COVID-19 WRAP | 1,228 new cases and 186 deaths in SA in past 24 hours

February 07 2022 - 21:20

Covid-19: 1,228 new cases and 186 deaths in SA in past 24 hours

SA recorded 1,228 new Covid-19 cases and 186 deaths in the past 24 hours, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said on Monday.

This means that there have been 3,625,190 total cases and 96,021 fatalities since the outbreak of the coronavirus in March 2020.

The NICD said that of the 186 deaths, eight occurred in the past 24 to 48 hours. The remainder were historical fatalities recorded as part of an ongoing audit exercise.

February 07 2022 - 15:20

New jab on the vaccine block: Sinopharm registered by Sahpra

South Africans have become familiar with the Pfizer-BioNTech (known as the Comirnaty vaccine) and Johnson & Johnson vaccines which, to date, are the only vaccines rolled out against Covid-19 in the country.

Sinovac is also registered but has not been part of the mass rollout yet as trials continue.

The SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) has announced the authorisation of another vaccine called MC Pharma, or as it is more commonly known, Sinopharm.

February 07 2022 - 09:55

Easing curbs in 'Covid-19-zero regions' could cause 2 million deaths in a year

China's “zero-Covid-19” restrictions have come under growing scrutiny in recent weeks as it hosts the Winter Olympics in Beijing while using sweeping restrictions to try to prevent the spread of the more infectious Omicron variant.

Chinese scientists and public health specialists have reiterated the need for maintaining the stringent controls, saying the risks of transmission were too high and that mass infection would put intolerable pressure on the health system.

The researchers used studies from Chile and Britain to calculate the “baseline efficacy” of current vaccines — CoronaVac in the case of Chile and the Pfizer and Oxford/AstraZeneca shots in Britain.

February 07 2022 - 09:14

After two years of closed borders, Australia welcomes the world back

Australia said on Monday it will reopen its borders to vaccinated travellers this month, ending two years of misery for the tourism sector, reviving migration and injecting billions of dollars into the world No. 13 economy. 

The move effectively calls time on the last main component of Australia's response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which it has attributed to relatively low death and infection rates. The other core strategy, stop-start lockdowns, was shelved for good in December.

The country had taken steps in recent months to relax border controls, like allowing in skilled migrants and quarantine-free travel arrangements — “travel bubbles” — with select countries like New Zealand.

February 07 2022 - 09:07

Hong Kong's zero-Covid-19 strategy under pressure as cases soar

Hong Kong is expected to report a record of around 610 new Covid-19 cases on Monday, broadcaster TVB reported, in the biggest test yet for the city's zero-Covid-19 strategy as it grapples to contain a growing outbreak. 

Around 300 others were found positive in preliminary tests, TVB said, citing an unnamed source.

The global financial hub, which is following mainland China's strategy of suppressing all coronavirus outbreaks as soon as possible, has seen cases soar since January with over 2,000 infections compared with just two in December.

The city recorded 342 cases on Sunday, slightly below the previous day's record of 351 cases. Dozens of bank branches including outlets of HSBC and Bank of China said they would suspend operations from Monday to help curb transmissions.

February 07 2022 - 08:44

SAHPRA registers Sinopharm Covid vaccine

The South African health regulator said on Monday it had registered Chinese Covid-19 vaccine Sinopharm, effectively clearing the way for its use in the country.

"This authorisation is based on acceptable safety, quality and efficacy data submitted by MC Pharma," South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) said in a statement.MC Pharma is a Beijing-based company that manufactures Sinopharm vaccine, the regulator said. 

Reuters

February 07 2022 - 07:00

I’m unvaccinated and exposed to Covid-19, do I still need to self-isolate?

The revised quarantine and isolation guidelines apply to both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals.  

Prof Jeremy Nel, a member of the ministerial advisory committee (MAC), said on Friday the committee recommended the proposed guidelines, which include the scrapping of contact tracing and isolation for asymptomatic individuals, apply equally to low and high-risk people. 

The committee proposed to the health department that contact tracing, isolation,  quarantining and Covid-19 testing for exposed individuals be discontinued with immediate effect unless the contact becomes symptomatic.

February 07 2022 - 06:20

How Covid has amplified life’s struggles for people with disabilities

If you’ve found the Covid pandemic hard, spare a thought for people with physical disabilities.

Stellenbosch University researchers, who surveyed more than 100 people with physical impairments, said even simple things such as accessing Covid safety messages, social-distancing and mask-wearing were a struggle.

People with visual, hearing, walking and learning disabilities said the physical barriers they faced were compounded by anxiety because they were more vulnerable to Covid but felt they had insufficient information about how to protect themselves.

February 07 2022 - 06:10

Covid ‘war zone’ has left medical interns tired and undertrained: study

When Amanda joined one of SA’s large public hospitals as a medical intern in 2020, she had no idea she would soon be working in a “war zone” as the Covid pandemic took hold.

“I certified more people (dead) than I thought was possible,” she said. “I thought it would take me a couple of years as a doctor before I could certify so many people.”

The 29-year-old, who completed her internship in December, said working as a young doctor during the pandemic left her anxious and burnt out.

But she also feels undertrained, having spent most of her time on the Covid front line instead of getting broad experience.

February 07 2022 - 06:00

‘To allay fears of death we need to bring it back to life’

As Covid-19 deaths fall in SA and the pandemic recedes, people are again pushing death to the margins of their lives. But greater support and compassion should be offered to the bereaved and those dying, and more community involvement with health and social care services is needed, say experts from an international commission on the value of death.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has seen many people die the ultimate medicalised death, often alone but for masked staff in hospitals and intensive care units, unable to communicate with their families, except digitally,” said commission co-chair Dr Libby Sallnow, a palliative medicine consultant at St Christopher’s Hospice in London.

“How people die has changed dramatically over the past 60 years, from a family event with occasional medical support to a medical event with limited family support. A fundamental rethink is needed in how we care for the dying, our expectations about death and the changes required in society to rebalance our relationship with death.”