COVID cases - The African Mirror

Aug

2022

The COVID lab leak theory is dead. Here’s how we know the virus came from a Wuhan market

MY colleagues and I published the most detailed studies of the earliest events in the COVID-19 pandemic last month in the journal Science. Together, these papers paint a coherent evidence-based picture of what took place in the city of Wuhan during the latter part of 2019. The take-home message is the COVID pandemic probably did begin where the first cases were detected – at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market. At the same time this lays to rest the idea that the virus escaped from a laboratory. Author EDWARD C HOLMES, ARC Australian Laureate Fellow and Professor, University of Sydney Huanan…

Mar

2022

By The African Mirror

WHO says global rise in COVID cases is ‘tip of the iceberg’

COVID-19

JENNIFER RIGBY and MANAS MISHRA FIGURES showing a global rise in COVID-19 cases could herald a much bigger problem as some countries also report a drop in testing rates, the WHO said, warning nations to remain vigilant against the virus. After more than a month of decline, COVID cases started to increase around the world last week, the WHO said, with lockdowns in Asia and China's Jilin province battling to contain an outbreak. A combination of factors was causing the increases, including the highly transmissible Omicron variant and its BA.2 sublineage, and the lifting of public health and social measures,…

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…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

Restrictions imposed in and around Mumbai as COVID cases in Indian state surge

WORLD

RAJENDRA JADHAV and ABHIRUP ROY INDIA'S richest state, Maharashtra, announced stringent COVID-19 restrictions from Monday, after a rapid rise in infections now accounting for more than half the country's daily new cases. An industrialist who attended a meeting with the chief minister before the curbs were announced quoted him as saying that "the situation is grim and there could be shortage of hospital beds, doctors and oxygen cylinders". He declined to be named, but the comments echo those of government and health officials to Indian media about the situation in the state, which includes the crowded financial capital Mumbai. The…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

WHO warns countries with falling COVID cases to stay alert

COVID-19

EVEN if countries see a fall in coronavirus cases, they need to stay vigilant, Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization's technical lead for COVID-19, has warned. "What we don't want to see is situations where you are moving from lockdown to bringing (the virus) under control to another lockdown," she told a virtual briefing in Geneva. Nearly 61 million people have been reported to be infected by the coronavirus globally and 1.4 million have died, according to a Reuters tally. "It is in our power to keep transmission low," she said. "We have seen dozens of countries show us…