LIVE | SA death toll hits 15 953, while the number of cases now sits at 661 211

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

Latest Covid-19 numbers: 15 772 deaths, 655 572 cases, 89.3% recovery rate

A cumulative total of 655 572 confirmed Covid-19 cases in South Africa has been recorded, with 585 303 recoveries, which brings South Africa's recovery rate to 89.3%.

South Africa has recorded 67 more Covid-19-related fatalities since Wednesday, bringing the death toll to 15 772.

The fatalities have been reported in the following provinces: three in the Eastern Cape, 20 in KwaZulu-Natal, 13 in Gauteng, 12 in the Western Cape and 19 in Limpopo.

The total number of tests conducted to date is 3 983 533, with 22 354 new tests conducted since the last report.

'Long Covid': Clinics could be our future as recovered patients struggle with after effects

For some, the effects of Covid-19 linger long after recovery.

Colloquially called "long Covid", some people who have recovered from Covid-19 are suffering from health issues like chronic fatigue, heart difficulties, breathing problems, and even a decline in mental health. Basically, the longer-term effects of Covid-19 are unknown, as we're still in the throes of the pandemic.

Even children – who generally have mild reactions to the virus – might face long-term health effects indirectly linked to the disease.

Organ damage

Research from Austria showed lung and heart damage weeks after recovery, although there appeared to be some self-recovery after a longer period of time, highlighting the importance of pulmonary rehabilitation for hospitalised patients.

According to a Nature article, research yet to be published arrived at similar findings, seeing scarring on lungs more than a month later in a third of a 33-patient cohort. While these were severe cases, the overall rate of this kind of lung damage is expected to be 10% of total infections. On a global scale, that's, however, still hundreds of thousands of people that have to deal with new health issues and disabilities.

Coronavirus cases top 30 million worldwide - AFP tally

Paris – The number of coronavirus cases registered worldwide topped 30 million on Thursday, according to an AFP tally based on official sources.

The grim landmark came as the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned of "alarming rates of transmission" of Covid-19 across Europe.

The tallies, using data collected by AFP from national authorities and information from the WHO, probably reflect only a fraction of the actual number of infections. Many countries are testing only symptomatic or the most serious cases.

The coronavirus death toll is now at 943 086 since it surfaced in China late last year, and the number of cases has ballooned to 30 000 062, according to figures available at 19:45 (GMT).

The United States has the highest national figures with 6 650 570 cases and 197 364 deaths, followed by India at 5 118 253 infections and 83 198 fatalities and Brazil with 4 419 083 cases and 134 106 deaths.

The rhythm of the pandemic seems to have stabilised globally since the middle of July, with a million new cases surfacing every four days.

It took 94 days to hit a million infections and then another 86 days for the number of cases to cross 10 million on 28 June.

The number of infections has tripled since then.

 - AFP

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Coronavirus morning update: WC awaits new travel regulations; and Covid-19 testing to increase

The Western Cape government awaits new travel regulations ahead of the tourist season; and Covid-19 testing will be increased to contain outbreaks.

Cases update: 

The latest number of confirmed cases is 655 572.

According to the latest update, 15 772 deaths have been recorded in the country.

There have been 585 303 recoveries.

So far, more than 3.9 million tests have been conducted, with 22 354 new tests reported.

Latest news:

Business 4 South Africa’s co-chair Martin Kingston joined President Cyril Ramaphosa's calls for the country to remain vigilant against Covid-19, as well as corruption within state procurement aimed at responding to the pandemic, as South Africa further lifts restrictions.

Ramaphosa announced on Wednesday evening that as from 20 September, South Africa would shift to alert Level 1 of its national lockdown aimed at slowing the spread of the virus.

Under this level of lockdown, more service-based industries will have restrictions lifted and limited international travel will be permitted.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has commended South Africa for its declining confirmed Covid-19 cases.

In a statement on Thursday, the WHO said it was greatly encouraged by the ongoing measures to suppress the spread of SARs-COV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.

It added South Africa had taken decisive steps such as "instituting response co-ordination mechanisms at all levels, setting up control interventions for all critical pillars of response and imposing public health and social measures, including movement restrictions, curfews, closure of businesses, schools and places of worship".

More than 100 die as Covid-19 storm rips through SA's prisons

The number of Covid-19 cases exploded in South Africa's prisons as more than 4 000 officials and over 2 000 inmates tested positive for the virus.

By 23 August, a total of 4 136 officials and 2 336 inmates had been infected with Covid-19.

The virus also claimed the lives of 60 officials and 43 inmates.

The Western Cape government is eagerly waiting for the regulations on international travel to be announced so that it can find out which countries will be able to fly to South Africa during Level 1.

Level 1 starts at midnight on Sunday, and international flights would resume from three major airports from October 1 after a massive global flight shut down to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Indonesia punishes people who don't wear masks by forcing them to dig graves for Covid-19 dead

Residents of a village Indonesia caught flouting the country's mask requirement put in place to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus are being put to work digging graves for Covid-19 victims.

Authorities in the Cerme district of Gresik Regency, East Java, told CNN that they are forcing anti-maskers to dig graves in an attempt to convince others to wear protective face coverings.