LIVE | SA death toll hits 15 953, vaccine trial hopes to recruit 30 000 healthcare workers

Covid-19 wrap | Taj Mahal reopens in India, US to surpass grim milestone of 200 000 virus deaths

Here are the latest coronavirus global updates

Near normal Christmas depends on controlling Covid now, UK health minister says

Britain needs to control the coronavirus now in order for Christmas to be as normal as possible, health minister Matt Hancock said on Monday.

"The more we can control the virus now and stop the spread now, the easier it's going to be to have a Christmas that's as close to normal as possible," he said during an interview on ITV.

"I really hope we can get there."

"If this runs out of control now, we'll have to take heavier measures in the future," he said.

- Reuters

UK chief scientific adviser warns: As Covid-19 spreads, deaths will rise

There will be more hospitalisations and deaths as Covid-19 spreads, the British government's Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance said on Monday.

"As it spreads across age groups we expect to see an increase in hospitalisations and unfortunately those increases in hospitalisations will lead to an increase in deaths."

- Reuters

Czech health minister resigning amid surge in Covid-19 cases

Czech Health Minister Adam Vojtech said on Monday he had submitted his resignation following criticism over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic as the central European country sees a surge in cases.

- Reuters

Repurposed measles vaccine trials to fight Covid-19 set to kick off in SA - report

An international trial which will test whether a measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine will protect frontline healthcare workers from Covid-19 is set to kick off in South Africa, according to a report in Business Day on Monday.

Nehawu set to protest outside Union Buildings for frontline workers

The National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union's (Nehawu) NECis set to protest outside the Union Buildings on Monday to get President CyrilRamaphosa to respond "adequately and positively" to their demands,detailed in a memorandum submitted earlier this month.

New Zealand to ease coronavirus restrictions in Auckland, rest of country

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the coronavirus restrictions in its biggest city Auckland will be eased, while all restrictions will be lifted in the rest of the country.

Auckland will move to alert level 2 from Thursday, Ardern said at a news conference on Monday, which will limit gatherings to 100 people.

The rest of the country will move to level 1 from midnight on Monday, she said.

- Reuters

Taj Mahal to reopen after 6 months as India Covid-19 cases soar

The Taj Mahal is set to reopen to visitors after a six-month closure, even as the pandemic has accelerated in recent weeks with India set to overtake the US to become the nation worst-hit by Covid-19.

India, home to 1.3 billion people and some of the world's most crowded cities, has recorded more than 5.4 million Covid-19 cases, with approximately 100 000 new infections and more than 1 000 deaths recorded daily in the past several weeks.

The 17th-century white marble mausoleum built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in the city of Agra, about 200km from the capital, New Delhi, is India's most popular tourist site. It usually draws seven million visitors a year but has been closed since March.

- AFP

Worldwide coronavirus cases cross 30.78 million, death toll at 954 843

More than 30.78 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 954 843 have died, according to a Reuters tally.

Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.

 - REUTERS

Wearing glasses may help protect you from the coronavirus

Needing glasses to go about your daily life can be a minor annoyance, but the frames may have an added bonus during the pandemic, a small study in JAMA Ophthalmology suggests.

Coronavirus research recap: Role of bacteria, substance abuse risks, and factor V

Recap of the latest coronavirus research and science: The interaction between Covid-19 and bacteria; the risk for people with substance use disorders; and what is factor V?

LATEST SCIENCE AND RESEARCH

Previous research has established that people with obesity and diabetes are more at risk for severe Covid-19 and a possibly fatal outcome.

Now, a new article published in eLife points towards the interaction of the body’s microbiota with Covid-19 in the lungs as a potential reason.

The researchers looked extensively at the mechanisms that link Covid-19, obesity and diabetes and cause those groups of people to experience more severe symptoms, often requiring hospitalisation and breathing assistance.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

England imposes up to $13 000 fine for breaking Covid-19 rules

People in England who refuse to self-isolate to stop the spread of coronavirus could face fines of up to 10 000 British pounds ($13 000) under tough new regulations announced to tackle a surge in cases.

The rules will apply from 28 September to anyone in England who tests positive for the virus or is notified by public health workers that they have been in contact with someone infectious.

"People who choose to ignore the rules will face significant fines," Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement on Saturday.

Fines will start at 1 000 pounds ($1 300) for a first offence, rising to 10 000 pounds for repeat offenders or cases where employers threaten to sack staff who self-isolate rather than go to work.

Some low-income workers who suffer a loss of earnings will receive a 500-pound ($650) support payment on top of other benefits, such as sick pay, to which they may be entitled.

"While most people are doing their absolute level best to comply with the rules, I don't want to see a situation where people don't feel they are financially able to self-isolate," Johnson said.

Currently, people who have symptoms or test positive are asked to self-isolate for 10 days. Those who live with someone who either has symptoms or tests positive must self-isolate for 14 days.

Second wave 'inevitable'

Almost 42 000 people have died of coronavirus in Britain, the worst death toll from the pandemic in Europe.

After a summer lull, cases are rising rapidly again and Johnson warned on Friday of a second wave.

"We are seeing it in France, in Spain, across Europe - it has been absolutely, I'm afraid, inevitable we were going to see it in this country," he said.

New rules limiting social gatherings to six people from different households came into effect this week, and local measures have been introduced across the country.

However, Johnson has expressed his reluctance to introduce another nationwide lockdown and some of his Conservative MPs are increasingly vocal in condemning current restrictions.

In London on Saturday, anti-vaccine and anti-lockdown protesters clashed with police in Trafalgar Square. Police said 32 people were arrested.

- Aljazeera Europe

As of today, the total number of confirmed #COVID19 cases is 659 656, the total number of deaths is 15 940 and the total number of recoveries is 589 434. pic.twitter.com/AS8k0tzXvi

— Dr Zweli Mkhize (@DrZweliMkhize) September 19, 2020

Latest on the worldwide spread of coronavirus

European countries from Denmark to Greece have announced new restrictions to curb surging coronavirus infections in some of their largest cities, while Britain is considering new measures to tackle an "inevitable" second wave of Covid-19.

Britain is likely to need to reintroduce some national coronavirus lockdown measures sooner rather than later, a former senior government health advisor said on Saturday.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday that he did not want another national lockdown but that new restrictions may be needed because the country was facing an "inevitable" second wave of Covid-19.

Russia reported 6 065 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, the first time the daily tally has been higher than 6 000 in two months. The national tally of infections rose to 1 097 251.

The regional government of the Spanish capital Madrid ordered a lockdown from Monday in some of the poorer areas of the city and its outskirts that are home to about 850 000 people.

The Irish government announced strict new Covid-19 restrictions for the capital Dublin, banning indoor restaurant dining and advising against all non-essential travel.

Victoria, the Australian state at the centre of the country's coronavirus outbreak, on Saturday reported its lowest daily increase of infections in three months, putting it on course to relax a hard lockdown in its capital Melbourne by the end of the month.

India's parliament session that began this week is likely to be cut short after 30 lawmakers were found infected with the coronavirus, two senior parliament officials said, as the number of cases in the country rose to 5.3 million.

The Philippines' health ministry on Saturday reported 3 962 new coronavirus infections and 100 additional deaths, with both numbers the highest in five days. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has decided to retain the 1 metre social distance requirement on public transport to reduce coronavirus infections, rejecting moves to reduce it to 30 centimetres, his spokesperson said.

New leader of Canada's main opposition Conservative Party, Erin O'Toole, tested positive for coronavirus on Friday, the party said in a statement.

President Donald Trump said on Friday he expects to have available enough doses of a coronavirus vaccine for every American by April.

The Trump administration reversed guidance on Covid-19 testing for a second time, urging those exposed to people with the virus to get tested even if they are not displaying symptoms.

Morocco signed a deal with Russia's R-Pharm to buy a Covid-19 vaccine produced under a licence from Britain’s AstraZeneca, the health ministry said, as its total number of cases approached 100 000.

Israel entered a second nationwide lockdown at the onset of the Jewish high-holiday season, forcing residents to stay mostly at home amid a resurgence in new coronavirus cases.

Moderna Inc said it was on track to produce 20 million doses of its experimental coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year, while maintaining its goal of readying 500 million to 1 billion doses in 2021.

Global equity markets slid as investors sought direction after this week's US Federal Reserve meeting and a jump in coronavirus cases in Europe rattled sentiment, while gold rose and safe-haven buying lifted the Japanese yen.

Hungary's economy could grow by 4% to 5% next year if a coronavirus vaccine is available in the second quarter but that was an optimistic scenario, Finance Minister Mihaly Varga said in an interview published on Saturday.

Professional rugby in Ireland could cease to exist if supporters cannot return to stadiums in large numbers amid the Covid-19 pandemic, IRFU chief Philip Browne has said.

A week in Covid-19: infections rise, notably in Europe

After stabilising, the pandemic has strongly picked up pace this week, with 286 000 new cases recorded on average per day throughout the world, an increase of eight percent over the previous seven-day period.

In line with the past few weeks, the rate of infections is increasing the most in Europe, by 16 percent compared to the previous week. The number of new daily cases has tripled in Europe since early July, with 47 300 this week, compared with 15 000.

As of today, the total number of confirmed #COVID19 cases is 657 627, the total number of deaths is 15 857 and the total number of recoveries is 586 844. pic.twitter.com/phhiTGf212

— Dr Zweli Mkhize (@DrZweliMkhize) September 18, 2020

SA could return to tighter restrictions if cases rise, warns Dlamini-Zuma

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Minister, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has warned that South Africa could go back to tighter lock down restrictions if Covid-19 cases rise, following the relaxation of lockdown to Level 1.

Dlamini-Zuma was briefing media on Covid-19 Level 1 regulations on Friday following president Ramaphosa's speech on Wednesday.

SA could return to tighter restrictions if cases rise, warns Dlamini-Zuma

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Minister, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has warned that South Africa could go back to tighter lock down restrictions if Covid-19 cases rise, following the relaxation of lockdown to Level 1.

Dlamini-Zuma was briefing media on Covid-19 Level 1 regulations on Friday following president Ramaphosa's speech on Wednesday.

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) is set to resume by-elections, and plans to clear the backlog of all outstanding polls on 11 November 2020.

In a statement issued on Friday, the commission said the scheduling of by-elections follows consultations with Cogta Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as well as represented political parties via a special National Party Liaison Committee meeting held on Thursday.

"By-elections have not been held since March 2020 following the declaration of a National State of Disaster and the imposition of the lockdown restrictions intended to curb the spread of the coronavirus," it said.

Russia approves first Covid-19 prescription drug for sale in pharmacies

Russia has approved R-Pharm's Coronavir treatment for outpatients with mild to moderate Covid-19 infections and the antiviral drug could be rolled out to pharmacies in the country as soon as next week, the company said on Friday.

Coronavir's approval as a prescription drug follows the green light for another Russian Covid-19 drug, Avifavir, in May. Both are based on favipiravir, which was developed in Japan and is widely used there as the basis for viral treatments.

The briefing concludes.

Dlamini-Zuma responds on the "logic of a curfew". 

Dlamini-Zuma: "One, as I said, we still have 2 000 or more new cases a day. And we know that if people have been sitting in a tavern, or even in a restaurant, you don't want people to sit there for hours and hours and hours. People, once they start drinking, getting drunk, they forget the mask, they forget social distancing - it becomes chaos. So you don't want that chaos to continue right into the morning."

"So we want, at least, people to have a time frame where they know now they have to leave that venue and go home." 

"If there was no longer high numbers - 2 000 is actually a high number - some of the countries that we see now which have gone back to 10 000, they were down to a few hundreds. And they thought everything was okay, they opened wide, and now they are up. Some of them, they had their maximum at eight-something, now they are beyond 10 000 in the next phase."

Dlamini-Zuma emphasises that people need to understand "we are not out of the woods".

Dlamini-Zuma on the questions around liquor stores: "You'll recall that at some stage when the liquor was opened 24 hours and there were no restrictions, the numbers went up and the hospitals were under pressure."

"Now the hospitals are not so much under pressure. So, you can see that even the liquor is being opened gradually. You saw at Level 2 it was Monday to Thursday, but now it's Monday to Friday, because the government is trying to just be cautious as it moves forward."

"Before, the curfew was 10pm, which means places, restaurants and taverns and so on, could not be opened longer, because they had to be home by 10. But now, it has increased. They have to be home by midnight."

"So you can see, it's a gradual opening, so that we don't do it in a bang and find that there are unforeseen problems like we have learnt in the past."

Dlamini-Zuma says the relevant ministers have yet to meet and discuss exactly which countries will excluded from international travel. "It is not a static list, it is a list which will be changing all the time," says Dlamini-Zuma. These countries will however be determined before international travel is officially allowed again.

Questions are now being fielded. A number of the questions revolve around the restrictions on alcohol sales which still remain in place, and the question is asked whether we are ready to transition to Level 1 or not, and if so, then why do these restrictions around alcohol sales still persist? 

Currently, liquor stores are only allowed to trade during the week, and not over weekends.

Dlamini-Zuma wraps up, and now repeats everything she said about the lockdown regulations in isiZulu.

Sports spectators are still not allowed. International sport is still not allowed, says Dlamini-Zuma.

Dlamini-Zuma recalls the progress made that led the country to transition from Level 3 to Level 2 lockdown. 

Dlamini-Zuma: "As of yesterday, we were at 655 572 total cases. Now you can see that we are moving slowly, not as fast as we were before."

Dlamini-Zuma sends her condolences to those who have lost their lives as a result of Covid-19. 

Dlamini-Zuma: "We have recorded a consistent decline of infections for the past six weeks, and this means, slowly we are departing from the eye of the storm of Covid-19. As the president announced, we have to ease a lot of restrictions and increase economic activity."

The briefing has now been handed over to Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to unpack the regulations related to Level 1 lockdown.

The National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC), led by Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, is expected to hold a briefing on the Covid-19 Level 1 lockdown restrictions.

The briefing is scheduled to start at 14:00.

Worldwide coronavirus cases cross 30.02 million, death toll at 941 817

More than 30.02 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 941 817 have died, according to a Reuters tally.

Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.

 - REUTERS