Delta variant - The African Mirror

Jul

2021

Risk of ‘catastrophic’ surge in Middle East

A surge of coronavirus cases in several Middle Eastern countries could have dire consequences, aggravated by the spread of the Delta variant and low vaccine availability, the World Health Organisation has warned. After a decline in cases and deaths in the WHO's Eastern Mediterranean region for eight weeks, the agency said there had been significant increases in cases in Libya, Iran, Iraq and Tunisia, with sharp rises expected in Lebanon and Morocco. (Graphic on global cases and deaths) Next week countries across the region will mark the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday, which traditionally includes religious and social gatherings where infections…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Nigeria’s Lagos state faces “potential third wave” of COVID-19

COVID-19

LIBBY GEORGE NIGERIA’S Lagos state faces a "potential third wave" of coronavirus infections, its governor said in a statement. He warned of fines or even imprisonment for those who break rules to contain the virus and said Lagos state would step up its vaccination campaign, following the detection of the highly infectious Delta variant in an incoming traveller. Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, has not been as hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic as other parts of the continent, with just over 168,000 cases and 2,124 deaths confirmed since the outbreak began. But Nation Centre for Disease Control officials last…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

‘Data shows J&J vaccine works well against Delta variant’

COVID-19

DATA from laboratory studies show Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine works well against the Delta variant that now dominates new infections in South Africa, the head of the country's Medical Research Council has said. "All the data that we see indicate good immediate and sustained immune response against Delta, and we see surprising durability in the immune response for the single dose J&J right up to eight months," Glenda Gray told a news conference. South Africa is using the J&J and Pfizer vaccines in its immunisation campaign.

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

Nigeria adds SA to its COVID-19 ‘red list’

COVID-19

NIGERIA is adding South Africa to its "red list" of countries for which there are stringent restrictions for arriving passengers, officials said during a briefing. Nigeria is introducing the restrictions due to the spread of the Delta variant in South Africa, Chikwe Ihekweazu, the head of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, said. The country joins India, Brazil and Turkey on the list. "In Nigeria, we haven't found the Delta variant yet," Ihekweazu said during the briefing. Non-Nigerian passport holders and non-residents who visited the countries on the list within 14 days are barred entry from Nigeria, while passport holders…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

Just give us the vaccines, WHO pleads, as poor countries go wanting

COVID-19

MICHAEL SHIELDS and STEPHANIE NEBEHAY RICH countries are opening up societies and vaccinating young people who are not at great risk from COVID-19, while the poorest countries cruelly lack doses, the World Health Organization said yesterday, condemning a global failure. The situation in Africa, where new infections and deaths jumped by nearly 40% last week compared to the previous week, is "so dangerous" as the Delta variant spreads globally, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. "Our world is failing, as the global community we are failing," he told a news conference. Tedros, who is Ethiopian, chastised unnamed countries for reluctance…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

Uganda team coach arriving in Tokyo had Delta coronavirus variant

COVID-19

DANILE LEUSSINK and CHANG-RAN KIM A member of the Ugandan Olympic team who tested positive for the coronavirus upon arrival in Japan had the Delta variant, Japan's Olympics minister said yesterday, adding to concern the Games - less than a month away - may trigger a new wave of infections. A coach in the East African nation's delegation tested positive after arriving in Japan on Saturday, while a second member, an athlete, tested positive on Wednesday after arriving in the team's host city of Izumisano, officials said previously. Olympics Minister Tamayo Marukawa told a news conference that the person who…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

Tunisia detects six cases of Delta variant

COVID-19

TUNISIA has detected six cases of the Delta COVID-19 variant, first detected in India, the health ministry said, amid a rapid spread of the virus in the North African country. After successfully containing the virus in the first wave last year, Tunisia is grappling with a rise in infections. As cases have mounted and intensive care wards almost filled, Tunisia last week imposed a lockdown in four governates. Tunisia has recorded 387,000 coronavirus cases and about 14,233 deaths.

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

DRC caps public gatherings

COVID-19

THE Democratic Republic of Congo will limit public gatherings to 20 people and close nightclubs as the country grapples with a third wave of COVID-19, President Felix Tshisekedi has announced. Congo has officially registered relatively few cases, but low vaccination rates have left the country vulnerable to more contagious strains, including the highly infectious Delta variant. "For several weeks we have seen a persistent rise in the number of people infected," Tshisekedi said in a televised address. "We need to react with speed, and above all, methodically." Last week, Tshisekedi told reporters that hospitals in the capital Kinshasa had been…