LIVE | SA records 36 851 Covid-19 deaths, with 1 325 659 confirmed cases

Pfizer reassures Europe over coronavirus vaccines as pandemic surges

Paris – Pharma giant Pfizer tried to ease concerns in Europe about deliveries of its coronavirus vaccine as nations across the world doubled down on restrictions to fight the rampaging pandemic.

The coronavirus pandemic is showing no signs of slowing down, with infections surging past 94 million and more than two million deaths, and Europe among the hardest-hit parts of the world.

Worries have grown that delays in the delivery of Pfizer-BioNTech shots could hamper a European vaccine rollout which has already faced heavy criticism across the continent.

Work is ongoing at the Pfizer plant in Belgium to increase capacity, and the firm and its German partner BioNTech said on Saturday it would allow them to "significantly" scale up vaccine production in the second quarter.

Deliveries would be back to the original schedule to the EU from 25 January, they pledged.

Several Nordic and Baltic countries have described the situation as "unacceptable", while Belgium's vaccination strategy task force condemned a lack of consultation by Pfizer over the deliveries as "incomprehensible".

 - AFP

India starts huge vaccine drive as European rollout stutters

New Delhi – India kicked off one of the world's largest coronavirus vaccination drives on Saturday, as US drugs giant Pfizer moved to calm fears in Europe about delays to deliveries of their vaccine.

The United Nations (UN) is intensifying its push to speed up vaccine rollout globally, particularly to poorer countries, as officially recorded virus deaths surge past two million.

"I have seen people dying," said Santa Roy, a health worker who was one of the first to receive a jab in Kolkata, telling AFP he now saw a "ray of hope".

India, home to 1.3 billion people, has the world's second-largest number of recorded cases behind the United States.

The government aims to inoculate 300 million people by July with Covishield – developed by AstraZeneca and made by India's Serum Institute – or the homegrown Covaxin.

Covaxin is still in clinical trials and recipients had to sign a consent form that stated that the "clinical efficacy... is yet to be established".

But Prime Minister Narendra Modi, launching the immunisation campaign, urged people to reject "propaganda and rumours" about the indigenous vaccine.

While India pledges huge strides in its rollout, Europe's efforts continued to stutter.

 - AFP

Philippines says China to donate half a million Covid-19 vaccines

Beijing's top diplomat pledged Saturday to donate half a million coronavirus vaccine shots to the Philippines, Manila officials said - despite growing resistance there to Chinese-made jabs over concerns about their efficacy.

President Rodrigo Duterte's administration is scrambling to lock in supplies of Covid-19 vaccines for the country's 110 million people, after being criticised for being too slow off the mark in the global race to procure the drugs.

Among other deals, the Philippines has already agreed to buy 25 million doses of Chinese company Sinovac's Coronavac, despite the jab not having been approved by regulators in China.

It is not clear which vaccine China will donate, and whether the donation is part of that earlier deal; the Chinese embassy in Manila did not respond to AFP's request for comment.

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his counterpart of the intended donation when he was in Manila on Saturday, the Philippines foreign ministry said. The news follows similar announcements from other countries in the region earlier this week - Cambodia said it would receive one million free doses from Beijing on Friday, after Myanmar was set to get 300 000.

Duterte has actively sought closer ties with Beijing since taking power in 2016, and has defended Chinese vaccines in the face of widespread misgivings over their effectiveness. Although trials in Turkey found Coronavac to be 91.25 percent effective, other, more robust trials in Brazil only demonstrated an efficacy rate of around 50 percent.

Duterte came under fire last month after he revealed that members of his security team had been given a jab made by another Chinese company, Sinopharm, even though it had not been approved for use.

Nearly half a million people have been infected with the virus in the Philippines, with almost 10,000 fatalities.

Health officials have warned of a possible spike in cases following the Christmas holidays, religious parades and a confirmed case of the more infectious strain first identified in Britain.

-AFP

Pfizer, BioNTech to limit delays of vaccine shipments to one week

Pfizer and BioNTech said Saturday they will limit the delays of their vaccine deliveries to just one week, after fears in Europe that shipments of the jabs could be slowed for up to a month.

The US drugmaker and its German partner "have developed a plan that will allow the scale-up of manufacturing capacities in Europe and deliver significantly more doses in the second quarter," they said in a joint statement.

"As a result, our facility in Puurs, Belgium will experience a temporary reduction in the number of doses delivered in the upcoming week."

Pfizer and BioNTech pledged that deliveries would be back to the original schedule to the European Union from the week of 25 January, with increased delivery from the week of 15 February.

More than a year after first Covid-19 case was discovered, coronavirus has killed 2 million+ people

More than a year after the first novel coronavirus case was discovered, more than two million people across the globe have died from Covid-19. 

That's roughly equivalent to the entire population of Slovenia or the state of New Mexico. It's more than the entire population of Bahrain or the state of Nebraska.

Covid-19 death toll in SA surpasses 36 000

Covid-19 has killed more than 36 000 people in South Africa, official data from the health department shows.

"Regrettably, we report 615 more Covid-19 related deaths: Eastern Cape 100, Free State 41, Gauteng 99, KwaZulu-Natal 189, Mpumalanga 16, Northern Cape 9 and Western Cape 161. This brings the total deaths to 36 467," Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said in a statement on Friday night.

Covid-19 infections increased by 14 880, taking  the total cases to 1 311 686.

Our recoveries now stand at 1 062 690, representing a recovery rate of 81%.

The cumulative total of tests conducted to date is 7 498 780 with 65 209 new tests conducted since the last report.

As of today, the total number of confirmed #COVID19 cases is 1 311 686, the total number of deaths is 36 467 and the total number of recoveries is 1 062 690. pic.twitter.com/vvjk94mwjm

— Dr Zweli Mkhize (@DrZweliMkhize) January 15, 2021

Italy surpasses 1 million coronavirus vaccinations: PM

Italy has administered more than a million coronavirus vaccines, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Friday shortly after the announcement of further anti-Covid-19 restrictions in the country.

"A heartfelt thanks to citizens and our national health service for the extraordinary response," wrote Conte on Facebook.

"Italy is first in the EU for the number of people vaccinated. An encouraging statistic," he wrote.

Earlier Friday, Health Minister Roberto Speranza signed a new decree that put three regions under a near lockdown.

Considered "red" zones, only supermarkets, pharmacies and other stores selling basic necessities are allowed to open.

Other regions are considered "orange" or "yellow" zones, which carry lesser restrictions. On Thursday, a report from the government's coronavirus crisis commission indicated that Italy had administered 903 883 vaccines, versus Germany at 758 093 and Spain with 581 638.

-AFP

Mhaule says "the quintile 1, 2, 3 [schools] are going to be supported with masks, as well as sanitisers and all the PPEs that are related to schools in terms of Covid-19".

Mhaule acknowledges that teachers have been infected with Covid-19, some are still sick and some have recovered, but they don't have the exact statistics at hand.

Mhaule: "We cannot say we don't have teachers that are infected; our teachers are infected. Some learners are infected. But we don't have the statistics right now. The reopening of the schools will help us to get those statistics."

Mhaule dismisses questions around whether or not Motshekga's illness is Covid-19 related. Mhaule says Motshekga is almost fully recovered from her illness and will be back soon.

Mhaule says the department is working very hard to improve on e-learning, and acknowledges difficulties in rural areas, with issues such as connectivity.

Mhaule: "The original pre-Covid-19 school calendar had scheduled schools to reopen on 13 January 2021. Due to the coronavirus last year, we were forced to revise the school calendar for 2020, which automatically affected the 2021 school calendar."

Mhaule: "We revised the 2021 school calendar and moved the dates from 13 January 2021, to 25 January, for teachers, and 27 January, for learners."

Mhaule: "This briefing comes at a critical time in our country, normally at this time of the year, schools are reopened..."

The briefing has now started. It appears Deputy Minister of Basic Education Reginah Mhaule is running the briefing. Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga is off sick.

Covid-19: Sadtu backs keeping schools closed for now, minister to brief nation today

South Africa's biggest teachers' union, the South African Democratic Teachers' Union (Sadtu), is in support of a delay in the opening of schools amid the Covid-19 second wave.

The union said for the past two weeks it was making the nation aware that the World Health Organisation and Unesco have highlighted the importance of education, emphasising that schools should reopen when safe to do so.

It added that it believed science and research supported that numbers must be declining for 14 consecutive days for schools to be able to reopen safely.

ICYMI: 

Covid-19: If NCCC keeps schools closed, independent schools will go online - association

Independent school associations are in a catch-22 situation as it becomes apparent that schools are likely to stay closed until February amid the second Covid-19 wave in the country.

According to Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa (Isasa) executive director Lebogang Montjane, several bodies met with Department of Basic Education director-general Mweli Mathanzima on Tuesday. Montjane said Mathanzima indicated that the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) was considering postponing the reopening of schools.

Speaking to News24 during a Zoom meeting on Thursday, Montjane said while the association was still in consultation with the department, it was faced with difficulty due to the nature of independent schools.

A total of 1 296 806 cases have been reported with 18 503 new cases in the past 24 hours. A reported 1 049 740 people have recovered and there are 35 852 reported deaths, 712 in the past day. This means there are an estimated 211 214 active Covid-19 cases.

A total of 7 433 571 coronavirus tests have been conducted to date - 3 131 783 in the public sector and 4 301 788 in the private sector. In the past 24-hours, 32 332 tests were conducted in public laboratories and 42 498 in private laboratories.

For the past seven days an average of 66 585 tests were done every day.

A total of 24.73% (18 503 cases from 74 830 tests) of tests reported on 14 January were positive for Covid-19. 

France imposes 18:00 nationwide virus curfew: PM

The French government will impose a daily nationwide curfew at 18:00 starting Saturday to fight the spread of Covid-19, Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Thursday.

Castex also told a news conference that travellers arriving in France from non-European Union destinations would have to present a negative Covid test less than 72 hours old, and would have to self-isolate for seven days.

-AFP

WHO tackles new strains as China logs first Covid death in 8 months

Global health experts gather on Thursday to tackle new strains of the coronavirus blamed for a fresh surge in infections after China recorded its first Covid-19 death in eight months.

The World Health Organization (WHO) emergency committee session comes with their colleagues seeking the origins of the virus on a long-delayed mission to the pandemic ground zero in Wuhan.

Almost two million of the more than 91 million people who have caught the disease have died, but the figures are widely believed to be an underestimate. Much of the planet is facing a second or third wave of infections, with populations chafing under painful and economically damaging restrictions.

Lebanon went into full lockdown on Thursday with residents barred even from grocery shopping. France is hoping to avoid another national lockdown with the government due to announce tighter controls such as an extended night curfew across the country.

But there was better news for those who have already had Covid-19, with a British study suggesting recovery can confer immunity for at least five months. The research will be welcomed by UK healthcare workers struggling to cope with surging caseloads and a new, more infectious strain of the virus.

That strain, and another identified in South Africa, was going under the WHO microscope in Geneva on Thursday after being logged in dozens of countries. WHO's emergency committee normally gathers every three months, but the meeting was brought forward "to consider issues that need urgent discussion".

In China, millions of people have been locked down again to try to tame a fresh outbreak that has now claimed its first victim.

- Long journey -

The hashtag "New virus death in Hebei" quickly ratcheted up 100 million views on the Twitter-like Weibo platform.

"I haven't seen the words 'virusdeath' in so long, it's a bit shocking! I hope the epidemic can pass soon," one user wrote.

The death comes as a 10-strong investigation team arrived in Wuhan, where the virus emerged in late 2019. Mission leader Peter Ben Embarek said they would enter a two-week hotel quarantine before the probe begins in earnest.

It "could be a very long journey before we get a full understanding of what happened." he cautioned. Beijing has argued Wuhan might not be where the virus originated, only where it was first identified. Regardless of origins, scientists say large-scale vaccination is the only way out. 

-AFP

Winde on Covid-19 vaccines: Western Cape open to accepting jabs if it is able to get more

Western Cape Premier Alan Winde says that while the provincial government is excited about national government's procurement of 1.5 million vaccine doses, it will accept vaccines if it is able to secure more of them.

"The number of doses announced as being secured thus far is not enough for the general population. It would therefore be irresponsible for our government, which does have a health competency under the Constitution, to sit back and do nothing.

"As part of our due diligence as a provincial government, we will, of course, accept vaccines if we are able to secure more of them," he said.

Covid-19: If NCCC keeps schools closed, independent schools will go online – association

Independent school associations are in a catch-22 situation as it becomes apparent that schools are likely to stay closed until February amid the second Covid-19 wave in the country.

According to Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa (Isasa) executive director Lebogang Montjane, several bodies met with Department of Basic Education director-general Mweli Mathanzima on Tuesday.

Montjane said Mathanzima indicated that the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) was considering postponing the reopening of schools. Speaking to News24 during a Zoom meeting on Thursday, Montjane said while the association was still in consultation with the department, it was faced with a difficulty due to the nature of independent schools. 

Healthcare workers won't be vaccine 'guinea pigs', says Western Cape health dept

Health workers may be offered a Covid-19 vaccine first, but they will not be "guinea pigs" for the new initiative, the Western Cape health department said on Wednesday.

"We have good expertise and good regulatory bodies in this country," said department head Dr Keith Cloete.

"They will only approve a vaccine that is safe, and has been used on humans."

This in reply to a question in the legislature from the FF Plus' Peter Marais who asked whether health workers, who would be first to be offered the vaccine, were going to be the "guinea pigs" to see if it was safe.

You can probably cross the beach to get to the sea – but you can’t play until you are 100m out

The ban on beaches across most of South Africa extends deep into the ocean too, lawyers say, thanks to a new definition – but does not mean you can't cross the beach.

Just as long as you don't start enjoying yourself until you are at least 100 metres into the water.

You can get special permission to use SA’s land border crossings – here’s how

Foreigners hoping to enter South Africa through one of the country’s 20 land borders can apply for an “emergency exemption” by emailing the department of home affairs, it has confirmed, avoiding the closure of those ports to all but limited users under the latest Alert Level 3 rules.

All of South Africa’s biggest banks are in breach of ‘impossible’ new disaster rules

The banks running SA's biggest ATM networks are now all in breach of new disaster rules.

A regulation update published on Tuesday requires banks to make hand sanitiser available at every one of their ATMs, because the government fears super-spreading via the machines.

SA tops 34 000 Covid-19 deaths, with 755 new fatalities reported

There have been 755 new Covid-19 fatalities in South Africa, taking the death toll to 34 334.

"Regrettably, we report a further 755 deaths have been reported: Eastern Cape 134, Free State 26, Gauteng 225, KwaZulu-Natal 218, Limpopo 11, Mpumalanga 11, Northern Cape 2 and Western Cape 128. This brings the total to 34 334 deaths," said Health Minister Zweli Mhkize.

Infections have increased by 13 105, pushing the total cases to 1 259 748.

Our recoveries now stand at 1 019 123, representing a recovery rate of 81%.

A cumulative total of 7 287 060 tests have been completed with 50 671 tests conducted since the last report.

#COVID19 Statistics in SA as at 12 January .

Use the COVID Alert SA app to protect yourself, your loved ones and your community. Start using this privacy preserving app today. Add your phone to the fight! Download the Covid Alert SA app now! https://t.co/8YKEqaiiRF pic.twitter.com/dRwZetMzoq

— Dr Zweli Mkhize (@DrZweliMkhize) January 12, 2021

Germany records first case of S.African Covid strain as more countries extend lockdowns

Germany on Tuesday recorded its first case of the coronavirus variant sweeping South Africa in a member of a family that returned from a lengthy stay in the country in December.

"After their arrival (on 13  December), the family entered the required quarantine and got tested five days later. Those tests were negative," a spokesman for the social affairs ministry in the southwestern German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg said in a statement.

"The following week, the first members of the family developed mild symptoms of illness."

Covid-19 surge in the Western Cape is showing early signs of stabilising, says Winde

The Western Cape's Covid-19 resurgence is showing early signs of stabilising, but the danger is not over yet. Hospital beds are still under pressure and people are returning from their December travels. 

Premier Alan Winde urged people to continue sanitising, social distancing and wearing masks, even though there might be a glimmer of hope.

"Please don't get sick yourself," said Winde during his weekly digital briefing on the pandemic. 

Lockdown: NPO wants court to declare compulsory wearing of masks unconstitutional, invalid

NPO the Liberty Fighters Network (LFN) faced off with Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday, arguing that she be found guilty of contempt of court for extending the national state of disaster and re-implementing Level 3 lockdown restrictions. 

The NPO told the court the Dlamini-Zuma was not giving the public substantial information about the coronavirus to satisfy them on why certain measures were reinstated and "chopped and changed". 

Its president, Reyno de Beer who argued the case before Judge Norman Davis, said Dlamini-Zuma should be held in contempt for violating a court order which was handed down by the judge on 2 June 2020. 

Lockdown: Motsoaledi suspends applications for IDs, passports and marriage services

Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has temporarily suspended certain critical services, including applications for new IDs and passports.

Only matriculants may apply for an ID, while passport applications will only be accepted from those who are allowed to travel under the amended regulations.

Motsoaledi said the suspension was forced by the increasing number of Department of Home Affairs employees who have tested positive for Covid-19.

More clarity on access to beaches, banks, and when lockdown will end.

Dlamini-Zuma: Access to beaches, includes access to the water. "You are not allowed on the beach or in the water." 

On banks: She said banks are run by citizens, who like everyone else, must follow the law.

"If they don't adhere to protocols, the penalties are there. Banks are no different than other institutions, people who manage banks must take responsibility."

On when the current lockdown will end: Dlamini-Zuma said regulations will be reviewed when the number of infections have dropped sufficiently.

"The regulations are there to protect lives, they are there because the infection rate in SA is very high. We don't know when it will be low. When we went to Level 1, the numbers went down, so it's difficult to give certainty over something you don't control. It will depend on the state of the hospitals, number of people dying and what the infection is doing. It's not possible to give certainty," she said.