Hawks raids Nkomazi Municipality over alleged R27m Covid-19 tender fraud

Members of the Hawks in Mpumalanga have raided the Nkomazi Municipality over alleged Covid-19 tender fraud to the tune of R27 million.

Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said officers had conducted a search-and-seizure operation at the municipality on Thursday.

"The operation follows investigations in relation to alleged Covid-19 procurement fraud wherein the appointment of contractors and service providers were inconsistent with the requisite procurement regulations," he said.

Young children carry higher levels of coronavirus, says study

Children under the age of five have between 10 to 100 times greater levels of genetic material of the coronavirus in their noses compared to older children and adults, a study in JAMA Pediatrics said Thursday.

Its authors wrote this meant that young children might be important drivers of Covid-19 transmission within communities - a suggestion at odds with the current prevailing narrative.

The paper comes as the administration of US President Donald Trump is pushing hard for schools and daycare to reopen in order to kickstart the economy.

Schools could close on 15 December, matric results to be released in February, leaked proposal shows

The new school calendar may see the academic year ending by 15 December, a leaked document from a Heads of Education Departments Committee (Hedcom) workshop has shown.

The document, dated 28 July, recommends the year should be completed by 15 December for grades R to 11 and it should not be carried over to the first quarter of 2021.

It also recommends the Grade 12 National Senior Certificate examinations be completed by 15 December and marked in January.

Smoking soldiers will face SANDF disciplinary, reveals Bheki Cele

Internal disciplinary processes are under way against South African National Defence Force (SANDF) members caught smoking at the funeral of Andrew Mlangeni on Wednesday, according to Police Minister Bheki Cele.

At a media briefing on Friday, Cele also referred to the police's investigation into the ANC's event held to mark the arrival of Mlangeni's body at his family's home in Dube on Tuesday.

Three soldiers were caught on camera standing closely together, lighting cigarettes and smoking during Mlangeni's funeral on Wednesday.

Vietnam, Fiji report first deaths as China rejects vaccine hacking attempt accusations

Vietnam recorded its first coronavirus death Friday, state media reported, as the pandemic rebounds in a country previously praised for controlling the initial outbreak.

Fiji announced its first coronavirus death Friday, but health officials assured people in the Pacific island nation that it was not the precursor to a major outbreak.

Meanwhile China rejected on Friday charges that hackers linked to its government targeted biotech firm Moderna Inc, a leading U.S.-based coronavirus vaccine research developer, to steal data. 

US counts nearly 1 400 deaths in 24 hours - Johns Hopkins

Washington – The United States counted 1 379 new deaths from the coronavirus in the 24 hours leading up to 20:30 on Thursday (00:30 GMT Friday), according to a count by Johns Hopkins University.

It was the third day in a row with more than 1 200 deaths, according to the Baltimore-based school.

The US has tallied a total of 151 826 deaths from Covid-19, making it the hardest-hit country in the world.

There were also 72 238 new infections officially recorded on Thursday, meaning the US has seen a total of nearly 4.5 million infections since the beginning of the pandemic, with at least 1.4 million of them having recovered.

After seeing an apparent improvement in the spread of the virus in late spring, the US has seen a resurgence of high daily cases loads since the end of June, especially in the southern and western parts of the country.

Beach destination Florida has been hit particularly hard, with a record 253 deaths there on Thursday.

The "Sunshine State" has recently overtaken the case numbers of New York – which had long been the hardest-hit area in the country since the beginning of the pandemic.

California leads in total case count, with a population twice the size of Florida at nearly 40 million.

Meanwhile, Florida is also bracing for the arrival of a tropical storm over the weekend, which forced the closing of some virus testing centres.

 - AFP

Eastern Cape records highest death toll as SA's Covid-19 fatalities rise to 7 812 

The Eastern Cape has recorded the most coronavirus deaths in the country in the past 24 hours of reporting. 

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced late on Thursday that 315 new Covid-19-related deaths had been registered: 121 from the Eastern Cape, 96 from Gauteng, 55 from KwaZulu-Natal, 34 from the Western Cape and nine from the North West. This brings the cumulative number of coronavirus-related deaths to 7 812.

Looking at the figures, 69% of new fatalities occurred in two of the country's nine provinces: The Eastern Cape and Gauteng, which is currently the country's Covid-19 hotspot with a total of 171 574 cases recorded, making up 35.6% of the country's total.

Limpopo civil servants skipping work behind 'cloak of Covid-19', says PCCC

The Limpopo Provincial Coronavirus Command Council says a large number of civil servants are dodging work under "the cloak of Covid-19" which is having a predictable negative impact on service delivery in the province - but also revealing the redundancy of some positions.

Why can Covid-19 be so dangerous where patients are obese?

It is established that obesity can increase the risk of severe Covid-19. Now, new research points to a hormone that regulates the appetite and immune system.

Covid-19 is accelerating 4IR - but SA may not be ready

Banks and insurers say the majority of their employees aren't going back to their headquarters. Private and suburbia schools have transitioned to online learning for most of their grades and more people can perform government-related transactions online, thanks to the zero-rating of more essential websites.

Covid-19 has accelerated the digitisation of the South African economy, but does this mean the country is now ready to fully embrace the Fourth Industrial Innovation (4IR)?

Nine million hungry children: We ask Section27 five questions about school feeding scheme

The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, in the middle of July, ordered the Department of Basic Education to reintroduce the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) to all pupils.

Medical scheme representative questions doctors' request for financial aid

A proposal by doctors for financial assistance from medical schemes, as they grapple with the impact of Covid-19, appears to have hit a wall after a scheme representative body raised technical and legal questions about it.

The department of health recorded 315 new death as a result of Covid-19, with 121 from the Eastern Cape, 96 from Gauteng, 55 from KwaZulu-Natal, 34 from the Western Cape, and nine from North West.

Total deaths in SA are now 7 812.

There are 309 601 recoveries which translate to a recovery rate of 64%.

SA has recorded 11 046 new cases of coronavirus, resulting in a national total of 482 169 cases

10 000 Cape Town informal traders to get sanitisers, masks, 1.5m mats to trade safely

Aimed at helping traders and their customers do business in a safe environment, compliant with protocols, the City of Cape Town has started distributing a free toolkit to those registered on its database in possession of Covid-19 permits and concession letters.

Coronavirus morning update: More than 5 400 hospitalised in Gauteng, and latest on alcohol ban

More than 5 400 patients are currently hospitalised in Gauteng, with close to 1 900 in intensive care; and government will re-evaluate the alcohol ban regularly.

Changes to nighttime curfew, world rugby releases new resumption dates

Here are Wednesday’s top stories

The nighttime curfew has been extended by an hour, and it will now run from 22:00 to 04:00, Tourism Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane says. Hotels and guest houses will be able to open for leisure travellers within their own province. The new regulations will be gazetted soon.

Gauteng Health MEC Bandile Masuku has been placed on special leave amid allegations he is involved in corruption related to tenders awarded for providing materials to treat Covid-19. He is alleged to be involved with awarding an R125 million tender for PPEs to a business belonging to the husband of Presidential spokesperson Khusela Diko.

World Rugby says international rigby is set to resume in October, after a temporary calendar for 2020 was approved. The temporary global window will accommodate the completion of the 2020 men's and women's Six Nations championships on 24 and 31 October, a rest weekend on 7 November and four consecutive rounds of international matches.

Cogta Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma says the government will regularly evaluate the alcohol ban. She says the government is aware that some business sectors are hit hard by the ban. The government had lifted the ban previously, only to then enforce it again because alcohol-related trauma incidents were said to be adding an unwanted burden on hospitals.

After a few scares, Western Cape old age homes have noticed an increase in Covid-19 recoveries among occupants. As of 27 July, 953 people have recovered, while 172 are still infected with the virus. Western Cape is said to have passed its peak of cases, and despite once having nearly two thirds of all cases, it now has less than 20% of total cases.

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- Compiled by Kerushun Pillay

3 more police stations in Mpumalanga closed temporarily

Three more police stations in Mpumalanga have had to temporarily close due to a member testing positive for Covid-19.

"The community service centre [for Nelspruit] will now be operated from a mobile caravan, which is placed at the front entrance of Nelspruit SAPS," police spokesperson Brigadier Leonard Hlathi said.

In addition, the community service centre for Elukwatini will be operating from Elukwatini Community Hall, situated next to the sports field near the police station.

Former US Presidential candidate dies of virus, 'careless' young people driving virus spikes - International Covid-19 news

The World Health Organisation on Thursday warned that spikes in coronavirus transmission in a number of countries were being driven by young people "letting down their guard".

And, Herman Cain, a 2012 Republican presidential candidate, has died after contracting Covid-19, according to a statement on his website and Facebook page.

Libya will impose a full lockdown in areas of the country it controls, it said on Thursday, after a sharp rise in coronavirus cases.

Several French cities on Thursday announced new face mask requirements and other measures to contain the coronavirus as the number of new cases continues to increase after a long lull, officials said.

As most of the world either orders or recommends the use of face masks, with even US president Donald Trump seen wearing one, Nordic nations are the remaining holdouts.

World economies battered as 17 million global Covid-19 cases recorded

Economies around the world reported record slumps on Thursday and companies from banks to car makers warned of losses in the latest fallout from the pandemic that has infected more than 17 million people across the globe.

Six months after the World Health Organisation declared a global emergency, countries around the globe are struggling to control infections even as they seek to restart damaged economies.

Even nations that appeared to have largely curbed the disease are being gripped by resurgences, with Australia on Thursday reporting a record number of new infections and its deadliest day of the pandemic.

Despite efforts in place to contain the virus, Covid-19 has killed more than 667 000 people around the world and total infections have passed 17 million since the disease first emerged in China late last year.

As governments try to weigh lockdown measures against the need to revive economies, the United States said its economy had contracted 32.9%  in the second quarter - the worst on record since 1947.

Germany said its GDP had shrunk a record 10.1% during the same period although experts saw a recovery already on its way.

Belgium and Austria also said their economies shrank by 12.2% and 10.7%.

Mexico's economy - Latin America's largest after Brazil - suffered its worst recorded contraction in the second quarter after being ravaged by the pandemic.

Across the globe, companies were also taking a hit with Airbus, VW, oil producer Shell, UK bank Lloyds and Japanese consumer electronics giant Panasonic all reporting losses.

Britain's biggest tour operator Tui said it will close 166 stores due to a collapse in foreign travel and shift towards online booking, accelerated by the pandemic.

Global daily cases are now approaching the 300 000 mark, with the curve showing no sign of flattening - it took just 100 hours for one million new cases to be recorded.

The United States -- the world's worst-affected nation - crossed a grim milestone as virus deaths passed 150 000.

Meanwhile, the EU updated its list of countries approved for travel to the European bloc, which it reviews every two weeks. The United States was not on the list and it also removed Algeria.

The EU's safe list does, however, include Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay.

Several European countries have slapped restrictions on travel to and from Spain, while officials elsewhere bicker over the seriousness of the current outbreak.

- AFP

Herman Cain, former Republican presidential candidate, dies after Covid-19 diagnosis

Herman Cain, a 2012 Republican presidential candidate, has died after contracting Covid-19, according to a statement on his website and Facebook page.

Cain was diagnosed with the disease in late June after attending a Tulsa, Oklahoma, rally for President Donald Trump, an event where many attendees crowded close together without wearing face masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

"We're heartbroken, and the world is poorer: Herman Cain has gone to be with the Lord," the statement on his website said.

- Reuters

Gauteng MEC steps aside, govt regularly revising alcohol ban, Western Cape old age homes seeing recoveries

Here are stories from earlier you may have missed

Gauteng Health MEC Bandile Masuku has been placed on special leave amid allegations he is involved in corruption related to tenders awarded for providing materials to treat Covid-19. He is alleged to be involved with awarding an R125 million tender for PPEs to a business belonging to the husband of Presidential spokesperson Khusela Diko.

Cogta Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma says the government will regularly evaluate the alcohol ban. She says the government is aware that some business sectors are hit hard by the ban. The government had lifted the ban previously, only to then enforce it again because alcohol-related trauma incidents were said to be adding an unwanted burden on hospitals.

After a few scares, Western Cape old age homes have noticed an increase in Covid-19 recoveries among occupants. As of 27 July, 953 people have recovered, while 172 are still infected with the virus. Western Cape is said to have passed its peak of cases, and despite once having nearly two thirds of all cases, it now has less than 20% of total cases.

Covid-19: SAHRC set to probe Gauteng health spending amid corruption claims 

Following allegations of corruption in government's healthcare procurement processes to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) intends to launch its own investigation into claims levelled against the Gauteng administration.

Speaking during a tour to the Nasrec field hospital in Johannesburg on Thursday, the commission's Gauteng manager, Buang Jones, said the Chapter 9 institution would be launching a probe into government from when it started its Covid-19 response.

"The commission's probe will look from when government started their response to Covid-19. We will be looking at alleged procurement irregularities through the human rights lens. We will also be looking at the impact of public procurement and alleged irregularities on the right to health."

Gauteng ANC tells Makhura to explain Covid-19 tender processes, as integrity commission takes over 

The ANC in Gauteng says it asked its provincial leadership to give an account to the province's residents of how Covid-19 tenders were procured.

The party held a media briefing on Thursday following a special provincial executive committee (PEC) on Wednesday to discuss the R125 million personal protective equipment tender awarded by Gauteng Health to the Amabhaca King Madzikane II Diko.

The king is married to PEC member and President Cyril Ramaphosa's spokesperson Khusela Diko and scored the tender from the department headed by family friend, Health MEC Bandile Masuku.

JUST IN | World Rugby approves temporary 2020 Covid-19 calendar 

International rugby is set to resume in October after the World Rugby Council approved a temporary 2020 calendar following the disruption caused by coronavirus, it was announced on Thursday. 

The temporary global window will accommodate the completion of the 2020 men's and women's Six Nations championships on 24 and 31 October, a rest weekend on 7 November and four consecutive rounds of international matches.

The Rugby Championship 2020, involving southern hemisphere nations, will take place over a reduced six-week period between 7 November and the second weekend in December.

New lockdown rules: Cabinet approves changes to curfew, leisure travel 

Tourism Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane announced on Thursday that Cabinet has decided to extend the national curfew to 22:00, from 21:00.

This is to accommodate restaurants, which have had to cut their dinner services short.

According to the industry, restaurants do the majority of their business after 17:00. If restaurant staff need to be in their homes by 21:00, that means they need time to travel, and to clean and close the restaurant.

Covid-19 tender saga: Jacob Mamabolo acting Health MEC as Bandile Masuku placed on special leave

Gauteng Transport MEC Jacob Mamabolo has been appointed acting Health MEC by Premier David Makhura.

The premier made the announcement on Thursday during the provincial command council's media briefing.

He told journalists he had placed Bandile Masuku on leave pending an investigation into tender corruption at the Gauteng health department. Makhura also confirmed that he had placed Masuku on leave for four weeks.

Covid-19: Western Cape is stabilising, hospitalisation plateauing - province 

The Covid-19 pandemic has started to stabilise in the Western Cape, with data showing that capacity has increased for critical care in hospitals.

Indicating that the province took a data-driven, evidence-led approach, Premier Alan Winde said they had studied the positivity rate of tests and the number of new deaths, hospitalisations and infected healthcare workers to work out trends.

"All indications (from this data) are that the pandemic has started to stabilise in the Western Cape, with a decline in some areas being experienced," he said.

He added that the pandemic had different paces in different areas.

Western Cape old age homes reporting more and more recoveries 

Western Cape old age homes have more reasons to be hopeful following a dark few months as Covid-19 recoveries start to outpace active cases, provincial statistics reveal.

Social Development MEC Sharna Fernandez said an increase in Covid-19 recoveries have been reported across old age homes in the province.

As of 27 July, 953 older people recovered, while 172 were reported to be infected with the virus.

Ten days earlier, a total of 700 older people recovered, while 334 older persons were reported to be infected.

The Nasrec field hospital is a step-down facility for major hospitals in the province, as well as an isolation site. It is slowly building up capacity of resources and personnel. 

(PHOTO: Azarrah Karrim/News24)

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Covid-19 wrap: Brazil reopens to foreigners despite crisis, Australia logs record cases and deaths

*Australia reports 723 positive cases in the last 24 hours, well beyond the previous nationwide record of 549 cases set on Monday.

*Brazil will require foreign visitors staying for 90 days or less to have health insurance covering them in the country before they travel.

*The number of coronavirus cases in Britain is no longer falling and is at best flat, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said, urging people to keep following social distancing rules.

Covid-19 and loss of smell: Harvard researchers uncover why it happens 

Loss of smell is a well-known Covid-19 symptom, but until now it's been unclear why it happens in some patients.

Evidence of loss of smell (anosmia) as a symptom of Covid-19 first emerged in late February 2020. In April, the symptom was officially added to the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention’s list of Covid-19 symptoms. At that stage, however, very little was known about how and why the virus affects an infected person’s sense of smell.

Previous studies suggested that the sensory neurons (which detect and transmit the sense of smell to the brain) were vulnerable cell types, but new research indicates otherwise. An international team of researchers led by neuroscientists at Harvard Medical School (HMS) recently identified the olfactory cell types that are most vulnerable to infection by SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes Covid-19).