiny shanty he shares with six other people in a New Delhi slum, Udayshankar Kumar knows that he and everyone around him are in grave danger from the COVID-19 outbreak ripping through the city. In Kirti Nagar, a ramshackle settlement by a railway track where Kumar lives, social distancing is not an option for residents who share single rooms with large families, navigate narrow alleyways and use the same toilets as their neighbours. "God forbid, if any one of us gets infected then they say he or she can…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

WHO warns on Brazil COVID-19 outbreak as Bolsonaro blasts Senate inquiry

WORLD

BRAZILIAN President Jair Bolsonaro yesterday blasted a pending Senate inquiry on his handling of a record-breaking COVID-19 outbreak, which global health officials compared to a "raging inferno." Supreme Court Justice Luis Roberto Barroso ruled late on Thursday that enough senators had signed on to a proposed inquiry on the government's pandemic response to launch the probe despite stalling by Senate leadership. "It's a stitch-up between Barroso and the leftists in the Senate to wear out the government," Bolsonaro told supporters outside his residence, accusing the judge of "politicking." A Senate investigation represents the most severe political consequence to date for…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

Scared of school? Bolivian girl takes her virtual classes in a cemetery

WORLD

NEYDI, a Bolivian primary school student, logs on to virtual classes like many kids around the world during the pandemic. The only difference is the setting: surrounded by tombstones in a public cemetery in highland city La Paz. Bolivia has kept its schools largely closed during the COVID-19 outbreak, pushing many parents to find novel ways to get their kids online for class. It is particularly challenging in a country with sporadic internet connectivity, limited access to expensive computers, and high costs for mobile data. Neydi's mother, Jeanete Alanoca, a 30-year-old indigenous Aymara who makes a living working at the…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

Zimbabwe gets vaccine offers from Russia, China

COVID-19

RUSSIA and China have approached Zimbabwe about supplying vaccines to tackle its escalating COVID-19 outbreak amid concern about Harare's ability to afford the shots, with plans for meetings with business leaders who have offered to pay for them. Authorities in the impoverished southern African nation are scrambling to contain the accelerating spread of the coronavirus. Infections have doubled in just the past few weeks and three government ministers have died in the last 10 days. Zimbabwe doctors' groups say that hospitals are quickly filling up with COVID-19 patients and cite an increase in the number of infected people dying at…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

Trump, Biden in final full week of campaigning as virus looms large

WORLD

MICHAEL MARTINA US President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden are down to the final full week of campaigning before the November 3 election, as surging coronavirus cases and a COVID-19 outbreak within Vice President Mike Pence's staff keep the focus of the race on the pandemic. Trump claimed progress in combating the disease even as the United States set records in recent days for daily infections, while Pence forged ahead with campaigning on Sunday despite close aides testing positive. Biden accused the president of surrendering to the pandemic that has killed about 225,000 people in the United States.…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

Tunisia imposes curfew in two southern towns to counter coronavirus

COVID-19

TUNISIA has imposed a 5 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew in two southern towns to help contain a renewed coronavirus outbreak, the state news agency TAP said. The North African nation is seeking to counter a second spread of COVID-19 evident since it reopened its borders on June 27 as part of steps to ease a lockdown and revive the economy, particularly the vital tourist industry. Since then, however, Tunisia has recorded a major resurgence of infections, exceeding 100 per day over the last two weeks. The curfew in the towns of Hamma and Hamma Gharbia will remain in effect…