COVID-19 WRAP | Covid-19: 221 deaths and 2,782 new cases recorded in SA in 24 hours

February 04 2022 - 19:40

Covid-19: 221 deaths and 2,782 new cases recorded in SA in 24 hours

There were 221 Covid-19 related deaths recorded in the past 24 hours, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said on Friday.

However, the overwhelming majority of these were as a result of an “ongoing audit exercise” by the national health department, with just 14 of the deaths occurring in the past 24 to 48 hours.

February 04 2022 - 14:40

Omicron sub-variant accounts for fifth of South Africa's cases

The omicron sub-variant BA.2, which appears to be more transmissible than the original strain, accounted for almost a fifth of South African coronavirus cases in January compared with 4% in December, a medical official said.

The sub-variant’s potential impact is unclear, Michelle Groome, head of public health surveillance and response at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases said on an online press conference on Friday. So far there is no indication that the strain causes more severe disease.

“In terms of severity we would be looking at hospitalizations,” she said. “We would need more data.”

The emergence of BA.2 has coincided with a plateauing of the previous rapid decline in coronavirus cases in South Africa. Some areas are increasing again. Still, Health Minister Joe Phaahla said this is more likely due to the fact that schools have reopened after the Christmas holidays. There has been a rise in the number of cases in people under 20 years old, he said.

South Africa, whose scientists announced the discovery of omicron in November, was the first country to experience a major wave of infections from the variant. The trajectory of its infection wave has been closely watched as a harbinger for what other nations may experience.

So far, that experience has been relatively positive. Deaths in the omicron-driven wave peaked at 24% of the what was seen in the delta variant-driven wave, Waasila Jassat, a public health specialist at the NICD, said on the conference call. Hospitalizations peaked at 67%, she said. 

Reuters

February 04 2022 - 14:32

Court says union’s urgent case against mandatory vaccinations can wait

A Gauteng judge has ruled that trade union Solidarity’s case against Small Enterprise Employers of SA (Seesa) is not urgent and ordered them to pay costs.

The union took Seesa to court over its advice to employers to compel their workers to get Covid-19 vaccinations.

On January 19 Solidarity announced it was serving papers on a number of institutions, including the University of the Free State.

February 04 2022 - 14:32

Indonesia records 32,211 Covid-19 cases, highest in nearly six months

Indonesia recorded 32,211 coronavirus cases on Friday, the highest daily number in nearly six months, as the Omicron variant continued to drive up infections, data from the country’s Covid-19 taskforce showed. The Southeast Asian country has recorded about 4.4 million cases since the start of the pandemic.

Reuters

February 04 2022 - 14:00

UK scientists look to repurpose existing antiviral drugs for Covid

British researchers want to repurpose existing antiviral therapies to treat Covid-19, the University of Oxford said on Friday, in an attempt to sidestep lengthy development processes through readily available drugs.

Scientists will initially screen 138 drugs with known antiviral activity against the Covid-causing SARS-CoV-2 virus to study and identify potent combinations, the university said in a statement on Friday.

The rapid spread of Omicron across the world has also forced researchers to find options that work against the variant. Britain currently has the seventh-highest tally of Covid cases globally, according to Reuters.

The most effective combinations discovered through the project will be presented to British authorities, including the Antiviral Task Force and UK-CTAP, so they can be added to clinical trials, Oxford said."

There are multiple benefits with discovering new treatments in this way," said Ultan Power, one of the principal investigators of the project.

"They have been through all the necessary checks so we know they are safe and readily available, they can be self-administered and used at home, helping to reduce the burden on the healthcare system."

The 1.6 million pound ($2.2 million) project is being led by Queen's University Belfast, with experts from Queen's, the University of Liverpool and Oxford. It is being funded by Britain's Medical Research Council.

Reuters

February 04 2022 - 13:00

Hong Kong to roll out rapid antigen Covid tests for all residents

Hong Kong plans to roll out rapid antigen tests for Covid-19 to all its 7.5 million people in the near future, city leader Carrie Lam said on Friday, as the increasingly isolated global financial hub tries to control a new outbreak.

Lam told reporters her government was working on increasing testing, contact tracing and vaccination capacity and making plans to send hospitalised asymptomatic patients to a quarantine facility reserved for close contacts as infections add up.

Amid worries of invisible transmissions in the city, Lam said the government was procuring tens of millions of rapid antigen tests, but did not specify when and how the government will deploy them for voluntary universal testing.

On Friday, Hong Kong reported 131 positive cases, compared with 142 on Thursday. Some 195 tested "preliminary positive" and may be added to the count in coming days subject to further tests. The previous record was 164 cases in late January.

"This latest outbreak is the worst we have seen in the past two years," Lam said. "Our strategy is the same: we aim to cut transmission chains as soon as possible."

Lam also flagged an extra HK$20 billion ($2.6 billion) in relief measures for people and small businesses affected by the restrictions currently in place, which are tighter than at the start of the pandemic in 2020. She did not give details.

In total, Hong Kong has recorded 213 Covid-19 deaths and just over 14,000 cases since early 2020, according to the government.

The Chinese-ruled city has followed mainland China in pursuing a "dynamic zero-Covid" policy aimed at suppressing coronavirus infections as soon as possible after they occur, bucking a global trend of living with the virus.

Schools, gyms, pubs and other venues are closed, civil servants and others are back working from home, thousands have been sent into quarantine facilities, while most flights to the city are suspended and hardly any transit flights are allowed.

Once one of the world’s most connected places, Hong Kong is, however, reeling from the closure of its borders, impacting the free flow of people and the availability of food and foreign products the city is highly dependent on.

Reuters

February 04 2022 - 12:58

Ramaphosa will get recommendations on vaccine mandate next week

When President Cyril Ramaphosa convenes the national coronavirus command council (NCCC) meeting next week, it is expected he will receive a report with recommendations about whether SA will make Covid-19 vaccinations mandatory.

This was the assurance given to the nation on Friday by health minister Joe Phaahla when he provided an update on the fight against Covid-19 and the national vaccination rollout programme.

“We had expected our directors-general, under the Natjoints committee, would have finalised the proposal on the mandate but it looks like that work was not concluded in time. When the president convenes the next NCCC meeting, we will expect that team to report and make recommendations so decisions can be taken,” he said.

February 04 2022 - 12:09

Health minister Phaahla: Decision on more fans in stadiums coming soon

Health minister Joe Phaahla says the “complex” issue of increasing the number of spectators in sports stadiums was discussed during the recent national coronavirus command council (NCCC) meeting and a decision is expected soon.

Earlier this week, the cabinet and the NCCC approved adjusted alert level 1 Covid-19 regulations, sparking renewed hope among sports fans that numbers will be increased. Since the announcement of the adjusted regulations on Monday, the department of sport has not indicated if there will be an increase to the 2,000 spectators allowed to watch live sporting events.

“These matters were discussed and they are being finalised,” Phaahla said.

February 04 2022 - 11:40

WATCH | Health minister gives update on fight against Covid-19

Health minister Joe Phaahla gave an update on the fight against Covid-19 this morning. It comes just days after the cabinet approved changes to level 1 regulations.

February 04 2022 - 10:28

Vaccines for adolescents: Prof Abdool Karim, Tembeka Ngcukaitobi and Glenda Gray join adjudication panel

Health minister Joe Phaahla has appointed a five-member appeal committee to adjudicate a challenge to the Covid-19 vaccination of adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 years.

The organisation Free the Children — Save the Nation has formally appealed the decision to approve vaccines for children, arguing this age group is effectively not at risk from the coronavirus and therefore does not require vaccination for their protection.

The organisation — together with the ACDP, the Caring Healthcare Workers Coalition and Covid Care Alliance — late last year launched an application before the high court in Pretoria seeking an urgent interdict to halt the rollout of children’s vaccinations.

February 04 2022 - 09:17

Covid-19 infections were dipping but are up again to a plateau, says health minister

After a clear and steady decline in Covid-19 infections in the country, “the past 14 days have given a more confusing picture”.

This is according to health minister Joe Phaahla, who said on Friday morning: “We are seeing a less resilient decline in infections. We can call it a stalemate. There is no serious decline and no worrying rise.”

The change from a decline to a plateau is likely linked to the opening of schools, and human movement at the tail end of the holidays.

Testimony to the link with schools opening is a clear rise in infections among those under age 20.

February 04 2022 - 08:30

Ukraine reports record daily high of 43,778 new Covid-19 cases

Ukraine registered a record daily high of 43,778 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours, the health ministry said on Friday.

The previous high of 39,620 cases was reported on Thursday.

Ministry data showed 174 new related deaths.

Ukraine's total infections in the pandemic stands at 4.2 million so far, with 100,983 deaths. 

Reuters

February 04 2022 - 08:19

In world first, SA's Afrigen makes mRNA Covid-19 vaccine using Moderna data

SA's Afrigen Biologics has used the publicly available sequence of Moderna's mRNA Covid-19 vaccine to make its own version of the shot, which could be tested in humans before the end of this year, Afrigen's top executive said on Thursday.

The vaccine candidate would be the first to be made based on a widely used vaccine without the assistance and approval of the developer. It is also the first mRNA vaccine designed, developed and produced at lab scale on the African continent.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) last year picked a consortium, including Afrigen, for a pilot project to give poor and middle-income countries the know-how to make Covid-19 vaccines after market leaders Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna declined a WHO request to share their technology and expertise. 

February 04 2022 - 07:42

Japan's serious Covid cases climb to 4-month high; record infections

Japan serious Covid-19 cases crossed 1,000 for the first time in four months, data showed on Friday, as the Omicron variant fuelled record infections and burdened the medical system.

Seriously ill patients climbed by 131 to 1,042 cases from the day before, the health ministry said, the highest since September when the Delta variant drove a fifth wave of cases.

Japan recorded 96,748 new cases on Thursday. Most regions are now under infection control measures to try to blunt the spread of Omicron that has exploded among a population where less than 5% have received vaccine booster shots.

The government is considering a two-week extension of the curbs in 13 regions, including its capital Tokyo, the Fuji News Network said on Thursday.

Tokyo raised its coronavirus alert to the highest level on Thursday. The city government also laid out revised criteria for requesting a full state of emergency.

Tokyo will request an emergency declaration if either the occupancy rate of hospital beds for serious patients or the rate of patients needing oxygen reaches 30%-40%, and the 7-day average of new cases hits 24,000.

Reuters

February 04 2022 - 07:00

Could my shoes be spreading the coronavirus?

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the likelihood of Covid-19 being spread on shoes and infecting someone is low.

A 2020 study in Wuhan, China found that healthcare workers' shoes were possible carriers of the virus after touching an infected floor.

Half of the samples taken from the soles of the shoes tested positive and may have led to the virus being detected in another area.

February 04 2022 - 06:30

Covid isn't over, but Europe is entering a new phase

WHO Europe director Hans Kluge says that the pandemic is not over, but the Covid-19 situation in Europe is changing. Kluge cites high vaccination rates, the milder Omicron variant and the end of winter as factors that create an opportunity to take control of virus transmission.

February 04 2022 - 06:00

New Zealand delays full reopening until October

After being largely closed off for two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, New Zealand has announced a phased reopening of its border.